Wedding Day - 1:00 PM

With Nancy safely in the hands of her captors, I was off to my first location to buy my tie. I stepped into the place, knowing only the words for "necktie" and "bowtie pasta," which I hoped would translate into "formal bowtie." I steped in and asked the gentleman for "un crevate", making the motion of straightening a bowtie, although, I'm not entirely sure I didn't ask for "una cintura" (or belt) while making the motion of straightening a bowtie, likely leading him to think I was looking for a leather dog collar. Either way, he looked at me like I was insane, so I asked if he spoke English, which he did, only to find that they carried nothing like formal bow ties.

With one location gone, I went to get the car and drive to the second location to get a tie, still not worried.

I drove to the second location, only to be reminded of a scheduling quirk neither Nancy nor I would ever quite get the hang of ... the sosta, or afternoon break during which all stores close from 1:00 until 3:00 or 3:30 or 4:30. The store I'd found was closed until close to wedding time. It didn't matter in this case, however, because this store had nothing close to formal wear.

It was time to call Ben, who was always ready to assist. He answered promptly, and offered his own tie, which was one I would need to tie manually, which neither Ben nor I knew how to do, but which I knew I could find how to do on the Internet. He also suggested that he might now the right place in Siena in which to pick up a tie. I thanked him and returned to Palazzo Ravizza.

Although Ben had put my mind at ease, I was concerned that (a) he wouldn't find a tie on his way and (b) that my hand-tying skills might be so lacking that my bowtie might end up looking more like a tired bug on my neck than a bowtie. So I looked to the Internet again to search for Formalwear stores within walking distance of the hotel (as a backup to Ben ... not that I didn't have faith Ben would come through ... I just wanted to make every effort to ensure I didn't get married in a tux with an open shirt-collar and no tie). The Internet showed me the way ...