Castello Vincigliata

So I have not really written about my work experience yet because nothing too eventful has happened at the gelateria yet. That is, until yesterday. I was told I was going to be serving gelato at a wedding in a castle. I did not fully grasp what was said to me until the day of the wedding and the drive there. Driving up the mountains of tuscany was something I will never forget and the pictures truly do not do any it justice. I couldn't tell if it were my allergies that were making my eyes water, or how I could not comprehend what I was seeing on this drive and I was that overwhelmed. So we got to the castle and my jaw dropped. I've seen some incredible sites in my life but nothing like this. The castle was over a thousand years old and covered in ivy, and for the most part, it was untouched by the modern man. It was somewhere I imagine George Clooney would get married.

Aldo, the owner of the gelateria and the director of the catered gelato events, and I unloaded the truck that held the gelato cart and got everything positioned before the ceremony started. Once we were done with that, we had two hours to kill, so naturally Aldo takes me to the "first Florence" he calls it, Fiesole. It was a small, but beautiful city, in the mountains. We parked the van and right where we parked the car, there was a fenced off property. Aldo turned to me and said in completely broken english "teatro, roman". Just over this fence was an ancient roman amphitheater and it was completely causal to him but I was just standing there with my mind blown. We then proceeded on this climb up a street with a 65 degree angle and my calves have never hated me more. But, the view of Florence at the top really overwhelmed me to the point where I could not even communicate in broken Italy to Aldo anymore. I had him take a picture of me because I knew I never wanted to forget this moment.

After a quick cappuccino and nutella croissant, we headed back to the castle where I actually had to start doing my job. We arrived too early and we had to wait for hours until the ceremony was finished and until we were given food to eat. So that brings me to the food. Every time I've worked a catering event in the states and had been given food to eat, it was a hush hush thing and I had to be out of site and had to inhale the food real quick and go back to work. But this was different. They had set up a 10-top round table for us and they put out all the stops. They even had three opened bottles of wine waiting for us. We had two courses of ravioli and then a cold refreshing pasta dish, and then they brought out the filet mignon. It was a center cut filet with an individual potato gratin cupcake and prosciutto wrapped asparagus. It was one of the best meals I've ever had.

After the meal, I put on my apron and got to work. The wedding was small with just 30 people and the biggest gelato consumers were a group of five young girls that definitely got "gelato-wasted". The groom and bride were probably the most attractive people I've ever seen in my life and I wished them all the best when they came up for gelato. The reception finally ended at 1 a.m and by the time we got back to florence, it was 2:15 and I crashed the second my head hit my pillow. One 10 hour work day down.

I am still so overwhelmed by this trip and I have another wedding in another castle tonight. Let's hope I survive it.