I Woke Up in Tears Dreaming of (Italy?)

I had the most profound dream. That I inherited a farm house on a hilltop (within walking distance of a wine producer). Talk about ‘Eat, Pray, Love’! The housekeeper still lived there so I was not alone. In fact, she was retired but had made an effort to project manage the place and ‘renovate’ the old bathroom and kitchen. Her renovations were nowhere from perfect (but at least the place wasn’t falling apart like it was before!). I entered room after room (I hadn’t been there in years) and found that there was in fact another kitchen and lounge area at the very back of the house, almost in darkness (unused).

When I exited, the woman took me further up into the garden where I slumped against a very old tree overlooking the most magnificient (Italian) scenery I had ever seen. There was greenery from the hilltop but the city itself was that magical terracotta colour of Italian buildings. And in the middle of the hundreds of homes (didn’t look like too large a city), there was a dome shaped church that stuck out as a guiding point for the lost.

I perched against the tree and I began to sob (and seriously sob) as I looked out over that breathtaking view wanting nothing but to be there forever (even if I had to deal with the old housekeeper).

I was left with an overwhelming feeling that I had seen and experienced heaven – the most magnificent place on earth. But my pipedream soon dissipated as my eyes opened and I awoke. 

When up and about in my apartment I frantically searched for photos of places I’d been to in Italy with a dome shaped church or duomo. As you can imagine, finding the one place I considered heaven was a feat…I mean most of Italy is like heaven upon earth so you can imagine the impossibility of searching for that place.

First I browsed Rome but couldn’t find any photos of me on a hill top overlooking a dome shaped church.

Then I went on to Florence where my eyes are even closed about the duomo – too good to be true huh!

Desperately, I even searched for photos in Italian towns (such as San Gimignano) but still no such luck of me and a dome upon a hilltop.

My mad hunt led me to the realisation that I may have not actually been to this specific place before – the place of my dreams and that I should wait for my heaven may still come!