La Bella Vita: Milan, Diamond Dan’s Wedding & Team Tennis
I really never thought I would ever go to Italy. When I was finishing school, I wanted to go to Italy to study my masters in ROBOTICS. Knowing me now, can you imagine me being a robotics specialist? LOL. I literally don’t even know who that was. Luckily, my mom said no because it was too far from her and obviously, I couldn’t leave my cat in a different country than me. Alas, I gave up all hopes of ever going to Italy because I had never really been drawn to it for any other reason. Like, if you asked me what my dream destinations were, Italy would have never been top of mind for me, until recently.
About a year ago, my friend, Diamond Dan, asked me to step away from the dinner table for a sec. You see, our friendship is very goofy and unserious so when he asked me to have a sidebar conversation, I was like no thanks. I remember him saying “Oh, you’re gonna regret this!” and sure enough, I did because what he wanted to ask me was to come to his wedding. It was actually really sweet - he wanted to make sure that if he invided me (and our other friend, Steph) that we would say yes. We were the only people from our tennis club that got the invite and we were of course all in. When he finally gave me the beautiful invitation, I gave him a hug and said yes because saying yes is easy. We had a year, or more to plan it but of course I did not plan a damn thing until a few weeks ago. Luckily, Steph has her shit together and she booked accomodations in December. I asked her in late May if I could crash with her and I think she was probably always assuming that that would be the plan. She knows me too well. Once I got the okay from her, I booked my flight — on Delta, ofc.
I actually booked my flight for the eve of June 19th, which in retrospect, I should have known we had that day off. I was planning to work all day and take a redeye but a couple of days prior, I realized that I had Juneteenth off and so I changed my flight to the eve of the 18th. This actually meant that I was on the same flight as Steph, Diamond Dan, his wife and their families. Full house! It seemed so perfect to all fly out at the same time and somehow it made me feel more comfortable. Eight-ish hours later, we landed in Milan. When I got off the plane, I was greeted by Steph, Dan and Kayla at the end of the runway and the only thing that came to mind was “Ciao, bitches!” which became our catch phrase for the duration of the trip.
Now, I’ve been getting asked about this trip by every single person that I’ve come into contact with so I’m mainly writing this so people stop asking me. Hahaha. Just kidding. Kind of.
The actual trip was very quick. We flew out on Tuesday night and I was back at JFK by Sunday afternoon. I feel like by the time I shook off the jet lag I was already back in NY but it was a fun adventure. Since I started my job, I haven’t been traveling as much as I’d like to or as much as I did when I didn’t have a job. So, it was really nice to get away and with the time difference, it was cool to disconnect from reality. Though, I had to work quite a bit while I was there, which was not ideal but it is what it is.
Like I said, we — when I say we, I’m generally speaking about Steph and I — flew out on Tuesday night and landed on Wednesday morning Milan time. I don’t really know how that works still because time zones and time differences really fuck with me. I had a whole row to myself on the flight, which was amazing but since I had to work the whole flight, I didn’t get much sleep and you all know how much I love to sleep. I knew that would be trouble but I figured I would deal with it later. For those of you that know Steph, you won’t be surprised to hear that we hit the ground running. Literally. We got our bags pretty quickly after clearing customs and suddenly I was chasing after her across the airport. She is very familiar with Italy, having spent quite a bit of time here previously so I just followed her lead. We took a train to… well, I don’t really know where we took the train to but when we got off, we hopped in a taxi and arrived at our Airbnb for the next few days. Naturally, we were on the second floor and there was no elevator so we had to haul our suitcases up the stairs. Thankfully, I just had a carry on but Steph was going to stay in Europe for a little longer so she had more things. Luckily, she is strong af and she didn’t ask for help carrying her stuff up the stairs.
