Saturday morning - the Food and Drink Programme!
C'mon You Vespae!
By KevinTheB
October 15 2002
Saturday morning dawns, and we’ve all got balconies! Rooms are good, ablutions great. A surprising number of attendees for breakfast in our own room. Management wariness or special treatment?
Coffee dissolves spoons, just right for hangovers. Meats, buns, breads, a typical continental breakfast, with water and some orange-coloured drink as well. Waiters struggling to keep up with our consumption.
1045hrs and the Winery coach rocks up to the door. Another big Merc driven by Fabrizzio, who will be our driver for the rest of the weekend. A real gem. Tells us his task after dropping us back is to collect the team and get them to the game. We make him promise to keep the Drunken Wasps emblem in full view!
1115hrs and we’re all on except Muppet and Wolfie. Frantic phone calls to mobiles have been going on for 10 mins. Muppet finally emerges – no Wolfie. Oh dear, off we go.
Call comes in – it’s Wolfie, looking for Muppet’s room. Get a cab and meet us there! Roll on to Langhirano, a 25 minute ride. The Castle of Torrechiara comes into full view – what a piece of sculpture!
Turn up a winding road, halt on a dirt track by a barn, near a load of plastic wine crates. Oh my God, is this it?
Get out to be met by the owner, Signori Lamoretti, sporting one leg. All the “Won’t crush many grapes by jumping up and down on that!” jokes come out, only to find that he has just told Porno the same joke in Italian. Top bloke! “You’ve got two choices,” he sez. “There’s a talk, a tour, and a tasting, or we can get on with the tasting.” Guess what we chose? Top bloke!! In we go.
Did I doubt the appearance? I’d suggest that nobody has been in a more hospitable place. In comes Wolfie - well done that man!
The owner, his wife and
their daughter spent the next hour inviting us to lower the Wine Lake a few inches. Corks were coming out of everything (oo-er, Matron!), and finally we got on to their piece de resistance – the Vinnalunga 2000. Oh, and the tasting was by the 120ml, not a sip and spit affair. Is that Gloria Sennitt in the corner with rosy cheeks? We took a rough count – ignoring what we drank, we came away with nearly 100 bottles. Who said I couldn’t organise the proverbial in a brewery!
Onto the bus, which swayed more than it did earlier. Into the town, and pulled up in front of the Ristorante Al Tigli.
Ushered round the back into the main reception room, laid out like a wedding reception.
Red and white wine, plus water, rolls, all laid out, then full silver service for four courses.
Fantastic cold meats (the prosciutto was so sweet),
Tortelli di erbetta in a light Parmesan and butter sauce,
veal in porcini mushroom sauce with fries, then a chocolate mouse which was just soo rich! In between courses, some of our younger tourists played outside on the swing,
and on our departure, we re-toga-ed one of the statues. A really great morning!
Back to the hotel – with a game of strip spoof on the bus. The wrong one lost! Jake the Peg he wasn’t! Mind you, embarrassment must have been a factor. LooseHead spilled the first of many glasses of wine, this one all over PhilTheB’s tour shirt. MumTheB wasn’t pleased when he got home! Arrive back, unload the empties. Out for a recce of the ground. Nice place, terrible surface. Long grass, muddy and sanded patches. Meet Corrado – good chap. Get sent round to the hospitality area – one of the training areas where they’d set up gazebos with Black and Gold chairs – what a welcome! Ooh look, a beer tent! We’re the first customers – so what’s new! Get through half an hour of natter, gain some t-shirts, then back to the hotel to prepare.
Start to regroup in the foyer. Ask the question “How did Lizzie get into those trousers?” Rachel Bayes lets us into the secret – “’Cos she’s got no arse!” Four inch heels in a wet field? This’ll be interesting. And the ploy of selling her a tight tour shirt worked as well! Off we go to the ground. Oh look, the night shift’s arrived! Just why are all these dubious women standing there under the bridge, Dad? Back to the hospitality area. Full of DWs, other Wasps, and Bath fans. They all head for us, seeing our shirts, and ask who’s who. Meet many names off the message boards. It was great to see you all! KO nears – into the stands. Take some beers, of course!
The report of the game will be found elsewhere – others have better memories.
I was very edgy – Parma came out strong and weren’t a rollover by any stretch. Had an interesting conversation with the Welsh linesman. More of him later. Got told off by Mum for moaning at Woody. Oogie looks good if he could hold on to the ball more – he told me later he’d hoped nobody had noticed! Won but not as comfortably as we could have. Scrivs strides over to us, grasping his shirt badge, the rest follow.
All clap. Treviso moment.
Back to the Hospitality Area to recoup. Saturday night starts here!
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