Little did we know our trip to Miami at the start of March would nearly overlap the start of a pandemic in our country. On our last day of the trip, Lance would take a phone call from one of his bosses, in which they discussed a plan to start 50% of their employees working from home. This turned into 100% before we had been home an entire week.
Our trip was a celebration. As you know, Hubby completed his CPA tests in December, passing each on the first attempt…a big deal among those who have struggled with this beast of a test.
The CPA has four parts. Four different tests with thick books crammed with information to study, including numerous mnemonic devices and formulas to memorize.
After it was said and done, a celebration was due.
We splurged for two nights of our trip and booked a room at The Villa Casa Casuarina, better known as the former Versace mansion. The front gates are the very spot in which Versace was murdered.
What I did not know is that the hotel was not originally owned by Gianni Versace, but instead it dates back to 1930.
*In fact, he only owned it for 5 years until his death, and invested 32 million dollars in renovations.
That being said, it is a building rich in history which I geeked out over, but won’t bore you with all my findings. However, if you’re into that sort of thing, check out the Wikipedia page or the hotel web page for more.
We were told by the bell boy that the room we stayed in had been the room of Donatella’s son, but that also many notable people had stayed in our room while visiting Versace, including Princess Diana.
Though no longer owned by the Versace family, there are many nods to Versace throughout the hotel, including The Restaurant Gianni’s at The Villa which is outdoors, next to the Thousand Mosaic Pool.
In the evening, the pool is alive with people excitedly posing in front of it after drinks at the bar or a meal in the restaurant. In the morning, it is an idyllic setting, using all its charm to try to force you to remain poolside all day.
In 99% of pictures of us, he is sneaking a kiss–and I love it.
In our time there, I couldn’t help but find it all a bit melancholy. A twinge of despondence hit me that someone with so much could have their life snapped away in an instant by another. No matter his riches, he was taken away, leaving all this behind. I thought of the Castle in the Clouds we had visited several years ago and how the millionaire shoe manufacturer who had built it, Thomas Plant, had ended life penniless despite his previous wealth.
Don’t get me wrong, I still coveted the location and magnitude of these places and the beauty of their craftsmanship, but these kinds of trips are always sobering. They remind me that life isn’t about insurmountable riches, but about those with whom we share what we have, the little and the great.
Leave a Reply