The princedom of Monteverde is a fictional place, first mentioned in For My Lady's Heart, but Allegreto's home is based on a very real corner of northeastern Italy. One September, I had the opportunity to take a week for research there. At the foot of the Tyrolian Alps lies a great lake, where mountain cliffs plunge into clear water and palm trees grow under snow-capped peaks. It is a magical place, the opening to a road across the Alps that has seen travelers pass for thousands of years. These photos are of real places, but Monteverde is their sum in my imagination. If you journeyed there in the 14th century, perhaps from Venice, you might find something like these pictures, but instead of telephone wires and ruins, it would be alive with powerful castles and colorful ladies and gentlemen on horseback, their falcons perched on their wrists...