Wasn't That a Party!!!!!

As I said in an earlier post, the basic reason I took this trip was to attend the 70th birthday party for my friend, John.  So, we attended two events - one at the home he has with his husband, Pedro.  That evening was a dinner for people who had come for out of town.  I did notice, that a number of his friends who live not far from him were also there.  I think there were around 40 of us.  The nice thing is that it was John's niece's birthday that day so there was a cake for her.   








The main event was on February 28th and it was truly quite the celebration.  It was held at Quinta do Cerrado with 94 people in attendance.  Thankfully, I knew well over more than 1/3 of the people there.  The event itself was beyond impressive!

The evening started with wine/cocktails/beer in the main hall with a lovely selection of appetizers.  It seemed people just kept pouring into the venue.  I chatted with a lot of people I’d met before – some last year, 3 years ago when I was here and, others, whom I’d met in London. 







Around 9, we went up the few steps to the dining room which was spectacularly decorated.  I was seated at a table with Kim, Barry and Paulo (friends from the UK), Ronald (whom I’d met years ago with his wife who has sadly died), a couple who lives in Rotterdam named Elmo and Hans, and a guy named Alberto whom I never did talk to.  The meal began with a spring pea soup, very tasty.  It was followed by a delicious mushroom tart.  The main course was slices of rare beef served with beans and carrots and a potato cake.  There was also a vegetarian option.  Dessert was an apple tart dusted with cinnamon and served with vanilla ice cream.  During the meal, the wine was poured generously.  After dessert, coffee was offered along with various digestifs including whiskey and Bailey’s.  Of course, after that, John made a speech thanking us all for being there.  We lingered in the dining room for a while before heading down to the main hall where the band was playing dance music.  











The bar there continued to serve drinks although most were opting for either orange juice or water.  At midnight - as John's birthday is actually March 1st, everyone sang happy birthday to him and he got to blow out the candles on a birthday cake.  I danced a bit and so did Kim.  Around 12:30 we took an Uber back to the hotel.  I was tired but it really had been a wonderful experience and I was so glad I had committed to attending!











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