For the Cologne newspaper journalist Michael Heinrich, a year as a correspondent for Itally is a dream come true. His wife, the lawyer Susanne, agrees to take her postponed sabbatical there, but the concierge Filippo and his hunky cousin Toni have yet to finish the apartment in the 'palazzo' of Principe Ercole. Angelic son Tobias and pubescent brat Caroline object to being ripped from their world, but soon welcome the Romans. Roman public services and Vatican bureaucracy test Michael's patience, as do Ercole's playful niece Maria and Susanne's visiting parents. Controversial archeology professor Neri gives Michael a scoop on the missing main Etruscan sanctuary.