The Book Made Me Do It

Two summers ago, as I wandered around Eastern Europe all by my lonesome for two weeks, I had a lot of time to read. Finding English language books was difficult, but I was desperate, and this is what lead me to Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I had resisted this book. Many people, most of whom do not share similar literary tastes to me, had recommended this book so much that I had a dislike for it without knowing what it was. Talk shows and magazines liked to herald the author for her spirit of adventure and self-discovery - and this gal living in EGYPT was like "um...been there, done that."

Anyway, I picked it up in Budapest where I was lingering over long, rainy Summer day lunches of stews and salads and read it in a few days. It turned out to be just the book to eat long, hearty, rainy Summer day lunches by.

Fastforward a few years. I've been back to Italy twice since reading Eat, Pray, Love. I have a trip to Bali planned for July. (note: I still have no interest in visiting an Ashram in India) I had a trip to Cyprus planned for Easter vacation: it's close, has good wine and Cadbury chocolate eggs, and is chock-full of historic sites. I've been there the past two Springs and it is a budget vacation compared to going further afield.

Then I watched the movie adaptation of EPL the other night. Every shot of Rome, or food, or food in Rome, caused me to audibly gasp. My travel buddy and I were meant to book our flights to Cyprus yesterday, but I decided to innocently search for flights to Rome before we went to the travel agent - and discovered they cost only 500 LE more ($85 by yesterday's exchange rate). Hotels were not much more a night. There is no car to hire. They have cheap good wine, too.

So, ok, maybe it's crazy, but I'll be spending part of the week leading up to Easter in Rome (likely the busiest time of year there), and the rest exploring the Amalfi coast. There are visits to Pompeii and Capri in the plan, as well.

But really, most of the trip is about this: