An Italian Love Story: Surprise and Joy on the Amalfi Coast, Italian Journeys (Unabridged‪)‬

It’s April in Italy, and the journey of a lifetime is just beginning.

After two weeks at sea, the Oosterdam docked in Civitavecchia, Italy. Among the shipboard romantics is a not-so-young couple on their long-overdue honeymoon. Approaching their 46th wedding anniversary, they have their hearts set on an Italian adventure they would have loved to have taken earlier in their marriage - but matters of making a living and a life and raising children kept them from getting away together. 

The surprises begin even before departed the harbor.

Their Two for the Road adventure begins as inauspiciously as Joanna and Mark’s in that insightful 1967 film about marriage - walking along the side of a highway trailing suitcases, hoping that someone will come along and save them from themselves. Mardi and James survive that misadventure thanks to the kindness of an Italian bus driver who goes out of his way to deliver them where they need to go. It is but the first of many times in their journey that the kindness of strangers and the ever-present Italian penchant for hospitality overwhelm them. Calling their wanderings "pinball traveling", they let the beauty and people of Italy guide their journey. They travel with no firm itinerary; if they see something they like, they have the freedom to explore it. 

Mysteries abound in this life, and their sojourn in southern Italy and the warm-hearted Italians they meet give them eyes to take a fresh look at their high-spirited marriage. 

An Italian Love Story will inspire you to take your own journey of a lifetime - which may, as it does for Mardi and James, bring you face to face with not only the incredible warmth of the Italian people and the intoxicating beauty of Italy but also to the perplexing mysteries of your own life. Buon viaggio!