In our little town in Connecticut, “The Last Post” is a shelter for stray cats. And stray cats is what we feel like right about now, on day 158 of this long, long journey around a good part of the globe. Herewith, some highlights from our time in Rome.

Five years ago, we rented an apartment in Rome, in the Jewish Ghetto, and spent a few weeks here with our children. This afternoon we retraced our steps to the Piazza Mattei, and restaged the same photo we took back wheben everyone was, well, shorter.

Bill and I gave our official lecture last night, at the magnificent Villa Aurelia, which might just be the most enchanting place I’ve ever been. The gardens are vast and well-tended, with great wafts of wisteria giving way to more manicured paths and arbors and hedges. The villa itself is a vision: pale yellow and regal and elegant, with a terrace offering perhaps one of the most beautiful view of the city.

We went to an old chocolate factory yesterday to celebrate Fiona’s 12th birthday, which is actually today. The delectations were amazing, and the decor equally so: we were particularly taken with the antique candy molds, hung everywhere, and encompassing an entire social history of their own. (The pistol mold was our favorite, though sadly, no chocolate pistols were for sale during our visit.)

Yesterday, after walking miles through the markets at Porta Portese, we wandered back through Trastevere and found a restaurant still serving lunch. The special of the day — pollo al forno (or roast chicken) — was promoted on a sign on a birdcage, making us wonder: was this the daily special’s former home?

Today we spent the beter part of the afternoon with our friend Laura Gratz, whose husband Jon Piasecki was a fellow here at the Academy a few years ago, and whose children go to school back in the Berkshires with Malcolm and Fiona. We walked for hours, from the Gianicolo down into Trastevere, across the river, through the ghetto and over to the Avenino, where we saw the most spectacular views of the city. Later, we visited with some friends of Laura’s who have a four-month old Weimeraner puppy, Pluto, who stole our hearts: Malcolm took dozens of pictures, though few were actually in focus, since Pluto doesn’t sit still with any regularity.

We’re getting down to business now that we’re here — not easy as it requires an adjustment for us all, and we’ve been pretty structure-free for a few months, given all the vicissitudes of travel. That said, structure is precisely what we crave, on some basic level. Bill has, for the most part, mastered his technology needs, and Fiona and Malcolm are doing four hours a day of intensive Italian.

As for me, I go to the studio every morning, where I block everything out and work for as long as I can.

This was the view tonight at about 6pm, at the top of the Via Garibaldi, below the American Academy in Rome, where we arrived last night and will be living until June. From the Janiculum, you wind your way down to Trastevere, where the narrow streets give way to exceptionally beautiful alleys and courtyards, with gardens and fountains and cobblestone streets as far as you can see.