It had been a long flight and Anna was very glad to see the lights of Milan. She trudged wearily through customs, found her way outside and took a Taxi to the Via Felice Casati. It was raining hard but despite that, and her fatigue, she stood outside for a while, just to drink in the city. It had been so long.

Anna checked into her hotel and fell into bed. The rain against the window was soothing and gave her pleasant dreams. She was here. She’d made it.

She awoke to brilliant sunshine - the rained had stopped. The air was heavy with coffee but instead of taking a hotel breakfast she dressed quickly and went out looking for an interesting café. The streets were full of life, noise, people, traffic, and she realized she'd forgotten just what a different pace of life it was in European cities. It made New York City seem positively quiet, and yet at the same time there was a peace here that was tangible.

People watching was a great past-time and she enjoyed herself  just taking it all in until she could justify her seat no longer, paid her check and continued walking. The next task was to buy some maps. She took these back to her hotel room and spread them out on the bed. Her plan was to head south first, follow the coast, more or less, and just follow her nose. It didn't matter how long it took, or where she ended up, just so long as she found him. Then, at last she could please both her parents and herself.

Anna had recently turned 32. Her father had been driving her crazy for some years prior to that as she was the only unmarried girl in the family. Once she hit 30 the entire family seemed to have taken it upon themselves to play matchmaker, and she'd endured countless surprise supper guests, none of whom appealed to her in the least. She'd found dates for herself too, but they were always wrong for different reasons. At least, her father had observed, she'd finally accepted that she would only be happy with a boy from a solid Italian family because those with different backgrounds to her had such an alien outlook on life it was never going to amount to anything. At the same time Italian boys in NYC just weren't what she wanted, and she had decided to go home, go to Italy, to look for a husband. And she wasn't going back until she found one.

Her bags were packed and she checked out. There was a train station just a few blocks away but she opted to take the much farther journey to the bus terminal. It was partly a test, to see if she could carry her bags that far. If not, something had to go. She wasn't even halfway there when she realized her mistake. All around her was a sea of backpacks. Why had she not listened to her brother, who had told her to take his? She made a mental note to buy one at the next opportunity. But not now. Now she just needed to rest, so she stopped at a store, bought a bottle of water, and found the nearest seat. The street was full of handsome men, and several really caught her eye. Why did they look so different, so much more appealing than the guys she was used to? They seemed less edgy, more real.

She forced herself to walk on and found the bus terminal. Now to have the courage to follow her plan. She bought a ticket for the next bus in any vaguely southerly direction, and found herself rushing to board the Pavia bus, which was just leaving. It was almost full. She worked her way carefully to the back, bracing for the jolts as the driver pulled away, and was almost thrown into the only remaining seat, where she found herself sitting next to a young guy, who greeted her politely and went back to his book. He looked too old to be a student, and it just reinforced her idea that Italian men in Italy were more intelligent and deeper that their American counterparts. He looked intelligent, she thought, because he wore glasses. She liked that idea, and added it to her mental list of acceptable attributes for her intended.

This idea was still in her mind as she arrived in Pavia, and set out to find a store that sold backpacks. So when she was greeted in the store by a handsome clerk in glasses she smiled to herself and took in the view. It occurred to her that more men here wore glasses, and she would have no difficulty in selecting one of them. She had a good long look at this prospect. Wouldn't it be funny, she thought, if she found her man this quickly, but them reminded herself that store clerk was NOT on her list of acceptable professions. Still, he was great eye candy, and when she told him to discard her other bags and saw his smile she felt quite taken with him. But no, she had to find a man with good prospects. Onward.

Anna took an immediate liking to Pavia. It was old and cut in two by a river like cities ought to be. Plus it had the most delightful bridge to cross, a covered medieval bridge, lovingly rebuilt after war damage in the 1940's. She left her backpack in a cheap hotel that turned out to be not so cheap - everything was costing far more than she'd reckoned on - and took a walk around the center of the city. Constantly distracted by the architecture she reminded herself firmly what she was here for, and that she trusted fate would bring him to her. Of course she had to be in the right place, and she didn't know where that was, but she wasn't about to hang out in bars. No, she wanted a man with some depth. Someone who shared her interests. With that in mind she decided to start her quest in a museum, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. Hunger came upon her and she found a small trattoria, and ordered the chef's special. This was part of her plan, to try the local food, try something new every day. She found herself eating vitello tonnato, the dish she'd always been slightly afraid of. But it was excellent, and quite unlike her aunt's version. Halfway through her meal a new waiter arrived, seemingly late for work, as a few whispered angry words were exchanged - he was apparently often late - and he immediately came to see if she wanted dessert. Hearing her American accent he complimented her on her Italian, and asked what she was doing in Pavia. That was a difficult question to answer a stranger, especially one this good-looking. So she lied.

"I'm just touring around really, backpacking. I only arrived yesterday, and jumped on the first bus out of Milan this morning."

"Wise choice," he answered "the further from Milan the better."

"Oh but I love it," she said quickly "but I'm heading south really, trying to take in all the cultural stuff."

"Then you need to go to Napoli, you know that?"

"Napoli? Why?"

"Because it's the most beautiful city in the world. It has all the culture you can dream of, and far more sunshine than Pavia!"

"You know it well?"

"It's my home. Well... it was...." he looked rather sad, so she didn't pursue it. But she didn't want to end the conversation either, so she ordered dessert, which she actually had no room for, just to talk to him again. As he went to get her order she slapped herself firmly on the forehead, NO WAITERS! Not even one this handsome. A rich dessert she couldn't face arrived, along with amaretti. She asked him about museums in Pavia.

"Yes, there are several, some at the University."

"You're a student there?"

"I was. Some time ago. Then, very briefly, I was on the faculty. We parted company." He smiled, but she felt it was with some regret. Not just a waiter then, a professor! Well, an ex-professor anyway. Wow.

She picked at her food. It took her an hour but finally she got it all down. He was cleaning up by then, but he smiled every time he checked on her. Eventually though, she had to leave, although she found herself quite reluctant to do so, and she almost asked him something when she paid her check. As it happened, he read her mind.

"I could show you around the city tomorrow if you like."

Anna thought she would like that very much, and that it would do no harm to get a guided tour from someone who knew the place, so they arranged to meet outside her hotel early the next morning.

When she got up the evening seemed a million miles away and she was slightly annoyed with herself for not finding out more about him first. But it was too late to worry about that now, she was running late and hurried down the stairs and through the lobby...running straight past him. He called her back with a "WOAH!". No wonder she hadn't recognized him, he looked quite different out of his waiter's uniform, his hair, which had been tied back in a short ponytail the night before was now loose, and he was wearing glasses. She felt her heart skip a beat. He was a dream. She smiled widely, involuntarily, repressing an actual giggle, and said she was ready. She wasn't sure what for.

Part Two