“I know it sounds clichéd, but I saw Michelangelo’s David, I climbed Mount Vesuvius, I listened to an orchestra play Mozart in the Cattedrale di Siena, I heard monks sing evensong in the 11th century crypt of San Miniato … I saw rain fall through the oculus of the Pantheon, I ate some of the best pizzas on the planet, I made some incredible friends, and I saw the golden mosaics of the Basilica di San Marco light up one by one like so many stars.“