“Amazing, huh?” Antonio pressed. “You do not get this in New York City! Culture! History!”

“Oh… um, sure...” Keira replied. “What is it?”

“The Nile God,” Antonio informed her. “With his decapitated serpent. People cut the head off the statue many times. This is not the original head.”

He seemed thoroughly amused by this fact. Keira, however, was not. It was an underwhelming attraction.

“Come on,” Antonio added. “Let us go to the church now, huh?”

“Aren’t you going to park the car?” Keira asked.

“It is parked,” Antonio said nonchalantly, already getting out of the car.

Cautiously, Keira also stepped out and looked back at the car, which was abandoned in the middle of the small piazza, blocking the route for everyone.

The air was extremely hot, making her feel even more uncomfortable.

“You want to see places people fall in love,” Antonio said. “Here. Church. The Santa Maria Assunta dei Pignatelli.”

Keira looked at the somewhat unwelcoming gray facade. Crowded outside the church were many people smoking cigarettes, holding cans of beer. Keira coughed as the smoke filled her lungs.

“Here?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes, here,” Antonio replied. “Also over here.”

He gestured to a small road coming off the piazza which was completely filled with shadows. Keira followed him, feeling extremely uncomfortable. They stopped outside a building and Keira realized it was an Internet cafe.

“Is this a joke?” she asked, frowning at Antonio.

“No joke!” he replied defensively. “People come here to find lovers. It is true. Ask anyone.”

He practically shoved her inside the pokey shop. Inside were lurid yellow walls and tables crowded with computers. Antonio spoke in fast Italian to a young man nearby, then looked at Keira.

“This boy is speaking to his lover. He will have an interview with you.”

“What?” Keira asked, shocked.

“Get your pad,” Antonio barked. “Come on. I have found you an interview.”

Feeling unable to defy his orders, Keira pulled her notebook and pen from her purse.

“Well, I’m writing a piece about falling in love in Italy,” she explained to the young man.

The man laughed then, though it was more like a hyena’s cackle. Keira pursed her lips.

“Is something funny?”

“No, no,” the boy said, looking amused and trying to wipe the grin from his face. “Ask your questions.”

Keira took a deep breath. “So, tell me, have you found love here?” She gestured around her to the Internet cafe.

“Sort of,” the boy said. “I found a girl I like. A date.”

“Okay. And that was through the Internet? A message board, something like that?”

Internet dating wasn’t the angle Keira had been expecting to take, but maybe there was something in it. Perhaps she could link the history of Italy with the new evolving technologies younger people used to find love. Maybe there was a way she could link the piazza outside the church, which had once been a meeting ground for lovers, with its proximity to the Internet cafe.

But then the boy spoke and dashed her plans.