It was a goddess that inspired Sunny Bertollini to move to Italy. The 50-year-old herbalist, and her husband, Mark Hinshaw, a 72-year-old retired architect, had been coming to Italy on vacation for years.

On one trip, they visited an ancient temple to Salus, a Roman goddess of health and well-being — and Bertollini, who says she has “always been a pagan,” was overcome by the experience. “I touched the ancient frescos, and had what I would call an epiphany. … It became quite clear that this is the direction my life would go. ... It was a magnetic draw,” she says.