Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Ebbio va bene!
Ciao a tutti!
Been over a month in Italy and still loving it and learning so much! My Italian is coming along slowly.. words more than phrases. My time at Ebbio, the farm I have been WOOFing at for 3 weeks helped a lot, as although the hosts spoke great English, their 2 year old son and others who lived there did not, so I was forced to try and explain myself! Also finding I understand people even if I can't speak myself.
So, a days travel from Napoli to Siena and then a wee bit further to Monterrigioni got me to Ebbio, a beautiful old farm house and buildings at the end of a country road. It has grape vines and olive trees, and also hosts retreats for groups. When I arrived there were a bunch of Italians learning cranio sacral techniques, then afterwards a load of Germans arrived for group leader training! I stayed in the nearby cottage with the owl in the avery outside my window. There were also horses, donkeys (and a 2 week old baby donkey!), geese, chickens, doves, cats and dogs aplenty.
I helped with the saffron, first weeding and then picking and drying when they came up, with picking up rocks from the vineyard, with pruning the vines, collecting walnuts and chessnuts, and inside the house helping with the food and dishes for the groups.. the food was fantastic!! Real amazin vege Tuscan cuisine, I ate sooo well there! Learnt a few tips too.
The family hosts were friendly and I spent time looking after their son Gabrielle, who called me Bimba Claire (little girl!)..
Had days off to see Siena and San Gimingano (the town of medieval towers, very cool!) but nice to stay put in one place for a bit as been on the move for so long now!
So, say goodbye this monring, and now in Perugia, in Umbria, further south. From here I go out to another farm to help with the olive harvest, sounds like another beautiful place.. then, I don't know what but a few options.. will keep you informed of course!!
The weather is changing, very autumn like but not cold - the locals seem to think it is though!
Love to you all, thoughts are with you and my email again is clairedann@gmail.com ;)
xxx
Been over a month in Italy and still loving it and learning so much! My Italian is coming along slowly.. words more than phrases. My time at Ebbio, the farm I have been WOOFing at for 3 weeks helped a lot, as although the hosts spoke great English, their 2 year old son and others who lived there did not, so I was forced to try and explain myself! Also finding I understand people even if I can't speak myself.
So, a days travel from Napoli to Siena and then a wee bit further to Monterrigioni got me to Ebbio, a beautiful old farm house and buildings at the end of a country road. It has grape vines and olive trees, and also hosts retreats for groups. When I arrived there were a bunch of Italians learning cranio sacral techniques, then afterwards a load of Germans arrived for group leader training! I stayed in the nearby cottage with the owl in the avery outside my window. There were also horses, donkeys (and a 2 week old baby donkey!), geese, chickens, doves, cats and dogs aplenty.
I helped with the saffron, first weeding and then picking and drying when they came up, with picking up rocks from the vineyard, with pruning the vines, collecting walnuts and chessnuts, and inside the house helping with the food and dishes for the groups.. the food was fantastic!! Real amazin vege Tuscan cuisine, I ate sooo well there! Learnt a few tips too.
The family hosts were friendly and I spent time looking after their son Gabrielle, who called me Bimba Claire (little girl!)..
Had days off to see Siena and San Gimingano (the town of medieval towers, very cool!) but nice to stay put in one place for a bit as been on the move for so long now!
So, say goodbye this monring, and now in Perugia, in Umbria, further south. From here I go out to another farm to help with the olive harvest, sounds like another beautiful place.. then, I don't know what but a few options.. will keep you informed of course!!
The weather is changing, very autumn like but not cold - the locals seem to think it is though!
Love to you all, thoughts are with you and my email again is clairedann@gmail.com ;)
xxx
Monday, October 02, 2006
shock, horror!!
...Claire posts twice in as many weeks!!
I know, but feel like I'm travelling again (well, cos I am) and all excited and so much to tell!
Rome was wicked, so much more that I expected, such an amazing captial. Its full of extremes, really old - turn a corner and there's a bunch of colomns or blocks of marble lying like they have been there forever, and probably have.. and the new - fashion and fanciness and anything you could ever want! Also frantic and mental, for zebra crossings the rule is just start walking and hold your breath as cars, buses, and scooters zip and out around you.. to peaceful and quaint and just beautiful, ivy hanging over red coloured terracota fracades and cobbled streets glistening at night.. ahhh!! All getting a bit poetic, but I really did love it! Did a lot of walking round just soaking it all in, as well as the usual sights of the Roman Forum, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, and the Vatican (Sistine Chapel is worth the hours queuing and sharing it with hundred of other people!), St Peters Cathedral etc.
Only down point, getting caught in a downpour, man can it rain when it wants to!! Drenched to the skin and wading through ankle deep puddles to get home, but soon dried off and the sun came out tomorrow.. bet your bottom dollar...
Also met some cool chicks in me women only groovy hostel, so went out with them, sampled Gellato and checked out the Catacombe on the outskirts of Rome.. ohhh spookey...
The hostel was on the 'other' side (the Vatican side) of the city, in a real jewel of an area called Trastevere, very picteresque to the max.
