Mangiare Prima (Eating Comes First)

A few weekends ago, while at a festival in the streets, I participated in a wine tasting. You bought a glass for 5 euro and you got to try 3 different wines. I am not talking about the 1 ounce taste that most American places give you. I mean 3 full glasses of wine.....so, it is a fantastic deal!

I purchased my glass and went to the first station, for a glass of Chianti. The server poured my glass and I went to the piazza were they were playing Jazz and drank my wine and listened to the music. After a while, the musicians took a break and my glass was empty so I moved on to the next station.

When I got there a crowd had gathered and were waiting patiently. I strained to see over the crowd, thinking that the wine at this station was "finito". I asked a man standing nearby, "Questo vino e finito?" He turned to me and laughed. He said, "No, Il vino non finito, la cameriere e prendi una pausa per mangi." Translation: "No the wine is not finished, the waiter is taking a break to eat"

I saw the waiter behind the station eating a sandwich and talking on his cell phone!

The amazing thing is that this crowd of Italians (no tourists here) were waiting while he finished. He finished his phone call first, ate the rest of his sandwich, poured himself a glass of wine, and opened the next bottle for the crowd. The line moved quickly, and I couldn’t stop laughing about this all night! Not the reaction that I would see at home!