The highlight of last week were the Floating Piers by Christo in Iseo. It was also incidentally the most taxing day thus far. Our day began early, and right off the bat we were thrown into absurdly long lines…more like amorphous blobs consisting of people shoving and crowding to get to the front. Lines don’t exist here apparently, especially if the event is free and for a limited time period. Not too different from life in India. There were innumerable times where I wanted to turn back: the second I saw the line after getting off the first train, while waiting for the second train, while waiting in line to get to the pier. I think this is the one day I complained the most about nearly everything.
Needless to say that day was a dream trapped in a nightmare. The lines were a horror but the experience of walking on water, on these golden bridges reflecting light from the sun while the cool breeze blew past, was an ethereal experience. Hot, sweaty, exhausting, but definitely transposing.
The lines made it seem like the piers would be packed to the brim. There were moments where I wondered if it would start to sink due to the weight. But I really can’t question Christo’s judgement since he’s had multiple large scale installations that were just as popular.
