It hit Keira then like an epiphany. This book was a sign from the Universe to carry on. What a terrible waste it would be to leave Italy now, when Florence was ready and waiting for her!

Feeling calmer and more confident than she had been for the last day, Keira decided then and there that she was going to continue on alone and see what Florence had to offer her. The interaction with the innkeeper had been very soothing for her soul.

Turning to the innkeeper and taking her hands, she said with heartfelt gratitude, “Grazie.”

The elderly woman chuckled. Keira kissed her on both cheeks, as was customary, then stood. From the door she looked back and grinned.

“Addio,” she said to the innkeeper.

The woman smiled up at her from her position on the couch.

“Prendi cura cara,” she replied.

Keira didn’t know what she’d said, but she could feel the emotion behind the woman’s words, communicated through her eyes and heart. Goodbye. Good luck. I wish you the best.

The romance of Italy, Keira realized as she left, was not just for lovers, but for strangers, for friends, for anyone.

She slung her purse over her shoulder and left the inn, heading in the direction of the train station. She felt more light-footed than she had in days, more at ease with the unfamiliar country.

Even the busy station did not faze her much as it did previously.

After purchasing her ticket, Keira decide to wait out the duration before her train’s departure outside the station so she could drink in the last drops of Venice. She’d had a rollercoaster of an experience here.

Then she saw the time had come to board her train. With one final look at Venice, she turned her back and headed onward, alone, to experience the next part of her story.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Stepping out of the train station at Florence, Keira found herself swept up in a vortex of tourists. With no itinerary to follow, she gave in to the power of the current, letting it lead her where it may.

Keira didn’t know much about the city of Florence, other than it being the birthplace of Renaissance art and the home to the infamous statue of David. Seeing him in the flesh (or, more specifically, marble) would be enough to make the trip here worthwhile on its own. But there was so much more to Florence that Keira hadn’t even anticipated. The whole city was packed with art. Considering how small it was, the sheer amount of culture it contained was astounding.

She went to the Uffizi Museum and strolled around, her pace more like the leisurely Italian locals than the hurrying tourists.

Despite the beauty, Keira couldn’t lift her spirits completely. She found a corner of the museum to settle in and began to write—longhand again—another passage for the article she might never finish.

For Italians, food and the act of eating is inherently romantic. The smells, the tastes and sensations, the fact that any food is considered an aphrodisiac (yes, even pizza). The lesser mentioned sense, however, is sight, and it is in Florence that my eyes are seduced by art. There is more packed into this small city than anywhere else in the world. My companions in the Uffizi gallery are Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio...