Holiday Party

We had our annual company holiday party on Sunday. This year it was held at an agriturismo farm called La Barcella, in the outskirts of Milan, about 1/2 hour from where we live. It was surrounded by farmland so it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

The food was good, which is not always the case at events like these. The appetizers included a very tasty selection of affetati or cold cuts, pancetta or bacon wrapped asparagus, various little savoury pastries and many more. I quickly lost count, but there were supposed to be 6 appetizers. Needless to say, I was already full before the primi or first dishes arrived. I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the food but they were all surprisingly good.

As always, there was an animatore or entertainer who kept the kids busy with fun games. But this year, there was one also for the adults. She called people up to participate in various contests and games like, guess the different sounds. It reminded me of the variety shows that I'd see on tv on Sundays. I found it all rather annoying but I might have been in the minority. There was also a lucky draw with several buoni or gift certificates up for grabs, but lady luck wasn't on my side this time.

One of the highlights was meeting the triplets again. See their proud father, S, being super-dad with two in his arms? The last time I saw them, they were newborns at the hospital two summers ago. How they've grown.

There were lots of children around, and amazingly, quite a number more on their way in the early part of the new year. Everyone was excited of course when Babbo Natale or Santa showed up to hand out gifts.