Boy, was he surprised!  🙂

It was Nog’s birthday yesterday and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different than the usual “birthday lunch”. So the other day I spoke to my friend María Paz who runs Bar Campanario and asked about setting up a birthday party for six (including her). The other guests were Susan, Pablo and Agustín (Dr A), who were instructed to arrive at the restaurant 15 minutes before us, sign the card and be there to shout SURPRISE when Nog & I walked in. And it all went perfectly to plan …

Just before I left for yoga class yesterday morning I asked Nog if he’d like to go for birthday tapas at lunchtime, and he seemed quite happy about that. Then just before 2 o’clock I got a text message from Susan saying that everyone was there, so Nog & I went out and as we were passing Bar Campanario I suggested we stop in there instead of going somewhere further away. Ha!

We started off with a bottle of cava to toast the birthday boy, then María Paz started bringing on the food … and bringing it on … and then bringing it on some more. We had agreed on a set menu but she got carried away and we ended up with twice the amount of stuff I’d asked for (but for the same price). She also bought a prezzie for Nog, which was extra sweet of her. Anyhow, this is just some of the food María Paz prepared for us…

After we’d eaten and drunk more than our fill, María Paz had yet another surprise for us. Since there was no birthday cake she arranged tea candles on a tray for Nog to blow out (I hope he made a wish) and then she brought out a selection of sweet crepes and coffee.

The last special birthday surprise treat was a round of blackberry vodka shots (had never even heard of blackberry vodka before – it was delicious), and here we all are making a final birthday toast …

Definitely a birthday to remember.