On Matrimony and Honeymoons, or Phew!
I'm not even sure I remember the beginning of this year! In-between projects and day job, I got married May 28th and am now in Nice, France on my honeymoon. Josh and I have only been here for about three days or so, the first day a very intense course in culture shock which we survived and have carried on. Our main obstacle was the language barrier, but all of the French that has laid dormant for the past four years is slowly unlocking itself, and aside from things like you have to get produce people to bag and price your apples, and you have to bring your own bag for groceries (a lot of people bring suitcases!), we're doing ok.
With the language aside, ritualistic things are not that different, although perhaps better. Overall ambiance is more beautiful because of Nice's innate history; as a result architecture and landscape is sublime. Josh and I have spent the past few days just aimlessly walking around and stumbling upon constant awesome. One example of the Nice quotidian is you can ascend the ruins of a medieval castle, Colline du Chateau, where at its zenith is a poet's mausoleum (maybe just a memorial--it was sort of unclear what was going on there), and a panoramic view of the Cote d'Azur accompanied by an accordionist.
On our first night, when I opened the window, strains of Beethoven's 9th symphony swelled into the apartment, punctuated with John Cage-like horns, seagull calls, and train bells. It's the 150th anniversary of Nice's independence from Italy, so things like plein air symphonies were the norm all weekend. There are street performers everywhere--extreme musicians like this piano player--who just rocked Rachmaninoff for Euros like no one's business. It's crazy to me to think this pianist lugs his instrument around Nice for literally pennies.
I'm still heavily jet-lagged, and my brain is switching in and out of French and English right now, so I'm unsure how disjointed this is, but this is by far the coolest thing I've ever done and I'm going to talk ears off about it while I am here. : )
With the language aside, ritualistic things are not that different, although perhaps better. Overall ambiance is more beautiful because of Nice's innate history; as a result architecture and landscape is sublime. Josh and I have spent the past few days just aimlessly walking around and stumbling upon constant awesome. One example of the Nice quotidian is you can ascend the ruins of a medieval castle, Colline du Chateau, where at its zenith is a poet's mausoleum (maybe just a memorial--it was sort of unclear what was going on there), and a panoramic view of the Cote d'Azur accompanied by an accordionist.
On our first night, when I opened the window, strains of Beethoven's 9th symphony swelled into the apartment, punctuated with John Cage-like horns, seagull calls, and train bells. It's the 150th anniversary of Nice's independence from Italy, so things like plein air symphonies were the norm all weekend. There are street performers everywhere--extreme musicians like this piano player--who just rocked Rachmaninoff for Euros like no one's business. It's crazy to me to think this pianist lugs his instrument around Nice for literally pennies.
I'm still heavily jet-lagged, and my brain is switching in and out of French and English right now, so I'm unsure how disjointed this is, but this is by far the coolest thing I've ever done and I'm going to talk ears off about it while I am here. : )