When we arrived, we got situated and by situated I mean that Steph set up her mobile office and I laid on the couch and PTFO. I had only slept 3 hours on the flight and that is just not enough for me to function on. When I woke up, Steph had her over-the-ear headphones on because she probably couldn’t get any work done with my loud snores. You know, I really thought I would stop snoring with the weight loss but I guess I haven’t lost enough to get rid of the snoring hahaha. Anyway, when I woke up I had zero plans to get up but I wasn’t going to waste my extra day in Italy sleeping. Well, I actually fully wanted to waste my day sleeping but we had a lunch reservation and then we had plans to play tennis at our sister club.
We had lunch at this Michelin starred restaurant but I was just so out of it from lack of sleep that I couldn’t even properly enjoy it. It was nice to get outside and walk around a bit because I would have just been sleeping the whole time had we stayed in the Airbnb. We thought it was so cool that the pasta was so long and just so fresh. I felt so American when I asked for a diet coke, or a coke of any kind because the waiter quickly humbled me by saying “we don’t have that here”. Like, okay Sir, no need for the attitude.
We took the train back to the Airbnb, which I was so proud of because you all know I am an Uber queen. Honestly, the train/subway or whatever it’s called there was so clean and easy to navigate so it didn’t give me an anxiety attack like the one in NYC does. However, we were running late to tennis so we took an Uber there. Our sister club there is called Tennis Club Milano Alberto Bonacossa and it was all red clay courts. There was something so elegant yet homey about it. We loved it. They put us on the second to last court, which I don’t blame them haha, but it was so nice to play on red clay. My style of play is not well suited for red clay and I just don’t have the patience for it, but the clay here was so well maintained that it played perfectly. I ended up really enjoying the experience and we were able to get the hang of it after a while. It’s always hard to play right after a flight but it was so nice to get the blood flowing and a welcomed distraction to keep me from falling asleep again because I was STRUGGLING. We only played for an hour, which was totally fine with me, and headed back to the Airbnb. Later that night, we got ready for a quick dinner nearby, but I picked a terrible place and they tried to hustle us for a tip. Despite it all, it was a successful first day in Milan.
The second day happened to be Steph’s birthday. I slept in while she did her things and took myself out for a little coffee. I exclusively drink iced coffee year-round, but in Europe that’s a big no-no. Luckily, the coffee in Europe is elite so I had myself a little cappuccino to start my day and boy did I need it. I had slept great but I was still paying for the lack of sleep from the flight the other day. When I reunited with Steph, it was time to play tennis again. We were lucky to get a court at the sister club again and they put us on the second to last court again LOL. We had much better feel for the ball and we were borderline red clay experts, if I do say so myself. Maybe that’s the delirion from the jet lag talking but we had so much fun. After, we sat on the terrace and enjoyed another coffee, but the real treat was watching some of the local members play. They were battling on their version of Center Court and it was hilarious. Each celebrating or pouting after each point. When they saw us recording, they even started to play into it a bit more and even started talking in English. When they got off, they joked and asked if we wanted their autographs. It was cute, but we had to leave because we had more important things planned: shopping!
If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I love spending money. I had heard that it’s better to buy designer things in Europe so I felt like this was my moment! We wanted to check out Prada and Miu Miu for sure, but we had started a bit late in the afternoon. We had to wait in line for a few minutes to get into Prada but once we were in, I was mesmerized. I remember leaning over and telling Steph “don’t let me buy anything stupid” but I knew there was nothing she could do if I found something I loved. The sales associate took us downstairs where we tried on like 40 pairs of sunglasses. I bought a pair last year and they are permanently on my head as a headband. I love them so much and I wanted a sister pair for them so they wouldn’t be lonely but I didn’t find any that I loved and I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy anything that I didn’t absolutely love. Steph, though, had that birthday luck and she was able to find something she liked, but she didn’t pull the trigger at first. We stepped out of the store and thought we would come back after going to Miu Miu but we quickly realized that it wasn’t in the same shopping area, so we turned around and went back to Prada where we had to wait in line again! By the time we went in, our sales associate was already helping out other clients so we had to wait a bit, but ended up getting what we went for. Finally, we were on our way to Miu Miu, which what I was most excied about. I had checked online to see when these stores closed because I know Europeans actually value their work life balance and sure enough, by the time we got to Miu Miu, the sales associate at the door wouldn’t let us in. He said the store was closed, though there were still people inside. I was devastated but when things like that happen, it’s like it’s not meant to be. I say this now, but I was fuming when this happened hahaha but it was Steph’s bday and the most important thing was making sure she had a good day so I had to swallow my anger. I’m so mature. We ended up going to Chinatown, of all places, and found a cool wine bar before settling in to eat some sushi and capping the night off with some mochi.
You might be thinking that the next day I could have gone back to Miu Miu but that was not the case. It was Friday and we had to make our way to Lake Como because Diamond Dan’s wedding festivities were commencing later that day. Of course, we wanted to play some tennis and we had a court booked at 11 am, which meant we had to check out of our Airbnb in Milan, take the train to Lake Como, check into our hotel and then make it to the tennis courts. It was cloudy and gloomy but the rain seemed to be holding off and we rushed though everything to make it to tennis. We only got to play for like 15-20 mins before it started raining but it was worth it because we got to play on one of the most beautiful courts I’ve ever seen.
Since the rain ruined our tennis, we made our way to the hotel terrace to have some drinks. I don’t know if it was the jet lag or what but after a cocktail and a half and one tequila shot, I was FEELING it. I even took the other half of my cocktail in a to-go coffee cup and drank it while I was getting ready for the wedding activities. The buzz made getting ready a little difficult but we did it! The activity for this night was the welcome drinks which were in Bellagio so we got picked up by cars from our hotel and taken to a boat somewhere in town. The boat ride seemed pretty long — I actually couldn’t tell you how long because I fell asleep before we even left the dock. #Jetlag. There were actually two boats and the second boat had the whole wedding party and family, and that boat was late. Once they arrived, the party really began and we were all enjoying the music, food and drinks when all of a sudden it started storming, and I mean STORMING. We all quickly went indoors and hoped the storm would pass but it only got worse. After a little while, we were asked to evacuate and get back on the boat to be taken back to our hotels. In retrospect, I’m not sure evacuating by boat was the best idea, but we were all too tipsy to question any of this. We all got soaked but it was a fun and unique experience to say the least!
I went to sleep starving on this night and I thought I could just sleep off the hunger. I cannot even begin to put into words the hunger I felt when I woke up the next morning because I somehow managed to sleep until like 11 am. I can’t remember the last time I was able to sleep in until then but it was really nice. We ended up having lunch down the road from our hotel and fueled up for the day because it was WEDDING DAY! I can’t believe the big day was finally here and I was so excited for Diamond Dan. Our commute to the venue was much easier today because it was just a short car ride away and thankfully, the weather was spectacular. We did not want to get caught in another rainstorm!
When we got to the venue, I was blown away. It was a beautiful Italian villa, but when we walked inside, it looked like a museum. Everything was just so perfect. We quickly found our way to where Diamond Dan was with his family and his groomsmen. It’s always good to find the groomsmen because they always have the booze. We took some pics and had a little rose and honestly, that was my favorite moment. We were hanging out with Dan and his closest friends and it was like the calm before the storm. I was just so happy for him and proud of him. He looked amazing in his suit which was critical because his wife, Kayla is a fashion girlie and we knew her looks were going to be to die for so Dan had to match her vibe. Because the wedding had a black tie dress code, everyone was dressed to the nines. It elevated the vibe so much and I loved it. We went outside to take pictures but I realized that there wasn’t an altar or anything that resembled an altar. I kept wondering where they were gonna get married and just figured I knew nothing about weddings but then people started directing us back towards where we entered.
