I woke from a dream this morning that was half grand tour reverie, half nightmare.
The reverie: I was on foot in southern Italy, trying to find my way to the temples of Paestum. I passed a set of monuments, some with statuary, commemorating 18th century British explorers and tourists. Eventually I came to a library that was stocked with books in English and Italian periodicals. All this was accompanied by music that reminded me of Respighi...
The nightmare: I was in Italy because I had forgotten to sit the second part of an important exam. Resits were impossible and I felt my life was ruined. I was thinking of killing myself near the temples.
Thomas Major (1714/20-1799) - The Ruins of Paestum, otherwise Posidonia, in Magna Graecia / by Thomas Major.