A Wedding, a Duck and a Mall

Today we went to Castel Gandalfo where the Pope goes to get out of town. There is not really much there but we did see a wedding party outside the church in the main piazza. The bride and groom and most of the guests were Japanese but when we peaked in the church they were being married by a priest who was giving his sermon in Italian. I could not help wondering if the happy couple and guests understood any of it.

Main piazza in Castel Gandalfo looking at Papal Palace



Wedding party at Castel Gandalfo



The bride and her attendant

It started to rain so we headed back to Rome. Dom wanted to stop by a used equipment lot that can be seen from the Rome ring road. It is a reseller of used equipment including quite a variety of military hardware—jet planes, tanks, guns, etc. The funniest thing (I think) was an amphibious vehicle that look like one of the Ride the Duck boats. However, it turns out it was made by FIAT.


Looks like a Duck to me



Enlarge the picture to see the FIAT sign on the front!

The used equipment dealer was right by an IKEA and a huge shopping mall so we headed over there for lunch. The most interesting thing there was the underground parking system. Each stall has a light above it that is red if the spot is full and green if it is empty. At the end of the rows there are signs with a green arrow and the number of empty stalls or a red X if all spots are filled. It is really an ingenious system.


See the red lights above each spot? It's hard to see but the one directly under the Uscita sign is green.

In the mall (a lot like Bellevue Square or Alderwood Mall) there was a huge sporting goods store. Dom and I actually bought ski socks because we both need them and the price was good. It is one of those things that is hard to remember to buy unless you just happen upon it.

It was a different sort of day from our usual but a nice break.