You'll have
to forgive such a huge time lapse between blog posts. I'm in the grips of a
very bad relapse... possibly the worst I've had in 10 years. I’m using the
walking frame that has been in the loft for ten years and getting that out again
was a sad day. It sucks BUT it's not the first, it won't be the last and as ever,
it could always be worse!
Tuscany
After the
hustle, bustle and madness of Rome, we were in need of some R&R, so, after
a breakfast in bed, we bid farewell to the Royal Court hotel and headed to
Tuscany for the main reason we were driving around Europe - The #NutBrook
wedding!
I met Kirsty
at secondary school when we were 11, we remained polite "Hi and Bye"
buddies until we left school and then became wonderful friends - despite our
lives being completely different and cities apart. She and her fiancé Tom had
been together for over 10 years and they couldn't be more suited to each other
- a truly genuine and lovely couple, we adore.
We arrived
at Castello di Modanella (Castle and wedding venue) just south of Siena. The
Castle and estate was incredible, most of the wedding guests were staying on
site in converted farm buildings. Mike and I were staying in the former
slaughter house, it sounds gross but it was huge, yet cosy and bigger than our
own flat (not hard!).
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| View from our apartment |
We found
Kirsty after hearing laughing and cackling in the bar, we were greeted by lots of
family and friends, introductions were made and wine was already flowing
freely, a theme that would continue for the next three days!
After an
afternoon of sunbathing we went to dinner with most of the guests in a little
town 10 minutes from Castello di Modanella, feasting on gorgeous Italian fair,
meeting new people and watching the Sun set over beautiful Tuscany – I was one
happy bunny!
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| Tuscany Sunset |
On Friday we
made our way into town with a few of the other guests Graham, Zoe and Bruce,
for some shopping, a cheeky glass of something, bought pool toys and a water
gun, more on that later though....
The bulk of
Friday was used for sun bathing and getting to know everyone, my nerves were
getting the best of me so I had to make a real effort to chat to everyone – the
wine glass always in my hand certainly helped!
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| Our pool |
In the
evening the Grooms family had provided a pre wedding BBQ by candle light – we
were all stuffed, dancing and to put it mildly - merry! I didn’t help
matters... I thought I’d bring a bit of Essex to the event and filled the water
gun with Limoncello – which went down very well, especially with the bride and
her Dad!
The evening
ended at 4am with various fully clothed friends in the pool (looking at you
Benny, Gemma, Sarah, Ross!) and a Grease Mega Mix dance off – Yup Essex had
landed in Tuscany J
Saturday was
the wedding day! We’d all waited 10 years for this day and the excitement was
electric! In the morning we took to our “usual” positions by the pool, the heat
was incredible so I wussed out taking cover with Sarah – a wonderfully
hilarious Australian with a ginger kid curfew!
After brunch
many of us attended a pre wedding wine tasting, sampling the estates wines and
homemade breads – despite not liking most wines Mike came anyway, I and our
table mates Rosie, Natalie and Seb shared his left overs – You cannot waste
wine as good as this was!
By 4 it was
time to get our glad rags on! I always find wedding outfits difficult to find
as most formal summer dresses drag on my wheels but I was happy with an ASOS
pink number that also was long enough that I wouldn’t be flashing my knickers
at any one!
The castle
chapel was stunning and authentically Italian, I found myself getting nervous
on the couples behalf. When the time came, I shed a tear, Kirsty looked so
beautiful, elegant and graceful as she made her way to Tom who was nervously
grinning at the altar.
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| The Blushing Bride |
The ceremony
went perfectly and we headed for the drinks reception where we were treated to
wonderful food, drink and a four string quartet. I was chatting to the grooms’
cousins as one of them is an aspiring writer; she was so excited as a lot of
the guests were writers (our Bride works for a UK Newspaper) - her enthusiasm
was infectious.
When it was
time for the wedding Breakfast, Mike and I sort out our table on the planner to
find we were with 7 members of a family we had yet to meet! My nerves kicked in
once more but I shouldn’t have worried our dinner guests were four of the
Smithers brothers and three of their wives/girlfriends, they were so welcoming
and chatty.... another side effect of my nerves is that I talk...in over time
mode... thankfully no one seemed to bored of my waffling!
Our meal was
scrumptious, the speeches were heart-warming and the newly Wed Mr and Mrs Brook
looked blissful!
Sadly by the
time the band started my body had given up and I was in too much pain to fling
my upper half around like I normally do at parties! But guests came back and
forth providing me with shots and company and a silver lining to the pain was
that I got some epic photos of the night!
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| The Reception |
The party
finally ended at 4am, we were all drunk, and laughing, even when the music
stopped Mike and Phil - the best man
started an hour long Acapella choir singing hits from Bon Jovi, Spice Girls,
Will Smith and Celine Dion... of course they did!
Mike was
tie-less, shirt untucked and wearing neon glasses when we got back to our
apartment – what a day!
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| Mike and I |
Sunday... we
were all very delicate and sad that it was time to part ways; I think we’d made
some genuine, lovely new friends, taken hundreds of photos and had tons of new memories!
We bid farewell to the Brooks and headed on to the last leg of our European
road trip!
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| Mr and Mrs Brook |
Congratulations
Mr and Mrs Brook! Xxx
L x
