diary

Flash mob!

Sunday July 11.

I went to my first "flash mob" with Suzy (Sally's friend). What is a flash mob? Not sure how to describe it but basically the people participating in a flash mob are briefed on some very unusual behaviour they have to act and at the specified time they all act unusally in very populated areas before dispersing as nothing had happened. The goal is a) to surpise the passer by's who would think "what the hell is this" and have b) have a laugh. Here is our brief:

"Location - CBD Town Hall Steps

By 11:55 you will have made your way to the vicinity of the Town Hall steps. For this exercise we wiil take our cue from the Town Hall CLock. By 11.59 you will be casully sitting on the steps of the hall.

You are Quasimodo, the Hunchback from Notre Dame, though this is not to become apparent till the Town Hall clock begins its'Music'. As soon as the clock starts, rise to your feet wailing "Ahhh!! The Bells! The Bells!" (Don't forget your Hounch back) make comical but horror struck faces as you limp and shuffle down the steps to the street level. Exaggerate your Huncback and limp. Crouch over, flailing your arms about. Look up at the clock wailing "The Bells, The Bells!" Cover your ears from time to time. Remember, our aim here is comedy rather than terrify the passing public. It should be clear you not having some sort of seizure. (...) When the final chime of 12 strikes, (Keep count in your head) straighten up, Cheer Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Then disperse".

This was it. Hilarious. Well, just a small problem, the bells didn't chime, so we acted all the same (improvisation!!!) and then dispersed. I look forward to the next.

What the hell am I doing drinking in ...

The months of May and June went quietly as we spent most of the time relaxing and enjoying the novelty of married life. We were visited by a few friends including Colin and Tina during their round the world trip before they settle in San Francisco where they will be spending a few years: good on them!. I also went for an overseas trip for work to California which was very exciting since I grew up dreaming of the places we kept on hearing about in songs and seeing in films during our adoloscence... yes all those days ago. Ben (a colleague and friend of mine) and I spent a week in LA, a few days in San Francisco (check out the photo with the French twin sisters playing chess in San Fran) and then down Hgway 1 back to LA. Spectacular views and great nights out, I look forward to coming back.

Xmas in May

And now to the fun part: PRESENTS. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AMAZING GENEROSITY. We are still unwrapping presents today and I have had to build shelf to fit all the gifts thank you very much. We received all we desired (I think we already had all we needed) plus some very extravagant and very grown-up presents, I guess we will have to wait before actually using them. As you can see from the photo Annie hated every moment of it.

"Honey Moon 3"

They say that the best thing of the holiday is the trip itself, true, in our case, although not the best thing of the holiday, it was the trip back from Denmark to Perth - normally the worst part of the holiday. A long straight road crossing through gum tree forests and incredibly dry farming land. We drove for hours without seeing a soul. Half way through the drive to took a turn off the road and went down a 8 km red dirt track until we reached a creek - it could not have been a more australian bit of land: so dry and so isolated. Check out the photos of the creek and of the milanese Sheila with the thunder dunny to the left.

"Honey Moon 2"

... and it did get better. We (Annie and I, Mum and Dad, Dome and Ali, Gabriella and Nonna _ Teresa, Gwen and Xavier headed back to Sydney) stayed in a big house built with recycled timber in a gum tree forest a short walk from the water. We went for long walks along the coast, on the tree top walk and got to know the all the local birds. One of the most spectacular excursions was to the green pools. It was a rainy day so no one was to be seen and we swam in crystal claer water surrounded by granite rocks: very cold but really worth it. We ended up drying our wet clothes on a public BBQ.

"Honey Moon"

After the wedding day we (Annie and I, Dad, Mum, Tere, Dome, Ali, Gabriella, Nonna, Xavier and Gwen - two great friends of ours) headed south to Margaret River stayin at Annie's family house in Dunsborough and in the house that Annie and Morie (family friends) very kindly lent us in Yallingup with the most spectacular views of the sunset and dolphins playing in the water - thank you Annie and Maurizio. Great weather, relax and an improvised "Giro d'Italia" with balls crafted out of dried cuttle fish. We left three splendid days later heading further south to Denmark thinking "this cannot get any better...".

Wedding Day

Friday the 23rd of April was a beautifully sunny day, especially considering the previous days it had been heavily raining. We got married at St. Hilda's chapel, Annie's high school chapel, a very nice, simple church made with local lime stone and local jarrah wood.
After the service we went to Port beach for some photos and then to the Red Herring, a small restaurant on a jetty of the Swan river. We had a great party with all the friends who came from all parts of the world. It was so warm all the windows were open and guests could relax along the jetty enjoying the nice breeze.

Wedding

Our Wedding day, the days before and after were amazing. The italian contingent gradually trickled into Sydney greeted by the groom-to-be coming straight form the stag night. First arrived Teresa, then Julia and Thierry, then Mum, Dad and Gabriella and finally Domenico and Aline. I think every inch of Sydney was covered over the following days!

Day One

OK, need to start somewhere. The purpose of this is so we can keep in touch with all our friends so please write as many comments as possible so at least I feel like it is worthwhile. It is also because I feel like I need to stay in touch with the latest technology developments so I know what people are talking about.