ESD VII

Those who thought that it would be difficult to for the ESDs to be successful every time – starting with myself – were in for a big surprise yesterday night: the number of participants almost exceeded the capacity of the room! Hopefully in the next few weeks – if the weather allows it – we will be able to dine outdoors.

After last week’s ESD we enjoyed an enchanting concert by Lucio Degani and Ferdinando Mussutto. Last night we had another excellent performance by the charming couple, Matteo Andri, pianist, and Paola Crema, Soprano. We heard some marvellous piano pieces by Bach (Concerto Grosso italiano) and Liszt (a Sonata inspired by Dante’s Divina Commedia) and Lieders sung in different languages (Schumann, Rachmaninov and Respighi), just to mention few.

The dinner was prepared by the talented Marco Facini and included an exquisite Fillet of St. John with a delicate ratatouille. It was accompanied by a precious selection of wines of the Valle Aziende Vinicole di Buttrio: the delicious Araldo and Roldi fine wines were wonderfully and very professionally presented by fluent English speaking Ivana!

But above all, there was once again a magic atmosphere and this is due to the very special people who attend these evenings: people coming from very different environments, cultures and professions but who are happy to share time and their experiences with others…; people who very often have never met before – even if living in the same place – but who seem to have something more than the simple language in common…; people who believe in a community with no barriers.

The international character of the evening was confirmed by the large anglo-saxon community present, although an increasing number of French and/or French-speaking participants (among others Valerie, Stéphanie, and their partners) would appear to suggest that we could start a French Speaking dinner as well! We will see….

UK guests were, as usual, the majority. Apart from habitués Alan, Paul and Keep, the group included Leo with his wife Antonella and Liz,an assistant at the Keeptalking School. The second largest group was the US one and it included Wayne, a New York Sommelier with a long blond pony tail who talked at length with Kerry, the newcomers Diana, from California (but living in Udine), and Enrico, who lives and works between New York, Milano and the beautiful Castle of Chiavari. Enrico was here in Montegnacco accompanying his wife who is attending a residential yoga seminar at the Villa.

Austria was represented by Britta who is married to an Italian and lives near Palmanova, and Angelika, who deserves sincere admiration for coming every week to Friuli from Carinthia!

Among the local guests, we had also a great number of newcomers: just to mention a few, we had the pleasure of meeting the Chief Commander of the Montian Regiment (8° Alpini), Colonel Antonio Panizzi in a smart uniform with all decoration of the campaigns in Bosnia, Middle East etc. He was accompanied by his assistant, Cpt David and their respective wives. His group also included a “Top Gun”, Andrea, member of the Acrobatic patrol “Frecce Tricolori” (the Red Arrows).

It would be impossible to mention all the guests, but I would like to cite here only Mariapaola, finally with us in Montegnacco, just in time to celebrate her (second) degree with top marks. Congratulations!

My warmest thanks to all those who contributed to making the evening such a great success. I look forward to seeing you again. Do bring your friends along and spread the word!