A Change of Plans: The Siren City Will Have to Wait

The embossed leather dust jacket for my
new journal, adorned with the Three Graces

Well, it seems my return to Napoli was not meant to be, at least not this time. The trip was canceled at the last minute, but thankfully, nothing serious was amiss; it was merely an unexpected change of plans.

So my hopes of strolling down Via Toledo once again, paying homage to Virgil and invoking my Muse at his tomb, will have to wait. I had also looked forward to indulging in a little people-watching over coffee at the legendary Gran Caffè Gambrinus. I imagined myself sitting in that magnificent nineteenth-century Belle Époque café with my new journal, surrounded by the ghosts of the literary and artistic greats who had passed through its doors before me.

Disappointing, of course, but Napoli has waited for me before, and I suspect she will again. The siren’s call has not grown any fainter. Only my return has been postponed.