Temporarily Displaced

It's been a busy week. We just got home from a great Thanksgiving weekend in Barcelona and are still savoring the feeling of being back in our apartment. Why is that? Blame Merli and the Westin Grand - they made us temporarily homeless last weekend.

I woke up last Saturday to the sound of screeching metal and sustained shaking. Marco and the dog came running in to grab me and drag me out of the apartment. I had no idea why at the moment - if it'd been an earthquake or some kind of a bomb, going outside wouldn't have been the best option. Luckily my early riser husband had been out with the dog already and had seen the work being at the hotel next door. It seems as though the Westin was getting their air-conditioning system replaced and the crane being used to mount the chiller broke and dropped on top of our apartment building. Technically, it broke across THREE buildings, two of which we share a courtyard with. If you look below, you can see how the crane is literally broken and leaning against the side of the building. The tip of that crane is the part that's sticking out from the front of the building.


After hours of waiting around outside for emergency services to do their thing, it became apparent that we were not going to be going home for awhile. Escorted by the fire department and sporting mandatory hardhats, we were allowed to go inside and pack some bags. We then headed to the Westin for what would end up being the next couple of nights. From our 10th floor room, we saw the damage to the top. Wow.


Hotels are not so much fun when it's an involuntary stay on a rainy day. Room service was kind of crummy and CNN International gets old after, like, 2 hours. Luckily, the authorities allowed us to move back in on Monday, ruling that there was no damage to the building. Thank goodness for these concrete monsters they build in Milano!