On May 18th, I leave for 10 days in Northern Italy - Milan, Genoa, the Italian Riviera, Verona and Venice. Along the way I'll be forced to see some of the world's greatest art and architecture, take in opera performances in La Scala, Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice and the Opera Ballet in Venice. I've only waited all my life to hear a real live opera in La Scala! Too bad it won't be Puccini or Verdi, but La Scala is La Scala.

I fell deeply in love with Italy on a visit in 1971, when I was only eight. That trip left deep impressions and vivid memories. I vowed to go back some day, and now the time has come.

This time I'll actually spend time in Milan instead of whizzing through on the way to Switzerland, and experience the Milanese Aperitivo - that's Fashion City's hip and trendy version of Happy Hour. And since we're going to see "The Last Supper" here, I'll read the Da Vinci Code on the 10-hour flight to Copenhagen and see what the fuss is all about.

I can't wait to discover Genoa. What is it about this city by the sea, that spawned Christopher Columbus, as well as focaccia and basil pesto? Whatever it was, I want to experience it! Not just the medieval soul of Genoa, but also the modern cosmopolitan face, the one it shows in the renowned Aquarium.

And Venice, this time as an adult, free to sip a Tintoretto at Harry's Bar, or take a cream tea at the Caffe Florian....I have no words. My most fervent hope right now is for my arthritic knee to hold out to the end of the trip. If it gives out and I fall off a Ponte into the Canal, I promise to write about it right here.

As we say in radio, "stay tuned...."