“I will do just about anything to travel! As a little girl I dreamed of visiting the great cities of Europe: Paris, London, Rome, Madrid. I listened to my grandparents talk about their travels to China and to the USSR with envy. I wanted to go! Instead, I read. My images of London were shaped by the stories of Charles Dickens and Frances Hodgson Burnett. My Paris was the city of Madeline. And my vision of Italy was shaped by the artists and writers I admired: da Vinci, Machiavelli, Raphael, and, of course, Michelangelo.

When I was fifteen my grandparents took me on my first European adventure. Since then life has been a series of schemes and dreams — always longing to travel yet again.

With my first book, A Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome, I am excited to open one of my favorite cities to my readers in a new way. Rome throbs and pulses with energy. To dip into the Renaissance world which still exists in a very modern city allows the traveler to experience a Rome which most people miss as their coach buses cruise the boulevards. And to take the journey one step further — traveling with my readers — that is truly a dream come true! ”

“Traveling with Angela around Italy was one of the most intensely rewarding travel experiences I’ve ever had. She is by far the most well-informed and personally engaged ‘tour-leaders’ I’ve had the privilege of traveling with. The trip to the Vatican and her commentary on the Sistine Chapel alone totally changed my perspective on the monument (from fabulous to truly overwhelming); even though it was my third visit, I felt like I was viewing it through newly opened eyes. The Forum was magically transformed from a stretch of ruins to the glory of the old Roman Empire! Perhaps most amazingly she greeted every place with such vigor and excitement — a smile and a laugh; her enthusiasm is truly contagious. I only wish I would take her with me on every trip that I take. ”