Caroline is converting to Roman Catholicism, feeling isolated in her belief and finding the other converts she meets either maddeningly sheeplike and unintelligent or, like Mrs Georgina Hogg, whose religious impulse is all material, repulsive.
Dozens of these businesses that have served as a seasonal escape for generations of Romans are feeling the chill breeze of hard times.
"Yes, there is a very strong Roman Catholic feeling, but . .
Here you can see a striking juxtaposition of styles, two different worlds, two different ways of looking and feeling, the Roman and the Byzantine.
"I'm feeling less Roman Catholic, and it's bothering me because I appreciate the idea of the Vatican, Rome and the pope representing the best parts of our tradition," Ms. Cuozzo said.
If we, the members of the new press-audience continuum, are left feeling like Romans who went thumbs down, then thought better of it... oh, we're too late for JoePa?
There's a museum-worthy art collection, a celebrated spa, red-clay tennis courts and, if you're feeling bloodthirsty, a Roman gladiator school.
And just like fans of the WWE, we sustain it with a willful, Roman bloodlust that keeps it feeling real, but blinds us to our own embarrassingly engorged verisimilitude.
Naturally, if you're feeling lazy, the Romans would probably have snapped up food processors in the blink of an eye, so don't hesitate!
There is, as so often when looking at the Romans, a feeling of double exposure: a simultaneous sense of recognition, that they were somehow "just like us" – alongside an opposite sense, of alienation and confusion.
