Arrivaderci, Roma

I've going this afternoon for my second viewing of "Angels and Demons". Loved the book, loved the movie!

I'm not a Catholic so I don't mind the religious controversy in this Dan Brown book or that in his previous book-made-movie, The DaVinci Code; this is a very tight action thriller set in the place I would most like to spend some time right now: Rome.

I wonder how much time a novice would need to spend 'enough' time in that city!??

As a forever French teacher I know Paris should be the first European city I'd want to visit but - for whatever reason - it's Rome that draws me.

I always said that if Tom died first I'd sign up to join the nunnery (after I actually became Catholic, of course!)so maybe that's where my new-found interest in the Vatican and the city surrounding it comes from?

I long to be in the piazzas just glorying in the architecture and flavor of them.

I want to see all the churches and revel in their august beauty...

and the museums and the cafes and the pensionnes and the fountains and the cobblestones and the people and most of all the history.

Why now? Why Rome? Why don't I have a fortune large enough to support the adventure??

(LOL)

If Paris took a second seat because I've spent an adult lifetime seeing videos and reading books of ITS geography, history and culture the answer might be right there in front of my face.

I CAN afford to rent/buy videos of Rome!

That will be my compromise; I'll hit the library and the bookstores this afternoon and start amassing a personal library of Things To Do And See on my (never-to-actually-be-realized) dream trip!!

I do have an excellent imagination AND a knack for being happy with what I've got so that might well satisfy this new-found longing for travel and adventure in La Bella Roma.

I'm off to follow that Italian yellow brick road!

Arreviderci!