Formal Dinner: Take 1

Well, as we say here in CIMBA land, I have drank the koolaid and ate the cheese. Even I don't have to have a trained pallet to know that the vino and food I just had were exquisite (and expensive)! Getting ready for the Formal Dinner on Thursday was like getting ready from Prom, hence why we now call it the CIMBA Prom. Us girls were spending hours upon hours prepping while the boys waited until the last possible moment to shower. It's funny how we see the same people day after day and don't care one bit about how we look but all of the sudden it was time to dress to impress. Shout out to my neighbor Julia for creating a fancy little up-do for me!

The Cocktail Hour

The A Team!

At 7:30 pm everyone piled onto 3 buses in their best semi-formal attire. The girls were stunning and the boys were looking sharp! The bus ride was short but fun and even the professors rode on the same bus as the students. (Side note: all of the faculty attends the formal dinners.) Twenty minutes later we arrived at Hotel Fior in Castelfranco. Look it up. The hotel is amazing and the service was incredible. We had a cocktail hour during which time we had a fabulous mixed Prosecco drink and DELICIOUS appetizers which included a fried cheese that Dr. Al had warned us all about. I cannot even begin to name or describe the food I just had!

THE DESERT

After a while we moved into a formal dinning room for our four course meal which, once again, I cannot even begin to describe. The wine was picked and paid for by Dr. Al so it matched the menu perfectly. Between courses, despite the rules of etiquette, we all got up and moved about the room taking pictures and socializing. It was really fun because we got to interact with our professors in a setting that I don't think I would ever be in back in the States. However, I was not yet bold enough to take pictures with them, maybe at the next one... Now, let me tell you about this desert. First of all, we had a wine to match it. So good. Second of all, it was a melt in your mouth cream pastry brick of deliciousness. And third, the espresso that followed was awesome. They practically had to roll us all out of there and back on the buses at 12 am when the dinner was over.

The menu...

To top off the night we had a jam session on the bus ride home (we love to sing on the buses) which resulted to a loss of my voice all day today (Friday)! I blame the espresso for the energy kick. I hate to wish my days away but I am already looking forward to the second formal dinner in just a few weeks!!!