Long story short, we had to walk from where we started to the actual place where they were going to get married. HOWEVER, they failed to mention that it was all like gravel and foresty, which does not mix well with high heels. I actually thought my heels were not that tall but when I saw them in pictures I was so annoyed that I brought those. To be fair, I didn’t know we were going to have to go on a hike to get to the altar. We were all walking through this path and I just felt like there was no chance in hell I was going to make it to the site without falling or in one piece, but by a miracle of God, I made it. We arrived at the altar and I don’t even have the words to describe it. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The way the flowers were laid out was so organic and imperfect. I loved every single one. We were overlooking the lake, the sun was shining but not too much to where it made it uncomfortable. Just absolute perfection.
The ceremony was relatively quick and we started to make our way back on the trecherous path. I was mentally prepared to do the same walk we did on the way there but just when we were at the end of the path, we were told that we were GOING THE WRONG WAY. I have had my heart broken by many men before but non hurt as bad as when I heard those words. My soul hurt with every step I took and honestly, I’m a tough cookie when it comes to heels usually but this was just too much. I felt my ankles twisting with each step across the gravel. I felt like I was going to trip over the massive roots of the trees spread across the paths and it got even worse because this new path was like windy and down hill which added a whole nother layer of complexity. When we finally arrived at the cocktail hour, we were greeted by a four-man string quartet, a cheese and ham section and most importantly, a spritz bar. By this point, I couldn’t even focus on any of this stuff because I had to get out of these heels. Steph and I had brought our sneakers but we left them in the groomsmen’s room so I had to make one final journey across the gravel to retrieve them. When I tell you that the moment I arrived to that building, I had to take my heels off. I almost couldn’t even walk because after your feet are in heels for so long, they take a moment to mold back into their normal shape. Each step without the heels on felt so weird, almost like when crazy dog parents put shoes on their dogs and they walk all funny — do you know what I’m talking about? That’s exactly what it felt like. Finally, I got to my sneakers and I may or may not have shed a little tear of joy when I slipped on my sneakers. They were the Roger sneakers from On and they were not lying when they said it feels like you’re walking on a cloud because in that moment, that’s what it felt like. Finally, I was ready to party.
We headed to yet another location for the actual dinner and reception and somewhere across the lake there were fireworks going off, which made it seem like they were for Dan and Kayla. They were the perfect backdrop! We had dinner, cried over the speeches and danced a little. It was a perfect evening but I was exhausted. Those heels really took it all out of me and I had a long day ahead of me. See, I had agreed to captain a team tennis team at my tennis club and we had a match at 3PM. My flight was not scheduled to land until 2:30PM so I knew it would be tough. Before I got on the flight though, I had to make it from Lake Como to Milan and then from the train station in Milan, to the airport. The earliest train I could find was at like 9:15AM so I hopped on and hoped for the best. I wasn’t sure how crowded the airport would be especially because they don’t have anything like TSA pre-check but it was surprisingly quick.
The flight back was quite smooth. This time, I didn’t have to work so I was able to sleep a lot more and that helped a lot because I had to go into work the next day. When I arrived, I had to rush to get through security and though I don’t have Global Entry, I have the Mobile Passport Control which allowed me to skip the massive lines. When I finally got to an agent, he asked if I had made any large purchases to which I responded without hesitation “I wish!” Hahahah. He laughed and since these agents are not known for their friendliness, I took that as a win. If he only knew about my Miu Miu debacle. He let me through and I sprinted out of there to get to my Uber so I could go to my team tennis match.
As I was in the Uber to the tennis club, I had a lot of time to reflect on the trip and just how amazing my life is. I never really thought I would go to Italy but I was so grateful that my friend’s wedding had brought me there. I feel so fortunate that I was able to go and I realized that I have grown a lot. I am still immature at times and that’s okay but traveling is hard and traveling with other people is hard at times. You don’t always get to do what you want and you probably have to compramise a lot more than you would want to but if I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that it’s important to pick your battles. I have a lot of hills that I’m willing to die on but I think on this trip, I was truly able to let go of any expectations and really just enjoy the moment. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to experience but for I’m really proud of my progress.
Arrivederchi, for now. Next stop: Wimbledon.
xoxo Marn
