Dare Alla Luce For Mom. "We all know the story of Easter. Death came on Friday, life on Sunday. But there was a long, very hard day in between." - Touched by an Angel I almost killed a man yesterday. Really. Ending a half-hour phone call to my mother in Canada, I gathered my things to head out the door, only to find it half-ajar. I thought I'd heard someone open it while I was on the phone, but the walls in these Italian villas are thin and I assumed the noise...

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Tripe? Jodi Picoult's advice on love: "What makes a treasure a treasure is how rare a find it is, when you need it the most." - Between the Lines I skipped breakfast yesterday so I could visit the Uffizi Gallery. Laying in bed Thursday night it occurred to me that Friday morning might be my only opportunity to see the famous art collection. Saturdays were notoriously hellish for tourist attractions, when both locals and travellers of...

Per Amore di Dio "I eat a hot grape from the market and the violet sweetness breaks open in my mouth. It even smells purple. I wish I could stay longer but the bells of Campanile remind me of time. 'Ding-dang-dong,' the bell says, instead of 'ding-dong'." - Under the Tuscan Sun "To come to Italy," Marcello had preached over dinner one night in Rome, "and not go to Florence - this is a very bad thing. It goes against everything that is good and right.... It is l...

"They Call Me 'The Ghost'." "What if it turns out that life isn't defined by who you belong to or where you came from, by what you wished for or whom you've lost, but instead by the moments you spend getting from each of these places to the next?" - Jodi Picoult Rome, I love you but I'm tired. My knees are sore from your sloping stone streets, my skin is losing patience with your motor fumes and my wallet with your cover charges and tourist traps. Your crowds a...

"The Physics of the Quest" "Rome is the city of echoes, the city of illusions, and the city of yearning." - Giotto di Bondone I've thought a lot about God lately. Maybe it's the forests of gilded cathedrals everywhere, or the miracle of the Sistine Chapel or the devotion so prevalent here that every waitress seems to have a Virgin Mary medallion slung around her neck. I think more likely though it is the way that, no matter what I do, things keep transpiring to...