Palazzo Te (opens in new tab)

It’s a few weeks ago and I am being shown around Palazzo Te, a summer palace in the north of Italy. It is 34 degrees and sweat is tickling the backs of my legs, and there’s a headache like a solar flare threatening to whip my skull if I don’t inhale water like air. My friend knows every single thing about this place, and the way he speaks, it’s like a tour guide is showing me around inside a dream. He tells me about the ruling Gonzaga family of Mantua and how, at the beginning of the 16th Cen...