Who said that drinking is bad? Waking up with the delicious taste of fresh mint from your mojito still in your mouth is fantastic. Until you start throwing up, of course.
But why waste time on such trivial details! ^_^
Aperitivo is a classic Milanese tradition. It is sometimes called Happy Hour and it basically means that you go to a nice bar, order a cocktail or long drink of your choice (or even a soft drink, or wine) and then stuff yourself at the buffet. Basically, you pay a fixed price for your drink, and get a free dinner! Isn’t this marvellous.
Aperitivo normally runs from 6pm to 9pm, and is a great time for socializing and unwinding after a long day at work.
Forget chips, peanuts and pop-corn.. a typical buffet can offer a variety of delicacies ranging from pasta, risotto, cruditées, cheeses, potato salads, nachos, barbecue chicken or even steamed chinese dumplings, tempura and sushi! It all depends on the place you choose and the fantasy of the chef.
The dark side of aperitivo is that most probably you’ll end up drinking more than one drink, and start blabbering. You will go with the intention of staying just for an hour, and end up going home very, very late. You will get strange ideas from the too many caipirinhas. And you will eat one too many chicken nuggets before you realize that – oops! – this was your vegetarian week. Well fuck it!
What to say at aperitivo with friends:
“Dove ci sediamo?” – Where shall we sit?
“Stiamo fuori o dentro?” – Shall we stay outside or inside (the bar)?
“Sediamoci sul divanetto zebrato!!” – Let’s sit on the small zebra sofa!!
“Posso avere la lista?” – May I have the menu?
“Avete la menta fresca?” – Do you have fresh mint?
“Usate le fragole fresche o lo sciroppo?” – Do you use fresh strawberries or syrup?
“Allora, prendiamo un mojito, una capirinha con il frutto della passione, un long island ice tea, un negroni sbagliato e una virgin pina colada..” – So, we’ll have a mojito, a caipirinha with passion fruit (aka maracuja), a long island ice tea, a “negroni sbagliato” and a virgin pina colada.
[BTW, "Negroni" is a typical milanese cocktail, containing Campari (another typical milanese liquor), red vermouth (aka red Martini) and gin, plus perhaps an orange slice. A "Negroni sbagliato" (wrong Negroni) has sparkling white wine instead of gin, which makes it a little lighter.]
“Sono 35 euro.. 7 euro a testa” – It’s 35 euros.. 7 euros each.
“Andiamo a prendere da mangiare?” – Shall we go and get something to eat?
“Il buffet sembra goloso” – The buffet looks yummy
“Ho una fame!!!” – I’m so hungry!!!
“Prendi un po’ di patatine anche per me” – Take some chips for me too
Considering that I’m still hungover from yesterday night, I think I’ll throw in (was I gonna say “up”??) a couple of useful sentences for the day after..
“Che mal di testa..” – What a headache..
“Mi viene da vomitare / Ho la nausea” – I feel like I’m going to throw up / I feel nauseous
“Basta, giuro che non berrò mai più la caipirinha” - That’s it, I swear I’m never drinking capirinha again
“Che idea del cazzo” – What a fucking stupid idea
So.. I guess I’ll see you at the next aperitivo!! Strictly non-alcoholic, and we’ll eat only fruit and veggies though.
— If you wanna be bad, you gotta be good —
