My promise only goes through today. The rest of the weekend it will be wet and colder.

Hi gang,

Safely back in the states after a nifty six week trip to Iraq. Catching up on my sleep/emails/calls, and looking forward to opening a nice bottle later on today, my first alcoholic beverage since mid-March (not counting the swill I choked down on the airplane yesterday).

Going to the offsite today to pull my vinos for the weekend. See y'all shortly!!!

Lodging question,

Any of you locals stay at either the Hotel Burnham or the Palmer House Hilton before? Decent price on both of them. Need to get my room squared away, but might do a hotwire buy instead.

-B

I have been following this topic with quite some envy!

I wish you a great event, and look forward to the stories and TN's posted on this forum.

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
Lodging question,

Any of you locals stay at either the Hotel Burnham or the Palmer House Hilton before? Decent price on both of them. Need to get my room squared away, but might do a hotwire buy instead.

-B

Palmer House is a tried and true old style Chicago favorite. Kind of a cool building, you get the sense that Al Capone probably partied there. I don't know when the rooms were updated last, that would be my only concern.

Burnham is a redone building (or is it built new to look old?) with pretty much new everything. I don't know much specifically about the rooms, but it looks very nice from the exterior. They're both close to each other, with the Burnham getting the nod for a slightly better location.

Landed safely, but more importantly, the wine made it unscathed. Off to Corp. HQ and then downtown for the rest of the weekend. See everyone on Sat. evening.

I'd probably go with the Burnham, too.

I just heard from W+A. He and Skoshy have landed. Whee!

We're locked and loaded for Saturday night. VT2IT and indybob, your requests have been forwarded to Campanola. They will be able to accomodate you both with no problems.

PH

Right on! Thanks PH.

-B

Ma plaisir, indybob. Welcome home.

PH

2008 Italian Offline
7:00 PM
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Campagnola

50 hours to go.

PH

quote:

Originally posted by PurpleHaze:
2008 Italian Offline
7:00 PM
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Campagnola



PH

To save wading through 25 screens (I just looked through a few), a summary:

$100/person to the restaurant for food/fees/tax (cash/charge), plus six bucks and change to Otis (cashola) for the stems he's bringing. Decanters: the more, the merrier. Day-after art gallery tour TBD.

This correct?

Good summary, indybob. You are correct on all counts.

PH

quote:

Originally posted by Jochems:
I have been following this topic with quite some envy!

I wish you a great event, and look forward to the stories and TN's posted on this forum.

Just be sure you'll attend the next one, this time next year, IN ITALY!

We're counting on you joining in with us for that one, Albert.

Cleared the decks of 'issues' at work.

All accounted for and good to head out mid-morning!

It's shaping up to be a great weekend!

Hey guys,
Sorry to do this so late but I'm going to have to cancel for tomorrow. I had to head up to Michigan and won't be back until Sunday.

Sorry,
Redline

Since most are still travelling, let me be the first to chime in post-offline.

What a terrific night this was. It was great to see old friends again and to meet new ones. A special thanks to Een for all her work on this event, it could not have turned out better!

Grossie, thank you but I truly can't take such credit. PH did the majority of the work. I do appreciate everyone's patience with me as the accountant last night. Thank you.

Last night was wonderful. I met such great people and only regret not being able to speak more in-depth with many or meet others beyond saying hello. There will, however, be more opportunities for meeting.

Home. Tired. Full. Happy.

What a wonderful night. If last year's wines were a little dissapointing, this year's selections MORE than made up for it. Tremendous juice, a really fantastic group of people and a kitchen that was firing on all cylinders.

Kudos to Een for selecting Campagnola, in Evanston and for all her support and help getting this thing done. Thanks to Otis for stem schlepping and support, grossie and w+a for ancillary celebratory arrangements and to all who came to eat and drink with us to make this the best Italian Offline to date. I can't wait until next year.

Some details and pics to follow.

PH

Arrived back in VA this afternoon at least 5 pounds heavier. What a night. I can't remember having so many wines that were really singing. I did not taste a sub-90 point wine last night.

Thank you Een for your recommendation. The stemware was perfect thanks to Otis (just didn't expect to get a $2 bill as change). And a special thanks to PH for keeping everything going over the past several months. Herding cats is not fun and sometimes is a thankless job but I want you to know I really appreciate your passion for keeping this an annual event.

This was a great group that seemed to enjoyed each others company and I look forward to doing it again next year, if not sooner.

OMG!!! What great wines, wonderful people, outstanding food, and amazing organization from PH, Een, and Otis.

Thanks for letting yet one more Texas attend. It was great putting faces and names with handles. I am looking forward to seeing many of you again in Montreal.

re: pics

If anyone has any photos that they'd like me to include in my album in the next few days, would you please forward them to me? Of course, you're encouraged to put your shots up separately, but if you're either not able or inclined to do so, I'd love to have some contributions from the other photographers who were shooting last night. purplehaze1956 at yahoo dot com OR myrealname at yahoo dot com. Grazie.

Hey, futronic! This includes you. I still haven't seen pictures from 2 years ago!!

PH

Unreal! Incroiable!

KSCO2 and steve8 raised spooning to a whole new level.

The wine, food, laughter, and cab rides were unparalleled. To finally put faces to names that I have been in contact with for so long only heightened my respect and value on friendship.

I agree with Een that my only regret was that I was unable to spend more time with each and every participant. But to those that I did get to speak with, and you know who you are, it was indeed a pleasure.

A bientot.

quote:

Originally posted by DoktaP:
Unreal! Incroiable!

KSCO2 and steve8 raised spooning to a whole new level.

See above posts re: pictures. Will pay for the really good stuff!

PH