That's what everyone keeps telling me. But, I beg to differ. Sometimes it does - for three days straight, in fact. While you're meant to be outside for hours at a time. Under a flimsy tent. With the wind blowing. Looking like a bag lady in your attempt at rain-friendly attire: sneakers, ankle-length black pants, a sweater and a non-waterproof jacket.
I did get a Loire Valley wines hat in the process, at least.
Despite the weather, the weekend was a success if I look at it from two ways: one, I made it through my first professional trade/consumer event in one piece and, two, I got to spend a few days in a beautiful place (and even see a little bit of it!).
And, the truth of the matter is, I enjoyed it immensely. Even the cloudy, wet conditions. It made the experience that much more challenging - and that much more rewarding when it was over. Going into it, I didn't really know what to expect, but after two days of pouring wines and telling attendees all about them (wines from producers that I myself only learned about over the weekend, too), I realized that, hey, I really enjoy pouring wines and telling people all about them!
There's something so satisfying about broadening someone's knowledge base, about teaching him or her about something he/she didn't already know, but is subsequently fascinated by. The people with whom I spoke were genuinely interested to hear about the wines they were trying, where they came from, what the style was like, what foods they should pair them with. I was excited about what I was telling them; they were excited to be told.
The hours of the days flew by, as did the weekend as a whole. I ate a lot of delicious food (I believe there were four pieces of banana cake with peanut butter and dark chocolate ganache consumed on Saturday, amongst many other things - and I don't even like bananas!) and sipped on some fabulous wines (including the 1996 Chateau de Fesles Bonnezeaux dessert wine that five of us split with three desserts in a nearly comatose state of exhaustion on Sunday afternoon).
I even managed to fit in a little bit of sightseeing: a short run along the waterfront in a rare moment of only a light drizzle, and a driving tour of the Coronado. My dear family friend, Debbie, was the driver. Via Facebook her daughter had seen that I was in town for the weekend. Good old Facebook.
Debbie and I caught up over brunch (as if I needed more pastries this weekend!) before driving out to Coronado, where she waited in the car while I roamed around the grand, wooden Hotel del Coronado. The hotel was built in the 1880s and I'm still in disbelief that it has made it this far without being burnt down.
I don't think I'd seen Debbie since 1999 on a family trip to Israel, where she lived for almost twenty years. I was 14 at the time, a child. It was a surreal, yet wonderful, experience to spend time with her now as an adult. Growing up certainly sneaks up on you - you blink and time has passed.
Same with this weekend. I blinked and I was on the world's fastest red-eye to New York (in under four hours!). Another surreal experience: coming back "home." My apartment is still there. So is my old office, the people I used to work with. At moments it feels like I never left. That six months haven't gone by.
Then I smile, because I know that they have. And that's something to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment