While you could pipe in lots of things--good coffee, fine wine, endless Renaissance music, I would be happy with an Italian soft drink.

aranciata-sanpellegrino-500-ml0000

What is orangey, slighty fizzy, sweet and sour at the same time, very Italian, and utterly delizioso? Aranciata, that's what. You can get it in little bottles or in little cans, although I prefer the cans. It has 18 percent orange juice and just enough carbonation to be refreshing without being overpowering. And it has real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup, which tastes better, at least to me. I am not a fan of pop (as we call it in this part of the midwest). But I do like Aranciata, both alone and as a mixer with prosecco and campari as a kind of spritz. If someone could figure out how to pipe it into my house and keep the slight fizz (and lose the calories), I would be very happy. Cin-cin!

London, museums, theater, famous actors--what more can you ask for? As Dr. Johnson said, "When a man gets tired of London, he gets tired of life."

Edward Herrmann
In 1985 Peter and I were in London went to see Edward Herrmann, one of my favorite actors, in Tom and Viv at the Royal Court Theatre. Foul, you cry. That is not a celebrity sighting. We all see celebrities in plays, movies, operas, etc. every day. True enough if that was my story. But that was not the sighting. The next day we went to the British Museum and there he was with a group of actors from the play, waiting patiently to enter, just as we were. There was no mistaking him since he is very tall (and I am very short so this is especially obvious to me) and distinctive in both looks and voice. London is not a place where you go up to celebrities and gush about their performances and ask for their autographs and I am not the type anyway, particularly in a place as august as the British Museum. So it has always been my secret thrill--until now anyway.