The two of you hit on two of the main alternatives I've always considered - and for the exact reasons you mentioned. 
I think I'm kind of leaning towards French, though, for the same reasons. After spending the better part of a year in Madrid as a college student, I spent a week in Italy on the way back home and did get by pretty well with my Spanish background. French, on the other hand, is spoken in many parts of the world where Spanish isn't (including in much of Africa) - just in case I ever manage to do some serious traveling again some day. And I'm with Michelle... I love listening to French even if I can't understand a word! 
Actually, I believe French also has roots as one of the so-called "romance" languages, along with Spanish and Italian, so it shouldn't be too much more difficult - except for the accent. Any other languages I'd considered involve different alphabets and letters, so they'd be much more difficult.
I suspect the hardest part will be getting started. Either that, or I'll find myself so caught up in it, I'll get distracted from doing a whole bunch of other things I SHOULD be doing! Great fun thinking about it, though, and nice to know there are practical options available.
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