new years: the paella tradition continues, drunken australians enter
yummmm
To ring in the new year, we continued with our three year old tradition of paella, gazpacho, and sangria- however, this year, the weather fit the cuisine a bit better than in years past. Cam’s mom Jody cooked up a storm and we had to go to Carrefour (for those familiar, that large French grocery store has possibly hundreds of outlets here) at least 3 times. But it was definitely worth it- the meal was delicious, and we celebrated with a fusion of our two families- all the Peakes on one side (plus Addy’s boyfriend Eli) as well as Preston, Zach and Paige.
Zach is so excited to join in the tradition!
We were also well equipped for a big night- we had 6 bottles of champagne. So, at midnight (when an antique clock that cam’s dad George had bought at the San Telmo antique fair abruptly sounded) we popped the bottles and headed outside. Fireworks were going off left and right and Emma rightly commented that it felt as if we were in the Civil War.
A few hours later, we decided (everyone except Paige) to head to a bar. Although everyone is warned to avoid trying to find taxis on New Years, we managed (after a mini-hike) to secure two, and we headed to a rooftop bar in Palermo. George got there, and, possibly even before ordering a drink, sat up on the railing of the bar and knocked a beer bottle onto the street. Two bouncers immediately ran up and starting yelling at him, saying there was a policeman that the bottle had nearly hit. George was arguing back in English that there shouldn’t be bottles there, but luckily they couldn’t understand his protests. Cam remedied the situation by telling the bouncers that he was sorry, but hadn’t been to a bar in a while, which seemed to appease them (although George then got angry and said he would have rather been kicked out than have me tell such lies).
evidence of George being drunk… hehehehe
If George hadn’t knocked over the bottle, someone else surely would have- we were surrounded by drunk Australians. One that Cam and Preston were talking to (with a neatly coiffed mustache that somehow stood out from his knarly, bushy beard) was particularly drunk/ entertaining- arriving just a day before, he informed us that if we did one thing in BA, we had to eat out. Thanks.
The night ended with people leaving at separate times, but overall, for everyone- it was probably one of the latest New Years’ ever. What a way to start 2008.
george said,
January 12, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Ok, to set the record straight, I was not THAT inebriated as you somewhat make it seem. I only had a small fraction of the 8 liters of sangria we went though on New Years Eve (and there wasn’t that much brandy in the batch!).
It was a fun evening and I’m glad we had an understanding landlady (living upstairs) at the house we rented as we all plied out into the street at mid-night with those bottles of champagne. It looked like all the champagne corks on her car were removed by the next morning.
kathy said,
January 13, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Just read the blog fyi……..:)
Kathy Farrell said,
January 31, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I love that picture of George and Jodi. emma, you look so beautifu!!!!!