Rome,
Italy
It’s hard to justify a trip to Rome to research a
story that may or may not ever sell—as lovely as the
trip might be—and so I did not visit Rome for this
novel. I did the next best thing, though—contacted
a user-friendly expert who knew his stuff. Adam Nixon
at RomeBuddy.com was
my perfect resource. He told me things I wouldn’t read
about in books, and described Rome in the
off-season.
“Rome looks wilted,” he wrote. “Sort of
melted and exhausted and kind of dirty...”
He explained passeggiata to
me, when the Romans strut around in their finery, and
shared details about Christmas there, and New Year’s
Eve, and La Befana Day (Epiphany).
Christmas isn’t the big commercial deal in Rome that
it is in the States. To the best of my knowledge, there
is no “Black Friday” in Italy. Some believe that the
Christmas celebration began in Italy, though, explaining
why the colors of Christmas echo Italy’s flag.
Though Il Sotto Abbasso was entirely invented,
there is a rich underground world in Rome. Click
HERE to read about some of the places you might visit if
you’re interested in exploring the under down.
Most of the other locales mentioned in The Last
Will were authentic. Learn more about The Mouth
of Truth HERE, the Pantheon HERE, the Museum of Purgatory
HERE, and the Borghese Gallery HERE.
If you decide to visit Rome, go in April, May or June;
that’s Adam’s recommendation. Don’t forget to throw
a coin in the Trevi Fountain.
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