Irina's Black & White Party

Last night was Irina's Black & White party. It was officially an "end of summer" party and unofficially her belated birthday party.

The festivities started with dinner on the rooftop of Empire Terrace in the city center. As each person arrived he or she drew a card with the name of a real person or a fictional character. The game was to act in character for the entire evening.

I ended up with James Bond so it was very easy to get in to character. All I had to do was drink martinis. However, in Europe, martinis are not like martinis back home.

In the U.S., a martini is either vodka or gin, with a dash of vermouth, served straight up or on the rocks. My personal favorite is a "dirty" vodka martini which just means that there is some olive juice with the vodka.

Here, when you order a martini, you are served either dry or sweet Martini & Rossi vermouth. The closest I can get to a real martini here is just to order vodka with an olive. Oh well, what can you do?

Afterwards we ended up dancing at a local club. It was a great time hanging out with friends.