One morning, while Eleonora is guiding a group of tourists, she is caught up in a sudden fantasy. As she gazes at the Rome Colosseum, which appears as dark and impenetrable as her own mind, she finds herself transported to the luminous Arena in Pola, in the Istria of her childhood. She meets her brother Giulio, who died in India many years before, and he takes her to their home. Torn between fear and desire, Eleonora faces her most repressed memories. The big house, which was filled with music and laughter when they were children, is abandoned and in ruins. This revery seems long, but it only lasts a few seconds, the time it takes for a hot-air balloon to float over the Colosseum. She finds herself back in Rome with her tour group. Yet inside her, something has changed profoundly.