The Floating Piers at night. More of an ordeal.

We built this trip around the Floating Piers. I wouldn't say that we are obsessed with Christo, but we enjoyed The Gates (and yes, when we get home I will dig up some photos of that trip, too) in Central Park so much that we decided this would be a good focus for our summer vacation. Plus, we really haven't spent much time in Northern Italy, so this gave us a reason to be here.

The trip from Milan to Iseo was largely uneventful, the way you want driving trips to be. Not much traffic for most of the route, and we didn't (really) get lost. (Maybe a wrong turn or two, but it all worked out)

Once we got to the Iseo area, however, it was apparent that we would need help from more than the Google Maps lady. The owners of our apartment let us know that severe traffic restrictions were in place because of the installation, so they would have to meet us in the city of Iseo to give us the paperwork and lead us in.

We met in the parking lot of a supermarket, and Cesar gave us the pass. It looked quite official, stamped and everything. He then drove with Doreen, while his son stayed with me in the white Fiat Panda.

At every checkpoint, the police were nothing but polite, and let us in without a question.

We got to the apartment and had this view waiting for us:

Wonderful.

We had some lunch and a bottle of wine while we waited for Cesar to return with out passports. (Just like in old movies, the Italian government still wants a copy of your passport)

Then a nap, and at about 7:00 PM we walked on down  to Sulzano, to get to the Floating Piers.

Here is our route.

You can see it is about a mile and a half to the jumping off point.

This is what we saw there:

 and we started waiting in line.

It was still daylight, but the light was rather chaotic.

and more and more people kept coming. Most were coming by bus, some walked from much further than we did.

Line protocol was maintained by a series of  those stainless steel fence sections that connect to each other. But you couldn't see that in the crowd, all you saw was a mass of people.

I could tell, because of my height, that there was some reason to the movement. Some people heading towards the road, some towards the water. Though I still didn't know why.

 Here you can see the fences:

But we waited and moved almost not at all.

And we waited. This is looking in the opposite direction of the pink house. The crowd was very well behaved. A little pushing, but that was only because people were pushing up behind you.

I can tell you this, in crowds this big, it is great to be tall.

The ground was covered by the saffron fabric, even if we could not see the Floating Piers themselves at all.

and we waited. It got dark. Here, we are almost to the end of the line.

 and here IS the end of the line, just as they let us through.

 People moved!

 And moved!

 and we got on the water.

Finally! That bright light behind us was the Pink House

And we wandered about, enjoying the spectacle.

And yes, it was a spectacle.

It took us about two hours to get onto the piers.

We reveled in our success.

Though it was hot.

 As we wandered on the water, we got cooler.

The swans were asleep. It was now pretty late.

We got onto the piers about 9:30. We had not had any supper. Luckily, Isla Iseo was well stocked with food and drink. We walked the piers for over two and a half hours, and then grabbed a "wurstel" (sausage) and kraut for supper. We also had a beer, and some more water.

You would have thought that by midnight every place would have run out of food and beer. That was not the case at all. And everyone working was still very friendly and happy to help. And nobody works for tips! I think it was part of being, living, inside a piece of art. It was just a friendly crowd.

We left the island about 12:30. We got to shore probably 20 minutes later. The line had been closed to get onto the Piers, but there was still a huge line to get onto the busses to get people back to their cars.

Many people have asked "What was the point?" of the installation. While I certainly cannot talk for Christo, who paid for this (variously said to be $14 million, $17.5 million, or $19 million) out of the sale of his studies and original art work, but I can speak for me.

Art is something that means different things to different people. The brief transformation of a landscape that forces you to think about something different (why is that an island? What of there had been a bridge? Look that the way the light plays off of the water and the color of the fabric changes as the day gets brighter or darker, or as the fabric gets wet. Look at how people interact with the Piers, their friends, strangers, and the environment. Contrast the color of the fabric to the boats. Look at people lying down on the Piers. See how babies and children adjust to walking on a springy surface, look at how the dogs chase the swans and ducks) than you usually think about in that context is successful art.

Does everyone love it? No, but then not everyone needs to see it. The reported number of people who walked on the Floating Piers was 1.2 million. That is a lot of folks! I am sure that there were some who thought it was a big waste  of money. But heck, it wasn't their money! It is not like (for example) in the US where a city government forces you to pay taxes so a rich ball team owner can get a new stadium! And it was Christo's money!

What is the point of any leisure activity? What is the point of a walk in the woods, climbing a mountain, drinking a beer in a bar with friends? What is the point in watching a ball game? Do you become a better person for it? Do you get smarter if you team scores a touchdown, goal, or bucket as the time runs out? Who cares, if that is what you enjoy - enjoy it!

There was a lot of ugly stuff written about The Floating Piers online. That makes me sad, in as much as reading the comments for any post on Facebook can make you sad. Some may have legitimate concerns about how this may affect the environment or how one of his future projects may affect their community. And that sort of dialog makes sense.

This was a rich cultural experience. I am a better person for it.