Welcome back to The Shetlar Family European Disaster Tour: The Podcast. If Paris was a frown and Spain was a shrug, Italy is a full-blown cinematic experience—complete with perfect lighting, rolling green hills, and a soundtrack that swells every time I step outside.
The upgrade is instant: a gorgeous hotel with a terrace overlooking the sea, a private room (a miracle!), and the holy grail of travel: 98 Mbps Wi-Fi! Forget cultural exchange; this is a digital rebirth. I’m back online, uploading everything, and no longer feeling like a castaway.
But all of that is just setting the stage for Marco.
I spot him sitting on a vintage Vespa in a tiny village—dark, messy hair, a mischievous smile, and an accent that makes the word “ciao” sound like a love song. My cynical, band-hoodie-wearing teenage heart officially short-circuits. He invites me to see "the real Italy," and against all middle-class parental logic, Mom and Dad actually agree (after an intense background check, of course).
Join me as I trade my stained athletic shorts for cool denim, hop on the back of his Vespa, and experience the pure, wind-in-my-hair freedom of a hidden beach. We talk, we laugh, and in a perfect, golden-lit moment outside my heavenly hotel room, the Italian rom-com reaches its climax with a soft, gentle, heart-stopping kiss.
I’m no longer just surviving the family vacation; I’m living the dream. But with only three days of perfection and a transatlantic distance ahead, will the fast Wi-Fi be enough to keep a forever promise alive?
Tune in to find out if I make it home—or if I’m already planning my next flight back.
Book Title: The Italian Kiss Short Story
Author: Warren M. Walker
Publisher: V & W Publishing
https://publishing.irishknights.co.za/the-italian-kiss-short-story/
Available on Amazon.com:
Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/The-Italian-Kiss-Short-Story-By-Warren-Walker/dp/B0DCLJB73X
Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/The-Italian-Kiss-Short-Story-By-Warren-Walker/dp/B0FV1SR61M