Lately, when I find my mind wandering when it should be conjugating Italian verbs, I like to waste time er   refresh my brain by catching up on my favorite blogs.  I am a big fan of Elizabeth Minchilli’s blog from Rome and culled the following images from her postings.

A few weeks back I posted a photograph showing what I believe the entrance to a heaven would look like. So, I decided to let my mind wander today into what my ideal room in a heaven would look like.

And here it is, a combination of details incorporating all the necessities with just enough and just the right style.

Of course, discerning visitors will know it is in Italy.  Where else?!

First, it is always springtime so that your French doors can be open to the outdoors.  Naturally, you have flowers from your garden on your desk, where you spend your days writing and reading.  When your eyes tire from looking at the laptop screen you rest them with the beauty of the outdoors.  Often your vision drifts to the gorgeous floor, where two tone tiles are inlaid in a Moroccan pattern.

Even though it is heaven, you still get thirsty and hungry, so you have an iced bottle of sparkling aqua minerale available at all times, as well as a plate of almonds from your orchard. The mineral water keeps your bones strong and le mandorle are full of excellent nutrients to keep your eyes sharp, your fingers ready to type, and your brain energized for thinking deep thoughts.

Sometimes you stop writing for a moment and let your eyes wander up the walls covered with tile sheets of naturally patterned marble from the area around Carrara, the same quarries where Michelangelo hand-selected the marble for his best sculpture. Up, up, up your eyes scroll, admiring the lines of gray strata swirling within the white marble. The ceiling is well worth your gaze, for it has been hand-painted with lovely colors and designs.  How sweet to do nothing but look.  Dolce far niente indeed!  Looking is an activity too.  To really look at something takes practice. It is, like everything, an acquired skill.

Later on, you take a bubble bath in your simple bathroom lined with Italian ceramic tiles that have a Spanish/Moorish flavor.  While under the lavender scented suds, your mind wanders to the origins of these ceramic tiles and the eastern heritage to which they attest. Your mind is never happier than when gliding through thought like this.  You have a lovely upholstered chair nearby to catch your bath towel or robe. Once again, the ceiling does not disappoint. If anything, it demands attention!

Later, you wander through your trellised garden.

You inhale the sweet scents of blooming vines like jasmine, various shrubs including roses, and fragrant perennials.  Since this is paradise, everything blooms at once, so you have wisteria and dahlias, all in the same season. Perché no? You gaze happily at your limonaria and orangerie, maybe even plucking a few bergamot or Meyer lemons to wake up your taste buds.  Heaven includes all of the senses, no?

Back to the room for a quick nap on this gorgeous bed. You can lose yourself in the fantastic frescoed ceiling.

Then, completely refreshed after an ideal day, you dress for the evening and meet someone at the bottom of these steps to the sea. Together you will enjoy an aperitivo aboard a nice boat on the water, watching the sun set.

Surely this must be how it is in paradise!

http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/2012/05/palazzo-margherita-basilicata/ is the photo source.

…if I may have Italy, said Giuseppe Verdi.

My sentiments exactly. Here is the beloved country at night from a satellite, so brightly lit around Napoli and Roma and all along the northern borders. Beautiful country, even in the dark!