Reminds me of the time we were going out to dinner at our local Italian restaurant which we used to frequent often. Beloved OH had forgotten to book and when we rolled up, there was a private party going on and they had taken over the whole restaurant - all men, may I add. One of the guys at the party recognised us, invited us in and introduced us to an old geezer who didn't speak English. Loads of other men were forming a queue in front of this guy, but we were ushered up to the front. As my friend and I were the only females present, we were kissed by everyone, twice.
The guy that invited us told us that most of the people at the party were from Sicily and were 'visiting areas with large Italian populations'. As the owner of the restaurant apparently owed the group a 'favour', we were told, he was 'invited' to host the meal / party.
We had the time of our lives. We hardly understood a word that was spoken, the wine flowed very freely and we didn't pay for a thing. The only slightly disconcerting thing was the whole homage thing with the old geezer. People were running around for him all the time, going off and making phone calls and generally looking after his every whim. I have also never seen the owner of the restaurant looking so nervous, before or since. It was straight out of a movie.
The guy that invited us told us that most of the people at the party were from Sicily and were 'visiting areas with large Italian populations'. As the owner of the restaurant apparently owed the group a 'favour', we were told, he was 'invited' to host the meal / party.
We had the time of our lives. We hardly understood a word that was spoken, the wine flowed very freely and we didn't pay for a thing. The only slightly disconcerting thing was the whole homage thing with the old geezer. People were running around for him all the time, going off and making phone calls and generally looking after his every whim. I have also never seen the owner of the restaurant looking so nervous, before or since. It was straight out of a movie.
