You know you've been in Italy far too long when...

you wake up with a head cold and sore throat after hanging out on a terrace on a cool summer's eve...

And, the first thing you think isn't, "I've caught a cold", but, actually, "I knew I should have covered up better last night! That's the price of vanity..."

Now, I know that there isn't a doctor in the Western hemisphere -- well, let's qualify that -- outside the Mediterranean Basin (aka Mammasphere) who will tell you that there's any relation between cool weather, skimpy clothes and a cold. More likely, they'll say it's because you were at a party, shook hands with dozens of germ carriers, and that's why you're sick.

But in Italy, I know, in my heart of hearts, it's truly because I did not wrap a scarf around my neck on the order of Pia Isadora. After all, 'tirava il vento' (the wind really kicked up), and, that wreaks havoc on the most hearty of souls.

While I nurse my cold, I have plenty of time to decide whether or not I should be laying in bed, going out and buying a few scarves, or, just pretending that it all happened by chance.