Finire?

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” - G.K. Chesterton

The “end” of this experience has felt both very long and very short at the same time. We spent two days putting our presentations together. Shun decided to make them group presentations, placing me with Melodie and Anisha to try and describe our experience, our time with the very loose outline of pre-conceptions and re-connections, but I thought that transformations was a more appropriate word for my experience, and neither Melodie nor Anisha really cared for re-connections. It was two fairly grueling days of working out ideas and putting together power points, messing around with Photoshop (for Melodie) and getting about 2 hours of sleep. Then we woke up on Friday to give our presentations, rehearsing a little in the morning and then finally presenting once our guests (Ferdinando, professors from Torino) showed up. It was an interesting presentation, my first real review from architects, and second from my peers. My portion was very different from everyone else’s, my presentation was more dependent on my speaking, my projection, than my PowerPoint. The others, knowing far more about PowerPoint and Photoshop than me produced incredible effects and displays to convey their ideas. I gave a rather passionate presentation, then Anisha gave her part in her very clear and concise speaking pattern, and Melodie finished with her incredibly oratorical presentation style. It sparked a lot of discussion, all good, and Melodie at least was very happy with how it went, saying that it was a good review. I was happy certainly, and a little relieved.

We were all prepared to crash after that, but there really wasn’t any time. The Businaro’s had set up a rather nice surprise for us. We were attending a charity event as Ferdinando’s guests, an event at his girlfriend’s father’s villa. I got to ride with Frederico (Ferdinando’s older brother) in the front of his very nice jaguar (I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t take the Maserati…so was he) and we talked about his travels, his work, and surprisingly his love life. He was very open about that. I think he really is a romantic at heart, and him and his brother are very clearly generous and giving people. Eventually we made it to the event all to be shocked for the entire evening. It was a massive Palladian villa, far larger than the one that we have been working in, and we were surrounded by rather fancy suits and glamorous dresses (and some not so glamorous dresses). I was constantly surprised by this experience, and much of that was thanks to the Businaro’s generosity. In attendance were an Italian count and the Archduke of Austria, both of whom gave a short speech far outdone by the master of the villa, who gave an apparently hilarious speech in rapid Italian.

I’m not really sure how to describe the event. It was rather overwhelming. There was a full orchestra in the middle of the courtyard playing Waltzes by Strauss in honor of the archduke. There were tables of appetizers filled with delicious breads, cheeses, fruits, and seafood. There was a long (three hour) dinner where we sat and talked, and ate, and enjoyed ourselves. We were in the main room on the second floor and were entered into a raffle by Ferdinando to win prizes from the Rotary Club that was helping sponsor the event (which was to raise money for cystic fibrosis by the way). Two people in our group actually won jewelry, it was really cool. There were fireworks shot off of the balcony just across from where we ate, there was a night filled with dancing on a dance floor that had been set up where the orchestra had been earlier in the evening. We all danced together and even Shun joined in which was absolutely hilarious and incredible. That is a sight that I will never forget. We stayed until about 2:45; we were some of the last guests there with the Businaros. We were then driven home only to wake up the next morning and wonder if it had all been real, if it had really happened. This whole experience has been incredible, and the Businaros welcomed us all back to Il Palazzetto any time, sincerely. And I do believe we all want to take them up on that offer some day. I know I will be back, eventually.

I’m off now to take my last trip to Venice before I go to stay in the airport tonight to catch my 6:30 am flight. It will be a shame to say goodbye to the city and to Italy in general, but it will be very nice to be home, if only briefly before I continue my adventure.