Sprinters Versus Marathon Runners

Day 6: Valladolid and the Wedding

We awoke fresh on Saturday morning ready for Thai's wedding and the fun it would surely bring. The wedding was at noon, so we meandered to the nearby cafe for coffee and tortilla (not like Mexican tortillas...it is an egg/cheese/potato omlette-style dish), then we headed back to our room to get ready for the wedding. 

The church where the wedding was is beautiful-- built in 1565 and has high ceilings and ornate gold finishes on everything. The mass was nice and not too long. The priest translated parts into English for the visitors from the US, and the ceremony was quite charming. 

Afterwards all the guests filed out onto the sidewalk out front to await the bride and groom. People had rice, confetti and even confetti canons to pelt the new couple with. I had no idea how big of a deal this would be.

Kim and I were standing up front closest to where Thai and Maria would come out. I should have been suspicious that no one was jockeying for my front-row position because, as it turned out, when Thai and Maria came out and the confetti went a-flyin', Kim and I were in the "splash zone" if you will...we had confetti in our hair, on our clothes, and in or cleavage. I swear we were still picking confetti off of ourselves well into the next day!

From the church there was a very nice chartered bus that took us to the reception site. The reception was in a gorgeous restaurant about 10 minutes away. Upon arrival we were greeted with cocktails and appetizers galore. The food came faster than we could eat it! I must have had at least 5 or 6 of the appetizers and 2 or 3 glasses of wine before we even stepped into the next room for dinner.

However, when we moved into the next room for dinner, it was more of the same-- delicious food, open bar, wine flowing...fantastic! Kim and I sat at a table with Thai's aunt, uncle, sister, and friend (Erica). The first course was a lobster salad (really a bed of lettuce with an entire lobster tail on it...yum!). I gobbled mine up and was pretty full (which I assumed would be no big deal since I usually find there are parts or even full courses of meals I can't have at these types of events due to being vegetarian). Next course came, though, and it was a very large fillet of white fish...yay! Something else I could eat! So I ate that, too. Now I really was full, but then came the delicious pallet cleanser...orange and lemon sorbet!  After that I was really full, and I figured it was ok since the main entree was a steak. However, Thai had told them I was vegetarian so they made me a special dish so then THAT came out! Yikes! So full! I have had Thanksgivings where I felt lighter!

I nibbled at my main entree (more like pushed food around my plate so as not to hurt anyone's feelings), then figured I was in the clear.....nope! Dessert and coffee came next-- will it ever end??? (Keep in mind this whole time, the wine is being poured and poured and Kim is pep-talking our table for the big eat-a-thon, telling us "there are no quitters at this table!" LOL) I'm not sure if Kim had a hollow leg that night or what, but she managed to get all 4 courses and part of her dessert down. Our whole table looked like lead balloons by the time we were finished with dinner...

After dinner we moved into the dancing room...more drinks followed (4 mojitos to be exact). By 9pm everyone had danced, drank and eaten a lot, and the bus arrived to take everyone back to the church. I figured we were done for the evening. Oh, no....there is the after-party for the "young people." Apparently it is the custom to drink and party ALL NiGHT LONG. Kim and I are not Spaniards apparently, though, because we stayed for one more drink, then headed back to our hotel at 1:00 am. 12 hours of straight partying is our limit, I guess.

Kim and I agree, though, that it was by far the most fun either of us have ever had at a wedding. It was a blast and the people here sure know how to enjoy themselves. Next time we go to a party/wedding/celebration in Spain, though, we may need to train for it for a few months ahead of time. By comparison, we Americans are sprinters and these guys are the marathon runners of partying!