I first met Piz ten years ago when I was employed by Vodafone in Malta. Piz managed the International Roaming team at the time while I was in marketing. We got along really well and together managed to deliver successful projects. After I left, Piz and I remained good old friends. We helped one another especially in key turning points in our lives. When Piz moved to the UK I toured hundreds of cars with him until he found the one. He just loved driving his new belle up and down England in search for beauty spots. I'm grateful for the times Piz took me with him. I remember going to Cheddar Gorge; a lovely tiny escapade in which we gorged in its lovely valleys and hills. A week later he picked me up together with all my stuff. All my personal belongings filled every bit of space within the car. I never thought one trip would be enough but it was. The faithful car drove us all to the centre of Newbury where Piz and I turned into santas and started distributing my stuff to charity shops. A few days after that I left to travel across Asia then onto Australia. In the meantime, Piz decided to take a company offer and move to Luxembourg.
I hadn't seen Piz for almost two years when we met again in London last June. We was pretty excited as he told me all about his big 50th birthday bash. 09/09/09 - was symbolic for Piz and he wanted to share it with fifty people who were were close to his heart. I got an invite, I was one of the special ones.
I flew to Hahn in Germany late Friday night then got the bus to Luxembourg city. It was past one in the morning when I got there and Piz was waiting to pick me up this time in his new BMW. He now lives in a lovely house in a small quiet village. Piz had picked the house mainly cause of the garden in which he wanted to host his birthday BBQ party.
A short night brought us to a brisk and busy morning. As his other guests made their way to the city, Piz drove us to a huge store to pick up drinks for the party. Back at his house and together with his wife Anna, we cleared the way for the caterers to set up the marquise and get ready for the lavish BBQ buffet. After a short break in the afternoon, Piz started making himself pretty by shaving his already bold head! In no time guests started arriving.
It was a great party full of lovely people. Piz is a friendly person with so much character; a charming charismatic comedian. Piz makes everyone laugh with his jokes funny faces and acts. Having gorged ourselves in wine and delicious food we huddled inside to cut the cake. Piz the celeb, didn't let us down and cracked his jokes with gusto. The party was far from over. Piz is a die hard rocker with a huge collection of live shows DVDs. He started playing one after the other then made us pick our favourites so he could play them. It was sing-a-long / karaoke grand finale.
We went to bed pretty late or rather early in the morning. I slept well. Forgot to mention what a great hosts Piz and Anna are. It was just like being at my family. At 8am I heard Piz clearing up glasses in the other room. I couldn't just let him do the job alone so I got myself out of bed, rolled my selves and ... there stood Piz broom in hand wearing a 'Got Crabs?' t-shirt! (Great ad for a restaurant called Crabs - not!).
All done and dusted, Anna prepared us all a lavish breakfast of leftovers. Piz then drove us to the city for a quick tour before I had to catch the bus back to Hahn at 3pm. It was probably the quickest tour around a city I had ever done but as they say short and sweet. My photos can tell.
Before we knew it it was goodbyes. It's always hard to say good bye to good friends even though we always know we'll meet up soon enough, wherever and whenever next. It was a great birthday weekend and am so glad I was part of it.
Well, Piz that was your birthday now looking forward to seeing you again next week in Malta for Christmas.
Merry Christmas and a Great New Year!
cheers Piz ;)
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