Another day in a state of serene perfection.

In the afternoon we did the murder mystery lunch. I had developed characters for everyone, a scenario, a three-act structure (First act, everyone the night after the discovery of the body at the bottom of the road near the Roma Restaurant, where they’d all been carousing; second act, inspector arrives to question them. The victim’s phone rings - one of the suspects had it! Explanation is improvised by player. Next, find the four-number code to unlock the phone of Pietro “Pi” Romano. [There are two answers; if they get one, then say no, and move to the other.] Phone, unlocked, yields documents that incriminate each for a different reason. But there is no internet at the moment so they cannot get new information. Third act: internet is on, new documents come in, everyone is a suspect.

That was the plan. At the last moment, Ryan wanted to join, so I had to rejigger the story. Annnnd at the last moment, he had to leave, so I reapportioned his part. All of the reasons for the murder (USAID fraud, bad travel book complaints to author’s publisher, sexual harassment, Anti-Musk sentiment, pro-bird activism) were implausible, to me, so I gave it to the tech bro who’d cashed out and started his own social network for guys, KingBrain. I got that name by working backwards from his social media handle, which was LeoLobe, that being the main clue about why a senseless, motive-free crime had been committed. Sound it out: LeoLoeb. I knew Natalie would get that one, and yea, she did.

PLAY ENJOYED BY ALL Then we got ready for the main event, the reason for this entire trip. A destination wedding. Our niece, on wife’s side, daughter of just-recently deceased brother - so it’s fraught and sad at the same time simple and joyous. Annnnd no one wants to read a recap of someone else’s relative’s wedding, so I’ll just give you some photos of the venue. It’s a castle. Not an ersatz disneyfied place or a recreation encrusted with anchronistic gewgaws. An actual castle.

Into the castle complex and down the stairs . . .

. . . to a garden below, where the wedding was held. Blessedly short - the temps were in the mid 80s, so brevity was appreciated. Then refreshments, which included cold Peroni beer, a great tonic. Dinner took about three hours, and yea, this time there was steak.

The bride and groom snuck off now and then for more pictures:

They had a drone up there circling and observing, taking shots I’m sure will be stunning (and you know how much I hate to use that word) - the operator put it so far up he must have gotten miles of vistas before settling down in the courtyard.

I got this from the ground. You get the sense of the event: quite romantic and memorable. NOW WE EAT DESSERT AND DANCE EN MASSE

I wandered away to explore a bit.

A remarkable journey. Just extraordinary.

THE NEXT DAY. Easy enough. Woke after five fitful hours, cleaned and packed, and headed into town. Got on the big bus and made our way back to Rome. There’s a lot packed in that last sentence, now that I think of it. More mountains.

We stopped at a gas station / C-store / trat or ost, and I wish I’d taken my camera in, just to show you what it looked like. No idea how to place it in the history of Italian roadside convenience store design. Orange and brown, though. Delicious sandwiches. Then back on the bus, and back to sleep. When I woke we were here:

I can’t see him without thinking of the Planet of the Apes lawgiver. But it's Leo D, holding a model of his proto-helicopter.

The hotel was connected to the airport area by an elevated walkway out of a 1980s dystopian sci-fi movie.

The Hilton was okay. Showing its age in spots. I had to write a column, so I wrote a column, then wife came down to the bar and started watching the big tennis match. She would be watching it for the next six hours, it seems. I gave her affectionate grief - our last night in Rome, and how would you feel if I were glued to a football game?

A final family dinner in the hotel, then to bed.

Up and off to home!

Well, yes. And no. And yes. But that's tomorrow.