*Ambigrams are the work of John Langdon. Ambigrams can be read straight-on and upside-down.

My dad gave me the book for my birthday when I was 12. I wasn’t sure I would like it, but he assured me that I would and that I should just read it.

My little paperback book is now in two pieces with pages falling out.

I have since bought a new paperback and the illustrated version. I also had two shirts with the fire and water ambigrams back in the day. Yes, I have a problem.

If you plan on reading the book and don’t want any spoilers whatsoever, I suggest you skip this post.

Brief plot of the book: A scientist who works for CERN is found murdered with “illuminati” branded on his chest.

Robert Langdon is a expert on symbolism and the Illuminati, and he is called in to investigate the murder and the meaning of the branding. It is discovered that a canister of antimatter was stolen from CERN and planted somewhere in Vatican City with a timer showing that it will explode in a matter of hours, an explosion equivalent to a nuclear bomb. Langdon teams up with the scientist’s daughter, Vittoria Vetra, to track down the canister. The Pope had just passed away, so all the cardinals are whole up in the Vatican, trying to select a new Pope. The 4 preferred cardinals, called “preferiti”, are missing. Langdon gets access to the Vatican Archives and finds clues to a map created by the Illuminati that was used as a way to induct new members. Members had to find clues in churches around Rome that led to a secret Illuminati meeting location. Langdon and Vetra head out to follow the path, but at every location, a preferiti is being killed, so it’s a race to save those lives and find the canister before it flattens Vatican City and kills all of the cardinals.

There are a bunch of inaccuracies, as it is FICTION, but the churches and works of art are very real, and I have always wanted to see everything. Obviously, there was no going into the Vatican Archives, I checked, and we did not see some other things within Vatican City, but we were able to visit all the Bernini statues and works on the Path of Illumination.

The first location is at the Chigi Chapel within the Santa Maria del Poppolo.

The center of the chapel actually lifts up out of the floor. In the book, the cardinal branded with “Earth” was stuffed into the hole, and he suffocated because his throat filled with dirt. The statue is Habakkuk and the Angel, pointing toward the direction of the next marker.

Next, we go to St. Peter’s Square inside Vatican City.

This was the location of the “air” branding, and the cardinal here was murdered by having his lungs punctured.

After this, we run to the Santa Maria della Vittoria. The statue we looked for here is the “Ecstasy of St. Teresa”.

At this location, the cardinal was set on fire, with the “Fire” brand on his chest.

Our final location is found at the Plaza Navona, at the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.

Langdon found the cardinal drowning in the fountain with the “Water” ambigram.

I can’t remember when, but at some point they get diverted to the Pantheon, which we also visited.

We didn’t make it to the final suspected location of the Illuminati lair, and we also could not get to the location of the antimatter canister, but I am more than satisfied with what we visited. This has been on my bucket list since I was read the book for the first time. I never thought I would actually get the opportunity to do it. I always just kinda laughed it off as something that would be cool but nearly impossible. A great big thank you to my father for helping me cross off one of the biggest wishes on my bucket list.

On our journey, we also visited Fontana di Trevi. Unrelated to the Path of Illumination, but a must see while in Roma.

You are supposed to throw three coins into the fountain: one to ensure your return to Rome, two for love, three for marriage.

The art around this giant city is amazing. I can’t believe the detail in these statues and fountains. Really lovely.

Tomorrow, we head to Milan for a short time before we hop on a train to Paris, France!