The Boom Effect
14 May 2009
Last weekend I was at yet another wedding. I was exhausted from all the travelling and the idea of another couple of hours at the airport was less than appealing. I clung to the thought that at least I would be in Italy where good food, friendly people and blue sky is immanent. I was going to northern Italy, Turin to be precise, but that didn’t stop me from expecting all of the above.
I found myself quite disappointed. Firstly there were the hotel calamities. Neither was it very good looking nor were the staff particularly friendly, and although it called itself “Grande” it was actually far from it. I couldn’t even order a salad to my room after I got back worryingly early from the wedding (it was before 12 which indicates how much fun I was having). I almost went downstairs to scream at the bar lady. No salads, not even fruit after 11. All we could have were sandwiches. When I asked for an apple she repeated “Sorry, only sandwiches.” That’s what she thought. Little did she know I would not let a hotel with substantial room rates off the hook so easily. I mean, come on, I wasn’t exactly asking for a cheese soufflé. How could a hotel not be willing to provide an apple to a starving customer? I had already backed down on the salad – I wasn’t going to go to bed starving.
The next day turned out to be equally frustrating. After we finally left the hotel we were sent to one of the only restaurants open. It was Sunday lunch time and I was in shock. Yes I am catholic but not being able to eat out on a Sunday seems beyond archaic to me. Even in my small home town Regensburg everything is open on a Sunday. I realized this was not the Italy I knew. Buzzing piazzas filled with good-looking people. Deliciousness on every street corner and lots of sun is not to be found in Turin. In fact it rained so heavily the night we arrived that we spent over an hour hovering above unable to land in Turin. It rained all night long and made the celebration held in the garden under a breezy tent a little chilly.
The restaurant we were sent to for lunch the following day was far from good. Maybe that was because its chef was actually from New Jersey. Did I avoid the bridge and tunnel crowd in New York only to be poisoned by one of them in Northern Italy? He was very kind and extremely excited to have English speakers to chat to. After a long and mediocre lunch we walked through the city which felt like it had been nuked. It was completely deserted with only a few old men slouching on park benches, next to them a couple of plastic bags. An old lady with a headscarf was munching on a bit of stale bread staring at a merry-go-round that was veiled by an old blanket. There was a certain something in the air as we walked through the old town. I got a vague sense that this city once owned a bit of glamour of its own, back in the day when the city was prosperous and rich. When Turin’s king, Gianni Agnelli, dove from his helicopter into the sea with a string of beauties dangling on each elbow. Today the glitter of that era has visibly worn off by recessions and tragedies, leaving a desolate and sad place behind.
Somehow everyone seems to be getting married these days. I find it quite bizarre that although religion seems to be of little importance, getting married is still such a big deal, especially for women. Is it an innate desire for woman to be soit disant securely tucked away behind a large diamond ring?
From all these weddings I have understood one thing. Weddings should be fabulous. It is a day, maybe one of those very few, when it really is all about you. The whole event is made for you to stand out and bask in the envious gaze of friends and family. So why not go all out and revel in it? I want to have fun at my wedding. I want to dance until dawn in a stunning dress (I haven’t decided which designer I will bestow with the honour of making it yet). I want all the people who have touched upon my life to be part of this wonderful experience. I want everyone to have the time of their lives and make it worth their while travelling from all over the globe. So even if some weddings are terribly boring they are a useful lesson for me for what not to do.
This is what happens when a girl goes to too many weddings. I have my own wedding all mapped out although I am still missing a minor detail. It is not that I really want to be married. I am perfectly content to be single and free. What I love thinking about is the event itself. Getting married seems like so much fun. It’s the ultimate fancy dress party, the height of a little girls dream. A wedding can make even a cynical’s eyes water. Maybe the reason why everyone is getting married is because it is so deadly contagious, rather like the swine flu.
June 14th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Very amusing blog, I really enjoy your articles. You look amazingly beautiful in your recent Vanity Fair shoot by the way.
I am curious about you because you sometimes seem to want to play down your privileged, glamorous lifestyle and at other times seem almost gloatingly referential to it, with constant product/destination name-checking, etc. I am not sure if you aren’t sometimes trying to “play down” your wealth and connectedness? If so, do you need to? As many of your readers presumably get a small kick from just envying you, you are probably just doing them a favour!
I wonder, have you thought of having an assistant or personal staff? You often seem to be pressed for time and talk about “chores”, although it’s hard to imagine what the latter are! Certainly it’s hard to picture you being forced to wash up or run round with a vac.