Hard to leave, but had to be done, sure I'll be back!! Headed down to Napoli, thats Naples for us English folk who for some reason have to call it something different.. Staying in a very different hostel, homely and cozy, but lots of travelers and with a kitchen and balcony to hang out on its a bit more social.
Naples is even MORE crazy than Rome, which I didn't think possible. No road rules what so ever, if you can call them roads at all, most of the streets are so thin that a car barely scraps though, you have to almost press yourself up against the building when one beeps its way through! Which is why scooters are far more common, even see quad bikes.. and they go anywhere, footpath, one way streets the wrong way, sometimes with a whole family on the back..
Much more crowded and slum like here, and poverty is much more obvious, but I like it, definitely a working, living city whereas Rome (well, the centre that I saw) perhaps more stately.
Saw more treasures in the national museum, of which I am not growing tired of, and the harbour is stunning, big wide expanse with freight ships, cruise liners, sunbathers and Mt Vesuvius rising up above them all.. wow!!
Today I went to Pompeii, didn't realise how big it was, literally a whole town with streets, homes, shops, 'snack bars', the church and temples, administration, the forum, theatres, and amphitheatre.. and most sobering, the plaster casts of bodies huddled from the ash that are placed around the site.
Tomorrow, a new adventure - WWOOFing in Itlay! Became a member and found a place willing to have me, 'Ebbio' near Siena, Tuscany. A place with evergreen forests and an old volcano that produces organic olive oil, wine and veges.. also they believe in sustainablity and leaving the earth better than when we found it.. sounds great and hope it will be!! Looking forward to staying put for a while and getting stuck into something (and practicing my Italian!!), also experiencing the Italian countryside.
So, think thats it, will report back soon I'm sure, till then
HOW ARE YOU ALL?? do you still exist over there?!? Please send me an email, however short, if you get the chance as would be super cool to hear from you, promise to send you a personal one back!!
Love always..
Claire
I know, but feel like I'm travelling again (well, cos I am) and all excited and so much to tell!
Rome was wicked, so much more that I expected, such an amazing captial. Its full of extremes, really old - turn a corner and there's a bunch of colomns or blocks of marble lying like they have been there forever, and probably have.. and the new - fashion and fanciness and anything you could ever want! Also frantic and mental, for zebra crossings the rule is just start walking and hold your breath as cars, buses, and scooters zip and out around you.. to peaceful and quaint and just beautiful, ivy hanging over red coloured terracota fracades and cobbled streets glistening at night.. ahhh!! All getting a bit poetic, but I really did love it! Did a lot of walking round just soaking it all in, as well as the usual sights of the Roman Forum, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, and the Vatican (Sistine Chapel is worth the hours queuing and sharing it with hundred of other people!), St Peters Cathedral etc.
Only down point, getting caught in a downpour, man can it rain when it wants to!! Drenched to the skin and wading through ankle deep puddles to get home, but soon dried off and the sun came out tomorrow.. bet your bottom dollar...
Also met some cool chicks in me women only groovy hostel, so went out with them, sampled Gellato and checked out the Catacombe on the outskirts of Rome.. ohhh spookey...
The hostel was on the 'other' side (the Vatican side) of the city, in a real jewel of an area called Trastevere, very picteresque to the max.
Hard to leave, but had to be done, sure I'll be back!! Headed down to Napoli, thats Naples for us English folk who for some reason have to call it something different.. Staying in a very different hostel, homely and cozy, but lots of travelers and with a kitchen and balcony to hang out on its a bit more social.
Naples is even MORE crazy than Rome, which I didn't think possible. No road rules what so ever, if you can call them roads at all, most of the streets are so thin that a car barely scraps though, you have to almost press yourself up against the building when one beeps its way through! Which is why scooters are far more common, even see quad bikes.. and they go anywhere, footpath, one way streets the wrong way, sometimes with a whole family on the back..
Much more crowded and slum like here, and poverty is much more obvious, but I like it, definitely a working, living city whereas Rome (well, the centre that I saw) perhaps more stately.
Saw more treasures in the national museum, of which I am not growing tired of, and the harbour is stunning, big wide expanse with freight ships, cruise liners, sunbathers and Mt Vesuvius rising up above them all.. wow!!
Today I went to Pompeii, didn't realise how big it was, literally a whole town with streets, homes, shops, 'snack bars', the church and temples, administration, the forum, theatres, and amphitheatre.. and most sobering, the plaster casts of bodies huddled from the ash that are placed around the site.
Tomorrow, a new adventure - WWOOFing in Itlay! Became a member and found a place willing to have me, 'Ebbio' near Siena, Tuscany. A place with evergreen forests and an old volcano that produces organic olive oil, wine and veges.. also they believe in sustainablity and leaving the earth better than when we found it.. sounds great and hope it will be!! Looking forward to staying put for a while and getting stuck into something (and practicing my Italian!!), also experiencing the Italian countryside.
So, think thats it, will report back soon I'm sure, till then
HOW ARE YOU ALL?? do you still exist over there?!? Please send me an email, however short, if you get the chance as would be super cool to hear from you, promise to send you a personal one back!!
Love always..
Claire
