Monday, June 26, 2006

Across the Pond

I just got back from Lake Como, Italy, where I attended a transatlantic conference cosponsored by the German Marshall Fund and Bertelsmann. And yes, while the international implications of our ongoing War on Terror are profound (and which I will write about at some later date), let me comment ever so briefly on the cultural aspects of my trip:

1. All the female tourists to the area ask the same thing: Where does George Clooney live?

2. The town of Bellagio has surprisingly fewer fountains than one might think (and none are synchronized to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On").

3. Summerland is just as easy to understand in Italian as it is in English (and I don't really speak Italian).

On our way back to the Milan airport, an American girl asked our Italian driver, who spoke very little English, the inevitable question of where George Clooney lived. He smiled, made some gesture with his right hand, and continued driving. Half an hour later, he quickly pulls the car over to the side of the road, along the coast of Lake Como. He points to the town before us (Laglio) and says one word: "George."

3 comments:

Jenny said...
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Jenny said...

Hey, I didn't remove that post! However, it's possible I was drunk and had an itchy trigger finger. It happens.

All I did was comment on your really sexy "I just got back from Lake Como, Italy..." pick up line. How many times has that one worked for you?

Victorino Matus said...

Jenny:

You would think that would do the trick. But somehow this line only makes the Mrs. more suspicious. Case in point: Having dinner with my wife, I run into an Italian journalist friend of mine. I introduce my better half to him and for whatever reason, he says, "Oh, is this the girl you brought to Lake Como?"

Umm, I didn't bring anyone with me to Lake Como, I explain. "Oh right," he says, a bit embarrassed.

So to answer your question, Never!