Stuffed

November 19, 2006

Ben and I just returned from quite an Italian day! A guy Ben rides with, Patrizio, introduced him to the Francesco Moser riding team here in Milan and he's been on a couple of rides with them. They invited him and me to their end of the year luncheon which was today. At 11:30, we walked to the nearest bike shop to meet Patrizio, because we had to walk outside the city limits to meet his friend who was going to pick us up. Apparently there was a ban on cars driving in the city today because of pollution. It doesn't really make sense, since one day of no cars won't really help the overall problem, but whatever. So the three of us walked to right outside the city limits. Patrizio's english is pretty good, but it takes us a long time to understand him and vice versa. Ben says he's a really good rider and is around 40 years old.

We were picked up by an older couple, Roberto and Mille and drove southeast to the suburbs. We arrived at a restaurant about 20 minutes from Milano and I get to meet some of the riders Ben has been biking with. They are almost all over the age of 50 and have their fashionable wives with them. We met a lot of people and some who knew a little english. Our dictionary came in handy many many times.

So we finally sit down and the president of the club who is the sweetest old man welcomes us and it seems like everyone thinks it's really funny that we are there. Which is the response I get all the time at dance class. My teacher will spot me come in and say "Hello Melissa." and then everyone will laugh. It's a little disconcerting, but what are you going to do? So, thus begins a long chain of foods delivered to us and speeches given and trophies handed out. It was touching to see all the men so proud of their accomplishments and it made me think of my dad in his running club. But...5 hours later, Ben and I had Italian food coming out of our ears and were tired of people coming up and making jokes that we pretended we understood. I don't know if any of you have ever eaten for 5 hours straight, but it is a weird feeling. We had 15 courses and lots of wine. Here's the list: Prosciutto crudo, salame nostrano, coppa piacentina, cosciotto salmistrato, sottaceti, (antipasti, and all sorts of cured meats)
Crostino all ciociara ( little pizza),
Mais con crema di salmone ( basically-grits with salmon sauce),
Risotto canadi con fughi porcini e salsiccia (rice with mushrooms),
Penne capricciose (pasta with meat sauce),
Fesa di vitello giambonata (veal),
Brasato con polenta (slow cooked meat with polenta),
Tagliata agli aromi (rare beef slices),
Patate al forno e finocchi gratinati (potatoes and fennel),
Sorbetto (lemon sorbet),
Dolce della casa (cake)

I was ready to quit before we even got the Prima course (which is the pasta course), but I ate everything and of course Ben did too. Just the logistics in the kitchen were baffling, the group of 75 people must have used 100s of plates and silverware.

We sat next to the only girl on the team who knew English a little and that was nice. During the awards, which went on throughout the entire time, the President at one point looked at me and asked Ben if he could kiss me, which he did. They were all really nice and jolly. Oh and at some point they handed out packages to just the ladies and I received a strange crystal clock (that doesn't work). Ben and I had conversations about America, nutrition, italian food and marriage with the Italians around us, but mostly talked with each other. It is exhausting to try and figure out what people are saying from 3 words out of the hundreds that they say to you. But everyone is so happy when an idea is understood, but it is always followed by awkwardness since now you must begin working on the next one.

A word about bathrooms in Italy. Some of the "bathrooms", even in nice restaurants, are just a hole in the floor- for women and men. It's pretty weird and we don't understand how older ladies deal with it. So if you are planning on coming to visit us, you have been warned!

We had a good time and the food was all really good, but I don't know when I will able to eat something again. It was a good experience to observe and be a part of real Italian's lives. So, Buon Appetito!