Claire and Matteo's Wedding

Hello Friends and Family,

I am reviving my old blog that I kept while living in Spain in order to share photos of Claire and Matteo's recent wedding in Italy. It seems fitting, since when the rest of us moved to Madrid, Claire moved to Grottaforatta, near Rome, no doubt leading to this day.

 The morning of the wedding, October 30th, Iris and Adele do Claire's hair over and over again. And then give up.

Iris, Claire and Adele

When Claire told us they'd be getting married at the town hall, we imagined something quite different than the City Hall of Varese, Italy.

Caroline in front of the City Hall

Behind are formal gardens where we would later take photos.

The gardens at the City Hall

 There was room for 60 in the ceremonial chamber of the city hall. We had about 20 family members who managed to get there. Matteo, grew up in the vicinity, had plenty of relatives to fill the hall.

In the front row are Matt's sister, Margie, his father, Ted, mother, Della, his empty chair and me.

Turns out it is traditional in Italy as well for the father to walk in with the bride.

Matteo's mother, Stella, and Matteo

 Matteo and his mother watching Claire arrive.

Iris

 Iris reads a poem written by my mother for the newlyweds.

Also traditional is the kiss at the end of the ceremony.

Stella and Davide

Matteo won hearts by choosing flowers for Claire's bouquet that represent her and her sisters. Roses for Claire, goldenrod for Adele and Irises for Iris.

Margot, Claire

 Walking toward the gardens to take photos.

 Photo taking at the fountain.

Margie (Matt's sister), Caroline (my sister Nina's daughter), Ellen Graff (my aunt), Adele and Iris

Claire, Matteo

A town hall wedding is something special when it is in Varese Italy!

Della, Ted

 Returning to the building after taking photos

Caroline, Claire, Margie, Adele

Waiting to see the newlyweds off.

An unofficial kiss.



Matteo's brothers are merciless with the rice!

The sisters are amused.

After the ceremony everyone, plus more of Matteo's relatives and friends, gathered at a reception venue.

Ted, Ellen, Harry and Camilla (Ellen's children, my cousins from NYC)

Claire and Caroline

Matt, Claire and Margot

Margot and Nina

 The reception began with appetizers at 1:00 pm, and went on for 6 courses and over 6 hours.

Plenty of time to get comfy in sneakers

Ted, Claire, Mikele (Matteo's father)

 And to make speeches. Matt and Matteo's father delivered theirs in English and Italian.

 Thank you, Alessandra, for providing a scroll and art supplies for people to write and draw with!

Matteo, Claire

 Portrait drawing was a major draw. :)

Davide sits for Margot's portrait

 

The first cake I have seen that was decorated with fresh figs

 .

Another shared tradition:

The newlyweds with the mothers:

Stella, Matteo, Claire, Margot

And the fathers:

Mikele, Matteo, Claire, Matt

The cousins:

The cousins. Right of Claire are Caroline, Camilla and Harry

And siblings:

With the siblings: Mattia, Davide, Marta, Matteo, Claire, Iris, Adele

Back in real life. Claire and Matteo at home, laughing over photographs.

How Not to Pack: A Cautionary Tale; Part 4: The Eye of the Storm

 

We must have had more than Munch’s Scream watching over us, maybe St. Jude of lost causes, because, despite the lack of preparation, most of our possessions went out the window to the waiting truck on Tuesday,

A conveyor belt brought everything 8 stories down.

 and, with everyone working:

My eternal thanks to my family for scraping paint off the floor of my studio before inspection.

We even managed to pass inspection on Wednesday morning.  I attributed our good fortune to the Moomin Mama doll that I had put in my purse as a good luck charm.

However, that level of chaos and disorder is not quickly overcome. We still had to pack and clean up at the temporary apartment, and however we did it, we seemed to have either too much stuff or too few bags. We all had 5 minutes of horror when I thought I had sent the passports into the moving truck, but, when Matt handed me a key to our house in Concord, and I put it in the pocket with the Moomin doll, I discovered the passports! Moomin Mama either saved the day, or played a trick on me, not sure which:

I would just like to mention that hauling this much luggage is not advisable when traveling by plane, train, car and metro for 10 days in Scotland and London:

As we got off the plane in Edinburgh, I couldn't find my wallet, and then Matt left his mobile phone at the airport restaurant. The final (we hope) panic occurred when the car Matt had ordered was “upgraded” from a Passat station wagon to a smaller, sportier BMW 320d with red leather seats. Nice car for a rap star, but lousy for a family of 5 with 8 suitcases and plethora of handbags. I did my best to fit it all in, while Matt argued with the rental company. A bigger car would cost more than twice the original rental:

An excellent way to do penance for lack of planning and over-accumulation
of possessions. Travel about the UK with suitcases at feet and on lap.

 

We had a two  hour ride ahead of us into the Highlands, some bags had to go. We would have to leave the two largest at the airport. A rapid repacking in the parking lot resulted in all of Adele's shoes being left, but that precious bag of herbs and spices coming on the tour of Scotland. 
















 

If you are looking for a way to de-stress, I highly recommend Scotland. How can one not relax in in the midst of fields of sheep,

absurdly quaint cottages,












and tea houses

Here is something I had never seen: a pot of tea with a timer for steeping on top.
Each color is a slightly different amount of time.

The girls thought it charming that everyone seemed to call them "Love" and "Poppet."

For excitement, we stopped at this old church with the "Thrift Store" sign 

We came away with quite a good selection of second-hand books.

 








However, for the ultimate in recuperating from the trauma of moving we have our very hospitable cousins in Elie to thank.  With Duncan and Fiona's encouragement, Matt and I actually played golf.

Historical (and hysterical) moment - my first time hitting a golf ball.

 

Fiona and Duncan look on with astonishment, as Matt, who had not picked
up a golf club in nearly 40 years, makes a birdie.

We made a trip out to the Isle of May bird sanctuary

Checking out the Razorbills, who share the island with 90,000 Puffins

 

Watching the bird-watchers

Lydia and Fiona

Iris and Adele in the window seat at Wynd House

Now we were truly in the Eye of the Storm. Iris gets credit for this description. Scotland was a wonderful, quiet respite from our recent struggles. But as she pointed out, getting out of Madrid was nothing compared to what moving back into our house would be in a couple of weeks' time.

If I manage to do a post on moving back in, I will title it: Erstwhile Antimaterialist Turned Horder Meets her Fate

But I probably won't get to it, as I really do want the next episode to be better organized than the first, and blogging is an entertaining distraction, but of little practical assistance.