Sunday, December 10, 2006
Italy and back again
hello all,
first of all scroll down now to see photos from Italy.. bit of a mixture, hope ya get the idea!
Well, wish I could elequently describe and project how amazing my little sojourn was, all seems like a bit of a distant memory for me now but will give it a go..
Will start with going back to the olives in Umbria and my step by step guide to...
How to pick olives
1. take your 2 big nets and lie them one below the tree and one above (cos the tree is on a slope) and hold the overlap down with rocks you find in the field. Also find sticks to curve up the net at the bottom of the slope so that the olives don't roll away..
2. Get your rake - of the kids sandpit variety - and start with the olives reachable from the ground.. take a branch and literally rake the olives off. These fall onto the net for collection at the end.
3. When thats all done climb up into the tree and perform amazing feats of contortionism and balance to reach all the branches and get as many olives off as you can (this is never all of them, 70% is about right). Meanwhile chat to fellow olive pickers, sing songs (even better if you can change the words to be about olives!) and every-so-often look out from your perch and appreciate the stunning rolling hills of Umbria all around you.
4. Climb down and then gently scoop up the nets so that the olives all end up in a pile. Sit down in the sunshine and pick out the bigger twigs and branches. Then get a crate and load it up with olives. Pack up the nets and go to the next tree...
5. When all the crates are full put them on the tractor and take them up to the barn were there is the leaf sorter machine (these are so important each area has its own local word roughly meaning 'to shake'). This is usually done once a week.. the crate is tipped onto the conveyer belt at a 45 degree angle and turned on so that the whole thing shakes and the leaves fall down the slots and the olives shake down to the end.. at the same time you pick out twigs from the top and move the olives around. Then tip the clean olives into another crate ready for the mill.
6. All the olives go back on the tractor to the mill half and hour away where they get munched up and squished to eventually produce lovely green fresh olive oil!!
7. Get some fresh bread, rub garlic on it, pour on plenty of new olive and top with salt... mmmmm its simply devine!!
After the olives I had a great break from WOOFing with my mate Kathryn up in Trento, surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery. One day I took the train half an hour north to Bolzano which before 1945 was part of Austria, thus it is still pretty much a German town, its the main language and the architecture and feel of the place is very different to Italy. Went to the archological museum and saw the 3,500 year old man that they found buried in the snow nearby. Then ate strudle and had Gluwien (mulled wine) after my slice of pizza - best of both worlds! Also went with Kathryn to see Verona, an hour south.. not my favourite Italian town but saw Juliet's balcony along with every other tourist there..
Kathryn also took me to a crazy local 'Alpinni' cantenna, it was in a small village and built into the side of the mountain. The walls were covered in old mountainerring memorabilia and just weird things like swords and numbchucks! We were served the famous sweet wine by a little old lady and the other staff were all of a similar generation.. really was like going into another world!!
From there I went to a place called Villa Lina just north of Rome.. they needed help with their kiwi harvest and it was a good half way point to stop before continuing further south. It really was an amazing place, an old estate with a grand villa and many other houses traditionally used by the lands workers. WOOFers were in the sheppards cottage, a lovely old 3 story building overlooking the vinyard. Unfortunately the work wasn't quite as romantic, a group of 4 of us were taken at 7.30am to a field nearby where we joined local women to pick kiwi for 7 and a half hours.
You have a bucket to hang in front of you, and reach up just above your head to pick 4-6 fruit at a time.. when your bucket is full a man comes to empty it for you. The gender roles were very defined here, 'its tradition' we were told. hmmm. The language barrier ment we couldn't really talk to the women, but they were nice enough and sung Italian folk songs a lot, a fitting soundtrack.
Had relaxing nights back at the cottage with the others, from the USA, Germany and Australia and at least now I can say I picked kiwi in Italy.. the irony.
A long train trip later I arrived Lecce, right in the heal of the boot, and was met at the station by Sylvia and Guiedo, who took me back to the farm about 2omins away, owned by Sylvia's sister Marita and her husband Loris. They were all really friendly and welcoming. Another WOOFer had also arrived that day, Adrian from Canada, who knew quite good Italian which was handy when their English was patchy! We were totally included in their extended family, and were made to feel right at home.. bit of a change from previous farms. They also displayed some typical Italian habits, like watching TV all the time, eating and drinking out of plastic cups and plates, not having dinner till sometimes 9.30pm and then it was always pasta.. really we had pasta every day for lunch and dinner.. except when Adrian and I couldn't take it any more and made risotto one day!
They were also meat eaters, which led to Loris, who has a crazy sense of humour, joking all the time about the food having meat in it "carne, carne!" and not only that but kangaroo meat.. yes, I did mention that New Zealand doesn't actually have kangaroo's but by then the joke had stuck and I heard about it at every opportunity!
The work there was pruning the pine trees, so not very exciting and I did get sick of it but at least there was company and the family and atmosphere was cool. They took us to see Lecce one night and we went back on Sunday, our day off.. its incredible! Full of baroque architecture and over the top decorations on all buildings. Loved it, especially under the lights at night. They also took us to a farming museum nearby that was way more interesting than it sounds, and the 2 of us biked to the beach one day too. Only 20mins ride away through fields and fields of olives, but very different to the north; the earth is red and flat and the trees very very old - 1,000 years even!
