Wed, 8 Oct - Final wedding preparations in Siena

Wednesday morning, we met Ben, again, this time in Siena in Piazza del Campo. We walked down a narrow alley to a door at the back of the town hall, and into the records section. This was quite the contrast to Firenze (where it's thought - after signing, stamping, and filing all the official documents - they put the records in a wheelbarrow, cart them to records storage, and dump them in a big hole). Right in front of us was a huge climate-controlled storage mahine with well- organized shelves of bound documents that roll back into the inner recesses of the building. The shelves in front showed rows of bound death records from 2000 & 2001. Siena has well organized records going back several centuries. It's nice to know the record of our marriage will be archived for centuries to come. If you ever doubt Nancy and I are married, just fly me over to Siena with you, and I'll show you.

We sat down at a desk with Ben (above right, for those of you anxiously waiting for their first up-close glimpse of him) across from a woman whose name I did not catch amidst all the Italian being thrown around (above left, for those of you anxiously waiting for their first up-close glimpse of a nameless woman in the Siena town hall). There was more paperwork to be completed.

Before you're allowed to get married in Italy, there are 4 sections of the law you must not have violated, and must swear in writing not to have violated them. You cannot have been declared insane (although if you're in love enough to get married, isn't that a form of insanity, anyway?), you cannot currently be married (stands to reason), if either was previously married, you cannot have been convicted of killing or attempting to kill your former spouse or that of your intended spouse (so if you're planning to do so and want to be married in Italy, the order of these actions is important ... Italian Wedding first, stupid unspeakable crime second ... don't mix them up), and last - if coming from abroad to get married in Italy - you cannot get married if you are or have ever been an Italian citizen (I'll get back to you when I figure that one out). We were good with all four of those, so we signed everything and were quickly done. Somehow, this all seems a bit too easy, but I'm not complaining.

Next up, finalizing details with Ben in Piazza del Campo.

Ciao!

- Brent (& Nancy)