Rome, Italy from my virgin eyes. Immediately I sensed that this, my first encounter with 2000 year old men albeit sculpted from marble, would be the most cherished deposit ever made to my memory bank. I was to experience the city with double vision, my first timer eyes and those of my husband as he became reacquainted with the sights, sounds and foods of his birthplace. To explore the same narrow streets of his childhood, to savour the simple, yet mouth watering Italian style fast food of suppli’.

We slept above the Teatro Marcello, an ancient roman theatre built before the Roman Empire, the product of Julius Caesar’s wish to build the biggest and best. Eventually completed many years after Caesar’s death it was to become the largest theatre built in the Roman Empire with seating capacity of 14,000+. Enough history! Let’s see, where were we? Ok, imagine a luxury apartment building in the centre of Rome built in the 1600’s on top ofTeatro Marcello. Then, imagine taking an ancient cage-like elevator to the top floor, up a few more cement steps to a massive wooden door leading to a rooftop garden and small loft apartment, which was to be our “home” for our five days in Rome. After entering the terracotta tiled garden area, take a few steps to your left and climb up the narrow circular metal staircase (careful…don’t spill your wine!) to yet another small area to relax and enjoy the sights of central Rome. If only I were an artist. I would sit on the little wooden bench and capture the bird’s eye view of ancient terracotta tiled roofs. Instead, I sit on the little wooden bench and use my 21st century Sony to capture the moment. Ah, but maybe I am an artist, at least in my mind, as I can, even today, close my eyes and hear the symphony of car horns, sirens, and Italians being, well, Italians.

Our waking hours were spent wandering through Luigi’s childhood “backyard”. Just when I would start to wonder where the narrow backstreet was leading me, we would pause, I would look around to discover “the Pantheon!” or “the Coloseum” or “oh my…is that the Trevi Fountain?!” I was a wide-eyed tourist experiencing Rome, not via “Rick Steeves”, not via any guidebooks, but through the heart and soul of a real Roman. My very own “Roman Holiday

One day we stopped for lunch at Osteria del’ Orso, a restaurant near the apartment building where Luigi's grandparents once lived. We started with Antipasti Misti.... which I think must translate to “stuff yourself silly.” We were presented with twelve different plates of various appetizers, from prociutto, grilled eggplants, zucchini, fresh mozzarella etc etc. I had a wonderful gnocchi as the second course (or would that be the 13th course?)...while Luigi had Bucatini alla Matriciana.

We wanted to visit the Cat Sanctuary in the historic centre of Rome. The site is known as Torre Argentina and is home to about 250 feral cats, fed and cared for by volunteers. The cats’ "home" are the ruins of several temples as well as part of the famous Pompei’s theatre, where in 44 BC Caesar was betrayed and killed on the theatre steps. Luigi, being a lover of all animals, but especially cats, wanted to capture Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary on film and, hopefully, in some small way help.

The volunteers work in small, cramped, low ceilinged rooms located beside the ruins and directly below the busy road. While Luigi "worked", I was very happy to visit with the cats, petting those that would allow me. I admit it was a heart wrenching experience. At times, I had to blink back tears. Especially when I "visited" with the cat that had lost its ears to cancer. Many cats have "battle scars" from their previous "lives", many were abused and neglected, but the wonderful cat-lover volunteers at the sanctuary treated them with respect and lots of love.

Finally, the piece de resistance, and my favorite memory, an unexpected private tour of the school of his youth, Collegio Nazareno, just steps away from the famous Spanish Steps! After Luigi introduced me to Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps, he paused in front of a non-descript building and so nonchalantly said, “this is where I went to school”. Well, I immediately yanked “Mr. Nonchalant” into the entrance of “his” school to have a sneak-peak, which, when a kind school official discovered that Luigi (with his curious wife) was an alumni, offered “the tour”. Immediately, we were enveloped in culture and history dating back to the 1700’s. While the statue-lined hallways and frescoed walls were familiar terrain to Luigi, to me, it was surreal. Entering the auditorium transcends one to a different world. Oil portraits of school alumni that adorn the walls include cardinals, artists and poets. I felt not only admiration but also a little bit of envy of my husband’s childhood.