In 1992 I was lucky enough to spend part of the summer in Rome, Assisi, and Florence. I met several fascinating people on this trip.

One was Marco. He’s an expert on Assisi.

In Rome that summer I was fortunate to be one of the scholars invited to study at the American Academy in Rome. Our topic “the development of Rome under the Renaissance popes.” I was in absolute heaven. Here I am with one new friend, Susan Dixon.

No trip to Rome for me is complete without a stop at Canova’s statue of Pauline Borghese.

Neither is any stay in Rome (or anywhere in Italy) complete without lots and lots of gelato!

Below is a picture of some of us scholars outside a Roman ruin we were lucky enough to have access to. It wasn’t open to the public and we had to wear hard hats. We felt like pseudo archaeologists. I’m the one in the shorts.

I must say, though, that some of these fabulous experiences ruined me for regular life. I identify with what Virginia Woolf famously remarked:

The blossoms in my garden today!

Spring arrives late in this region, compared to more temperate parts of the world. But, it is still beautiful!

My good friend Patrizia just sent me these great photos from her recent visit to Milan, where her son is a student at Bocconi University.

Packing and making arrangements and gardening and all the things necessary to do before a major change in one’s life….

I like to look back at how and when I fell in love with Italy.

It happened by the time I was 20, but I didn’t get to Italy until I was 27. I’ve been fortunate to make many more trips to that country over my life time and here are some pictures of a trip I made in January of 1990, well after I was 30. I think you’ll recognize some of the places I was photographed!

I was in Rome to deliver a lecture on the influence of the Danish sculptor, Bertold Thorvaldsen, on American art. It was a highlight of my professional career and I was thrilled to get to experience Rome in the winter. It was perfectly lovely!

Maybe I should be packing suitcases and boxes, but I’m taking a break and scrolling through Facebook.

But, I love this pretty image! Creativity at its finest!