I may well be sneering at the prospect but there is an ever growing amount of people who wouldn’t think twice of spending €3 million just to get their jollies. For the peasants among us there is always the maccheaper version, a 90 minute sub-orbital flight, three minutes weightlessness for only €200,000!

While strolling the boulevards of Barcelona of  an evening I was taken to watching the street painters, mime arts, the “look at me  l’m standing so still and covered in silver paint” merchants, the singers, dancers, jugglers, guitar players and then I came upon him, the “find the lady” man.

Sat there on the ground with his cardboard box, three match boxes hollow side down and a small stone under one of em. The trick is to follow the boxes as he frantically moves them and guess which one the stone is under.

It’s €50 a guess and you double your money every time you’re right. People seemed to be winning, but they were punters planted in the audience.

As soon as an unsuspecting tourist had a go and laid down the fifty, Bang! Wrong guess. There’s a sucker born every minute and thankfully this time it wasn’t me. I saw three gullible yank women get turned over, then the crowd disappears, a new one gathers and he starts all over again ably assisted by the same “plants”. He probably drives home in a Porsche!

New wedding laws allow those wishing to tie- the-knot a bit more choice when it comes to location.  I always felt sorry for those marrying for the second time because if they’re Catholics, which the vast majority of people are in this country, it precluded them from marrying in a church.

In many cases people were forced to marry in dingy old registry offices which were about as romantic as getting married in a petrol station. 

Many people in the past sneaked off to the registry office a few days in advance or after their big day to “really” get married in the registry office and then had some sort of a home-made service on location at the hotel on their supposed wedding day.

Now they won’t have to play those charades anymore since they can be legally wed at hotels, at home or anywhere that is solid, immobile structure I understand.

So if you’re looking to be married on a yacht or on a beach or have the ceremony performed by an Elvis impersonator you’ll still have to travel a little further a field and thank God for that...

Neil Prendeville’s radio show is broadcast Monday - Friday, 9am - 12pm on Cork’s 96FM.

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