Hen Party and St. Martin´s Wine

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I live in the area where there are hundreds of vineyards. The vine growing has a long tradition here (almost thousand years), and we know what good wine is and how to make it. People from other parts of Czech Republic go to visit our famous wine cellars, and I am proud to be a part of this cultural heritage (because even the wine can be a part of the culture).

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On 11th November we celebrate the name-day of Martin. There are two important things connected with this date. The first one is an old saying that: "St. Martin always comes riding a white horse". That means that usually the first snow of the year appears in this very day. And it is usully true.

And the second event (which is more important in my area) is that the very first wine of this year is revealed. After the grapes are harvested from September to October, they are processed and then the this-year-wine appears. The wine is bottled and from the November 11, you can see it in the shops, in the restaurants, you can taste it for the first time.

This young fresh wine is called St. Martin´s, and there is usually not so much alcohol in it.
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So on Friday evening me and my friends went to the restaurant to taste some St. Martin´s wine. We went there with a strong belief that we would taste all offered wine - white, red, and rosé. As the first one, we tasted rosé. And it was so amazing, that we stayed loyal to that colour for the rest of the evening.

On the left, there is my best friend Mája. She has three children (yes, she is so brave), a loving husband (although from time to time she says that being a lesbian wouldn´t be so bad, you know - men...*), and since July she has been running her own shop with dry goods and her own handmade things. She makes wonderful weave scarves, great wicker baskets, gorgeous small mosaic boxes, jewellery, and many other things. Sometimes I think she has to steal the energy somewhere, because nobody would stay sane with so much work around family, the business, and still be the nicest person in the world. She is a bit hyperactive. And she is awesome.

On the right, there is my other friend. She´s called Verunka. She is the kindest person in the world. She is so kind that we all have the tendencies to protect her somehow. Perhaps she doesn´t need any protection (she is a quite big girl), but she is so tender and sensitive that we have those tendencies anyway.
She also runs her own business - she has her own beauty parlour. Small, but very nice and cozy place. We all love to go there and let her take care about our bodies.

And this is Bára. I met her for the first time that Friday, but I had seen her work many times before. She is a dressmaker, and also runs her own business. She cooperates with Mája and supplies Mája´s shop with made-to-measure clothes (at the moment, a wonderful red winter coat is hanging in the shop window), and some other small things.
She is also a very nice person, and fits to our company perfectly. And I have realised that our mothers were co-workers for about ten years. The world is small.

And this is, of course, me. Photo taken by Mája.

And in this photo we are going home. It was late after midnight, and we were tired, but happy and we had a great time and laugh.

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We agreed that we should meet more often. So we have decide that every second Friday in the month, we will have a hen party. But maybe we will meet earlier, because since tomorrow there is going to be "Beaujolais Days". So another wine tasting is waiting for us.

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* just kidding, of course Mája loves her husband:-)