One small example: we were not scheduled to have Mass the morning we departed for home, but Valentina was able to secure us a chapel at St. Mary Maggiore, the stunning basilica that is just a 20 minute walk from our hotel.  That was the good news. The bad news: Mass would be at 7 am. Did we want to do it? Absolutely! Being able to end our trip at the place where Pope Francis prays at the end of his trips was an unexpected blessing.

Select also managed to book some terrific hotels. The Hotel Quirinale, where we spent five nights in Rome, had huge rooms (and a massive bathroom) with soaring ceilings, very good meals and attentive, helpful staff.

So … if you’re considering a trip to Rome for the Jubilee, here are some thoughts, in no particular order.

Go with a group. Not only will you enjoy the company and make new friends, but often tour companies and their guides can anticipate problems and find solutions that you wouldn’t imagine. It also helps to travel with someone who knows their way around and can offer honest ideas about where to eat and shop. It just makes things easier. (Have I told you how great Select International Tours is? Okay. Just checking.)

Don’t go if you don’t like to walk.  We routinely logged up to 20,000 steps a day, over cobblestone sidewalks (it reminded me a lot of Greece). One of our pilgrims needed a portable wheelchair to get around, and our bus driver Marco was very accommodating (and other pilgrims very conscientious). But be aware that the terrain can be rough.

Remember: You will not be the only one there.  Every time is peak tourist time during a Jubilee. Lines to get into St. Peter’s stretched for blocks. You have to weave through security — similar to what you encounter with the TSA at the airport — and things can get congested quickly. (This was a challenge in the cool air of February; I can’t begin to imagine what it will be like in July.) Streets and sidewalks can be mobbed. Which means: pickpockets are out in force. Be smart. Be aware. Be on your guard.

Best advice: like at Disney World, plan to do everything early.  If something opens at 8, be there at 7 or 7:30 at the latest. Bring a cup of coffee and a rosary. It will be a lot easier and a LOT less congested. You can thank me later.

Want bargains? Go off the beaten path. When it came time for lunch, Alessandra always encouraged us to walk a couple blocks to get away from the busy squares and thoroughfares. Prices were usually cheaper and the restaurants a lot less crowded. And honestly? It’s almost impossible to get a bad meal in Italy. Father Ferdi had a very good steak in a small cafe for about 30 euros.

And pizza? You won’t find any better, even in Brooklyn.

If you can, take time at the end of the day to organize your pictures.  We visited a LOT of churches, each more spectacular than the one before it, and it can get to be overwhelming. But technology can help. When we took our first pilgrimage in 2000, cell phone cameras were unheard of; you had to wait for Walgreens to develop your prints after you got home. Then you’d spend hours scratching your head and saying, “Which church was that again? They all start to look alike…” Now, no worries: every picture is in your hand and you can see what you shot. Take time to jot down where you went and what you saw. It can only help. (Another game-changer for the tourism industry is the development of “whisper” systems, small devices with ear plugs that enable the tour guide to give detailed information about churches, museums, local lore without screaming at you. These things are fantastic.)

Gotta go? Go before you go. Bathrooms are unpredictable and sometimes scarce. And you usually have to pay to use them. Alessandra recommended using the restrooms at the restaurants (free!!) or buying a cup of coffee or a croissant to use the facilities at one of the cafes. (You can read more about all that here.) Be prepared for lines. At one of the basilicas we visited, the line for the ladies room was almost as long as the line for confession. (They had confessors available in multiple languages, for the convenience of pilgrims.) At Rome’s airport, they had electronic signs outside that told you how many places were available. (It reminded me of some of the parking garages at Disney World…)

Travel outside Rome. I can’t tell you how enriching it was to visit Padua, Assisi, Venice and Cascia before we settled in for several days in Rome. There are a lot of great cities, churches, saints to see! This year, in particular, no one should miss an opportunity to pray at the tomb of (soon-to-be-saint) Carlo Acutis in Assisi.

Our tour manager Alessandra also came through for us in Cascia, where we visited the home and tomb of St. Rita. Alessandra found a kindly friar who offered to give us a tour of the monastery and share the story of St. Rita. My wife and I have been to Cascia before, but we never got a tour like that.

Take time, often, to pray. You hear it all the time: a pilgrimage is not a vacation. But there are many opportunities to reflect, light candles, and just pray. We tried to pray Morning and Evening Prayer on the bus every day, and we celebrated Mass daily, too. During long bus rides — and we had a couple that stretched for hours — my wife Siobhain would lead us in the rosary. All of which helped not only to pass the time, but to remind us that this trip was about more than buying rosaries, magnets, holy medals and tea towels to take to the folks back home. It helped keep us centered.

To get a better sense of where we went, what we saw, and how we spent our days, check out the links below to the daily posts I put up during our trip.  They give a pretty good picture of what a pilgrimage like this involves — and show how we experienced what I will always consider to be one of  the greatest trips of my life.

• Welcome to Italy!
• Venice, Anyone?
• A Slice of Bologna
• Seeing Assisi
• Almost in Rome — but First, Cascia
• Hanging with the Saints
• Peter and Paul
• Seeing Doors, Nails, Thorns — and a Cardinal
• The Jubilee of Deacon Wives
• Thousands of Deacons Attend Ordination Mass at Vatican
• Arrivederci, Roma!

The next Jubilee is scheduled for 2033, commemorating 2,000 years since the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God willing, I’ll be there. I hope you will, too!