Well, that was a tough one. November 1st is a holiday in Italy and the cemeteries are mobbed. Everyone goes to say hello to the dead. It's also (another) excuse to eat and drink to excess. There was a lunch at our local pro loco, (village hall, for want of a better translation), with a sort of stew of chick peas and glistening hunks of pig fat as the main course. Chick peas are de rigeur on November 1st. And of course, gallons of wine served by the carafe, and re-filled upon request. Five courses and all you can drink for €15. It all kicked off because the bloke who runs the place is a tight sod and he bought a job lot of foul, thin red wine. General mayhem ensued. The good ol' boys shown here said (loosely) "bugger it, we're not drinking this piss" and the one on the left got in his clapped-out Fiat Panda and went and got four 2 litre bottles of Barbera from his cellar. And very nice it was too. He distributed it freely to all and sundry. Italians are like that. The day ended for me sometime around 10.00pm, I'm told.
16 comments:
Barbera! One word brings it all back. Matey looks like a serious boozer. Does he drink like an Englishman?
Why have you gone all Black & White?
I wondered that Toby.I think it's because he's lining-up to get his pics into Magnum.Or he's wafted the camera over a melting kettle.
I thought the black and white gave it a bit of credibility, given that most of what I write is made up. Anyway, why would I want to get my pics into an ice cream?
or a very large champagne bottle?
Has anybody heard from Ron? I'm getting a bit worried (well, obviously not that much)that we seem to be stuck on the Day of The Dead blog. Perhaps we should all do it for him. Can't be too difficult: 'Got up. Had lots to drink. Fell over. Went to bed.'Sorry Ron, we're just missing you petal.
I do hope we're not entering a period of 'Rehab Ron: My Struggle'. Ron! We need you. Write soon; you can always make it up.
That was me, I was suggesting we visit as soon as possible but I got all words my muddled due to the Bombay Sapphire.
Actually, perhaps that is not such a good idea - Roin may go into a serious decline.
He's probably had one too many at lunchtime and done a spot of roofing. Fallen off, predictably, and bust another part of his anatomy. He'll be out of the equation for months.
I think ron's absecnce might have something to do with his being lured to this village hall/W I death meeting. The large lumps of pork fat he refers to are in fact last year's victim who couldn't resist passing comment on the quality of the wine. Peter, you're very errudite and I wondered if you might be able to put some kind of obit together. Must dash - porridge'll be catching on the bottom of the pan.
Ron's obit: "Been there, drunk that" or possibly "I knew I shouldn't have had that last creme de menthe."
Oh, I nearly forgot. Who's Jo Halford?
Oh Crikey. Jo. It's you isn't it. I'm so sorry. It's the Halford bit that threw me.
Glad to see you're all having such a hoot at my absence. Very droll. Anyway, I'm not dead, I've just been off-line for a while thanks to the bumbling, incompetent, corrupt, lazy, pig-ignorant, state-subsidised fools at Italia Telecom. There's a bit of a session on tonight which might provide some much-needed alcohol and material if I remember to take my lens cap off, as it were.
Post a Comment