The usual lopsided Bedford trucks, bullock carts, auto rickshaws, slaloming hatchbacks and scooter swarms that infest every highway I have ever travelled on in India were conspicuous by their absence.
Everyone else – from the hundreds of tourists on the opposite Riva del Vin to the swarms of paparazzi following the marital motorboat like a particularly terrifying flotilla – seemed to think it was, all in all, a fairly impressive way to get hitched.
Even so, Mario's popularity should make him a strong contender for the award, even though rivals include self-organised robot swarms, a robot that children can teach to write, and technology to help self-driving cars negotiate crowds of pedestrians.
Still, swarms descended upon a hotel room for a group therapy session entitled Social and Liberal Democracy - What The Hell Is It Meant To Be?
Then, bang on cue, a quote from Noel – something along the lines of "I'd rather slam my tallywhacker in a rusty letterbox than be in a band again with that whomping great knobber" – swarms the internet like a plague of locusts, deflating the rumour where it stands.
The males will travel in vast swarms, create a tremendous racket in the hope of wooing a mate, make love frantically and then die, unlamented.
And I will repay you by forming an India of your dreams!" Huge swarms of balloons tumble from the rafters.
Swarms of aggressive competitors surround Bank of America, alive to the possibility that cuts could prompt affluent clients or staff to desert.That has prompted some to wonder whether a more decisive move is needed.
Summer swarms of a stinging Red-Sea jellyfish, stretching as far west as Italy, force beach closures and clog intake pipes at desalination and power plants.
One potential use of the technology is for swarms of tiny search-and-rescue robots unleashed into a collapsed building to leave each other short molecular messages.
Since October, some 6.5m hectares (16m acres) of land have been sprayed or otherwise treated to kill the insects, but the swarms keep moving south and eastwards.
