"The Bride Wore...Snowshoes!"
Buongiorno, all!
Whew...! What a weekend! I'm exhausted! No, no, I don't mean that, you filthy-minded sickos - I mean the wedding! This was truly a unique experience, and I can't think of anything that could have made it more special or wonderful.
This is gonna be a "special edition" email, since it looks like Alle and I are going to steal a few days at the end of the week to run off to Firenze, and I won't be at the computer on Friday. So, I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out, but... Here goes!
Alle got home around 8:00pm on Friday, and we both settled in with the idea of getting a good night's sleep to be ready for the next day's activities. Little did we realize what we'd be waking up to.
Saturday morning, we wound up sleeping in a bit. (I had inadvertently closed our blinds all the way - oops!) When we got up, we found that it was snowing. Hard. We were delighted, though, because it seemed such a romantic prospect - walking to the town hall in the snow, etc., etc... But it kept snowing. And it kept snowing. And it KEPT SNOWING! The roads weren't getting cleared, yet, and the snowflakes were huge!
Sometime in the afternoon, we heard a huge BOOM that made the blinds and the windows rattle. Honestly, I reckoned that one of the blinds in the flat had come down all at once (they do that, sometimes...), so I thought nothing of it. Alle came in and we were talking (and he was talking on the phone), and we heard the sound of an ambulance siren. Next thing, Dad comes in and tells us that a big tree has fallen and blocked the road, just down the street from us, across from the supermarket. We looked out the window and, sure enough, a huge fir tree was spanning the road! I got my camera (I had to get a shot of this!) and I took a couple of shots from the balcony. When I turned to look in the other direction, I saw another tree across the road (or a really, really big branch)! And the snow was still falling...
Well, we made a few calls, and found out that:
a) it was snowing even harder in the mountains
b) the usual road to Sesso (Emanuele's town - Alle's Witness) was blocked
c) the ristorante didn't want to allow us to cancel our reservation
d) at least half of the people invited would not be coming (for obvious reasons)
e) Roberto, who would serve as interpreter, lives in the mountains, where the snow was at its worst. (We had to tell him not to come, that Alle's sister would fill in, instead.)
We continued making our preparations, and the snow kept falling. Rob surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of pink tulips just before we left. Linda (Alle's friend, my witness) arrived with her boyfriend, got their parking permission slip, and drove to the Town Hall. Rob, Andrew, Alle and myself all started walking. It took us roughly 45 minutes to make it, slopping through drifts from nearly a foot and a half of snowfall, slush, and slippery packed snow all along the route. Once we got to to town, the piazzas were beautiful, completely covered in fresh powder, and only a handful of cars attempting travel anywhere.
Someone (some kids) threw snowballs at me... grr... (I've been told it's good luck...)
We arrived at the town hall, and once Emanuele arrived, we all went in. And the confusion began. We'd been told that we should arrive ten or fifteen minutes early, so any arrangements could be made, so we did. Unfortunately this meant we'd suddenly get rushed about, since the official had arrived and was ready to go! The Wedding March played, we walked to the front of the hall and the table and chairs there waiting for us, and my interpreter, Rob, was nowhere to be found! Apparently, the officials in charge didn't realize that we needed the interpreter on hand because I don't speak Italian!
We sorted that out in a hurry, of course, Rob took her place next to us, and the guests (who had arrived on time) were allowed in. Once settled, the official turned on the microphone to record the ceremony, opened his mouth to speak, and a cell phone went off! ...sigh... Everyone looked around, with obvious amused expressions and wondering "Who is it, then?", and the official sheepishly grinned and took out his phone to shut it off. LOL!
At last, we began in earnest. Mariachiara got the video, Stephan took stills, and we waited to answer questions when we were supposed to. Mostly. Alle answered too soon (before Rob could read the translated version of the "Do you...?" portion of the ceremony), and so I did too. :) Then once all the dry legalities were commenced with, we exchanged rings, everyone applauded, and that was that. A pause for photographs, smiles all around, and I suddenly realized how many people had slogged through the snow and slush to be there with us for our special day. Remarkable! About 20 people other than ourselves and our "crew" had got through the struggle to be there and to celebrate.
Afterwards, we made our way through the streets and found a ristorante which was smoke free, and we settled in for pizza, drinks and dessert. Alle and I both made speeches (don't remember a single word!), and at the end of the night, we were the last to leave, only to find ourselves pelted with rice and a few snowballs! After many, many kisses and hugs, we walked back home with Rob and Andrew, laughing and joking, and thinking what a wonderful, surreal day it had been.
And what a perfect wedding.
Ciao,
Kim
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