Italians in Venice told me how they really feel about Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding
Two things surprised me. First, rather than being drawn into conversation by a nonna at the next table, I learned that Italians drink their morning espresso like a shot at the counter. They don't hang around — certainly not for interviews (I suppose the clue is in the name).
Second, for some locals, the Bezos-Sanchez wedding isn't exactly the talk of the town.
I was in the branch of the cafe and patisserie Rosa Salva, near the Rialto — the central and most touristic part of Venice. Outside, tourists lounged with drinks and pastries, sunning themselves in "Venezia" straw hats and t-shirts bearing the names of other European cities. Inside, apart from the conveyor belt of Venetians drinking espresso, a few patrons had a leisurely drink while taking advantage of the air conditioning.
A waitress confirmed speculation that the other branches of the Venetian patisserie, founded in 1870, had made gift bags for the wedding. When I asked staff at another branch the day before, they were clueless about it — or at least feigned knowing nothing until Bezos' guests had received the bags.
Rosa Salva, she said, was one of many local vendors involved in the lavish celebration. (Later, when I bumped into the owner of Rosa Salva after much hunting, he confirmed they'd provided goods to a high-profile wedding, but wouldn't say which one).
By the restroom, a mother, with her two young boys on kiddie leashes, waited for her husband to return. They were visiting from Rome, she told me. I asked her what she thought about the "big wedding."
As she stumbled over her English, her husband appeared, and overhearing the end of the conversation, responded cheerfully: "We got married nine years ago. It was a lovely day."
Sure, there may have been a language barrier, but perhaps his reaction was more a sign that the "big wedding" isn't necessarily on everyone's lips here.
His wife corrected him. "Not our big wedding," she explained, laughing, but the Bezos-Sanchez wedding.
Francesca Babolini, a Venetian photographer doing some work on her laptop at the cafe, joined the conversation.
I asked her what she thought about the Bezos-Sanchez wedding celebrations, which have been both highly anticipated and also highly protested.
"It doesn't affect us," she said matter-of-factly.
Later on Friday, a ceremony is being be held on a separate island, San Giorgio Maggiore. In this part of Venice, it will have little effect, she added, other than the presence of Ivanka Trump, more yachts than usual, and the occasional protest.
For Babolini, she said it's just another ordinary day in Venice. At least, in this part of the city.
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