The weekend of 23 April I was VERY excited to be attending the wedding of my law school best friend, Arati Bhattacharya, in Houston, Texas. On another fortunate note, one of my friends, John, who recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq (for 18 months!) had just arrived in Wiesbaden - just outside Frankfurt. I was able to pass through Frankfurt on my way to Houston. It was John's birthday, so of course I had to take the guy out to dinner to celebrate! In the summer of 2005, I worked for the Army JAG in Stuttgart, Germany, and John was my boss, and we have kept in touch ever since. During that summer I was able to visit my friend Kristin from college, who was working in Frankfurt. One evening we both had a craving for Thai food and happened upon Rama V (on Vilbeler Straße 32; tel. +49 69 21996488). The restaurant is wonderfully decorated, the staff is very pleasant and attentive, and the food….oh, the food! Yum! Anyway, back to the story… I was trying to surprise John, but I clearly had to tell him I was coming so he could pick me up at the airport! We had a great birthday dinner and talked and talked and talked, catching up on the past several years. He had worked with several of my justice school classmates while in Iraq, so we were able to exchange amusing stories! My flight was early the next morning, only about 12 hours later, and I was off to Houston!
Ahh Houston! A wave of humidity washed over me, reminding me of my home in Florida… Two of Arati’s friends were nice enough to pick me up at the airport – Diya & Natasa. Both of them were so friendly – we were quickly laughing and talking in the car and then on our way to the Hotel Derek to change for the pre-wedding festivities!
Barrett, Arati & Me
Arati’s father is a resturanteur and his food was amazing! I’m a total spice-wimp (to which any of my Texan friends can attest), but the food was just spicy enough, the sauces were rich and flavorful, and I simply couldn’t get enough! (I was going to be having my navy physical fitness test the next week, so I was a bit paranoid about eating so much tasty food – especially when I could tell it wasn’t exactly low calorie! However, there aren’t many good international restaurants in Naples, so I knew I had to get it while the gettin’ was good!) We danced and danced and danced and danced! Arati was my crazy dance buddy in law school, and of course, we continued our tradition that evening!
Truly jetlagged, I didn’t stay up too late, knowing that there was going to be more dancing the next day! That Saturday, we took part in the ritual before the wedding ceremony in which Anu (her now-husband) rides in on a horse!! From my understanding, it is to symbolize the groom being brought to the house of the bride (symbolically the foyer of the Hotel Derek…) We danced alongside the horse, and the two families met inside. They exchanged garlands, placing them on each other’s necks, celebrating the unity of the two families.
Anu - the Groom
It was also a mini law school reunion! I was able to see several of my friends from a few years ago, and hear about everyone’s families and careers.
Christine, Me, Chanel, Kelly & Liz
We all sat next to each other during the wedding ceremony – truly happy that our two friends had found each other and made the ultimate decision to get married. Arati and Anu are two of the most truly generous human beings I have ever met – it was such an honor to be part of the celebration! 
What made the whole day even more exciting – Arati had loaned us some traditional Indian garb to wear that day! I had such a fantastic time that the hours flew by! We ate (of course! YUM!) and danced and danced and danced! I like to think that I burned off all the calories I ate, but I didn’t even come close!! ;-)
Arati - the Bride & Me (doesn't she look GREAT?!) :)
The day after the wedding we enjoyed MORE food at a tasty brunch at Arati’s father’s restaurant and had one last meal before we parted ways. Next time you visit an Indian restaurant, I would highly recommend that you indulge in a “Mango Selassie” – it’s like a mango smoothie…it was so good I just wanted to bathe in it. Mmmmmm!
So, after the brunch, my new buddy Natasa (one of the best hotel roommates I could ever ask for!) and I went to the mall… had some tasty Starbucks (yes, yes, I know, feel free to chastise me for drinking Starbucks. Too bad, people. It's about 100x tastier than the everyday espresso here - no one around me serves Illy, only Kimbo and some other not so tasty kind, and no that's not a travesty to say if it's totally true)... and I saw HARRY HAMLIN (and his wife… Lisa Rinna). I have loved Harry Hamlin ever since the first time I saw Clash of the Titans… (http://kol-knightlydelights.blogspot.com/2009/04/harry-hamlin-revealed-clash-of-titans.html)
I’m not sure how old I was when I saw it, but I couldn’t have been that old… I couldn’t believe it – we walked right by them! He still looks good and she still looks like she’s received a little too much help from her neighborhood surgeon wielding a tube of collagen. I almost wanted to rush back and get Natasa to take my picture with him, but I figured, if they’re hiding out in Houston in jeans and t-shirts and her with no makeup on, that probably means they really don’t want to be bothered. And even though I’ve loved Harry Hamlin since he was fighting the Krakon and saving Andromeda (probably before Lisa Rinna even MET him, so I can call dibs, right?), I thought I’d let them be. I’ll just have to live with the memory! ;-) While at the mall I made several successful purchases – one pair of throwaway white pants for Pamplona (where I would be heading in July), and some jeans.
For some odd reason, ALL women’s pant styles in Italy presume that ladies here have legs like little toothpicks. For the most part that is true, and you always hear everyone say, “There really aren’t many overweight Italians despite the fact they eat lots of cheese all of the time.” Well, most Italians aren’t overweight, but I’ve definitely seen my fair share of “muffin tops,” one of my particular pet peeves. Girls here SQUEEEEEEZE themselves into jeans that barely fit their thighs, which leaves all of their chub to be compressed upwards, creating a splendid spare tire perched on top of their designer jeans. At some point I will be compiling collections of both "muffin tops," and the ever-present-in-the-summer SPEEDOS! ;)
Anyway, purchasing some pants in Houston where they have regular people sizes was nice. It’s normally too depressing to go pant/jeans shopping here! I could go on for days and days talking about the fashion here, but I’ll just leave it by posting some of my favorite pictures spotted in Rome…
I think I found the grown-up Pippi Longstocking...and she lives in Rome.
It's Mr. Rogers's dorkier Italian cousin... the one that didn't get his own T.V. show.
This one isn't so much his clothes, but that hair. No, there was no fierce wind blustering through the piazza. He blow dried and gelled it like that. 
They also make some hideous furniture as well... What IS this? An Indiana Jones netting set of designer leather rocks? A pirate ship baked potato? Whatever it is, it certainly doesn't look very comfortable.
And I just thought this was kind of funny... this was a phrasebook in a tourist shoppe in Rome. It has been there since BEFORE I WAS BORN. I think it said copyright 1973 or something. Guess those Swedes either (1) don't care to learn Italian, OR (2) they're so prepared when they come to Italy that they already know enough of the language to get around! I look forward to meeting bunches of Swedes in August when I go to Kicki's cottage in Henan!