Whilst I was there a friend of theirs was doing a project for a wildlife sanctury/museum thing that needed English as well as Italian audio to go with the photos of the landscape, plants and animals. So I was drafted up to do the job!! First I spent ages with an Italian who knew good English translating the text into readible, sensical language - harder than it sounds! Then I read it all out in my best educational sounding voice! So, if you are ever in Porto Cessario, Puglia, Italy, seek out the museum and listen to the English option..
Had a really beautiful and enjoyable last 2 weeks in Italy, it was also nice and mild, 25 degrees or so in the day.
Then hopped on a plane and arrived back in London town.. and bumped into 2 guys I met picking olives on the bus back!! So, had a week back at the squat settling back into life and its been great!! Have a new, different room so not quite the same as before and things here are as crazy but wicked as always..
OK, think I have written enough for now, getting bored!
Love and festive fun times to you all
xxx
first of all scroll down now to see photos from Italy.. bit of a mixture, hope ya get the idea!
Well, wish I could elequently describe and project how amazing my little sojourn was, all seems like a bit of a distant memory for me now but will give it a go..
Will start with going back to the olives in Umbria and my step by step guide to...
How to pick olives
1. take your 2 big nets and lie them one below the tree and one above (cos the tree is on a slope) and hold the overlap down with rocks you find in the field. Also find sticks to curve up the net at the bottom of the slope so that the olives don't roll away..
2. Get your rake - of the kids sandpit variety - and start with the olives reachable from the ground.. take a branch and literally rake the olives off. These fall onto the net for collection at the end.
3. When thats all done climb up into the tree and perform amazing feats of contortionism and balance to reach all the branches and get as many olives off as you can (this is never all of them, 70% is about right). Meanwhile chat to fellow olive pickers, sing songs (even better if you can change the words to be about olives!) and every-so-often look out from your perch and appreciate the stunning rolling hills of Umbria all around you.
4. Climb down and then gently scoop up the nets so that the olives all end up in a pile. Sit down in the sunshine and pick out the bigger twigs and branches. Then get a crate and load it up with olives. Pack up the nets and go to the next tree...
5. When all the crates are full put them on the tractor and take them up to the barn were there is the leaf sorter machine (these are so important each area has its own local word roughly meaning 'to shake'). This is usually done once a week.. the crate is tipped onto the conveyer belt at a 45 degree angle and turned on so that the whole thing shakes and the leaves fall down the slots and the olives shake down to the end.. at the same time you pick out twigs from the top and move the olives around. Then tip the clean olives into another crate ready for the mill.
6. All the olives go back on the tractor to the mill half and hour away where they get munched up and squished to eventually produce lovely green fresh olive oil!!
7. Get some fresh bread, rub garlic on it, pour on plenty of new olive and top with salt... mmmmm its simply devine!!
After the olives I had a great break from WOOFing with my mate Kathryn up in Trento, surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery. One day I took the train half an hour north to Bolzano which before 1945 was part of Austria, thus it is still pretty much a German town, its the main language and the architecture and feel of the place is very different to Italy. Went to the archological museum and saw the 3,500 year old man that they found buried in the snow nearby. Then ate strudle and had Gluwien (mulled wine) after my slice of pizza - best of both worlds! Also went with Kathryn to see Verona, an hour south.. not my favourite Italian town but saw Juliet's balcony along with every other tourist there..
Kathryn also took me to a crazy local 'Alpinni' cantenna, it was in a small village and built into the side of the mountain. The walls were covered in old mountainerring memorabilia and just weird things like swords and numbchucks! We were served the famous sweet wine by a little old lady and the other staff were all of a similar generation.. really was like going into another world!!
From there I went to a place called Villa Lina just north of Rome.. they needed help with their kiwi harvest and it was a good half way point to stop before continuing further south. It really was an amazing place, an old estate with a grand villa and many other houses traditionally used by the lands workers. WOOFers were in the sheppards cottage, a lovely old 3 story building overlooking the vinyard. Unfortunately the work wasn't quite as romantic, a group of 4 of us were taken at 7.30am to a field nearby where we joined local women to pick kiwi for 7 and a half hours.
You have a bucket to hang in front of you, and reach up just above your head to pick 4-6 fruit at a time.. when your bucket is full a man comes to empty it for you. The gender roles were very defined here, 'its tradition' we were told. hmmm. The language barrier ment we couldn't really talk to the women, but they were nice enough and sung Italian folk songs a lot, a fitting soundtrack.
Had relaxing nights back at the cottage with the others, from the USA, Germany and Australia and at least now I can say I picked kiwi in Italy.. the irony.
A long train trip later I arrived Lecce, right in the heal of the boot, and was met at the station by Sylvia and Guiedo, who took me back to the farm about 2omins away, owned by Sylvia's sister Marita and her husband Loris. They were all really friendly and welcoming. Another WOOFer had also arrived that day, Adrian from Canada, who knew quite good Italian which was handy when their English was patchy! We were totally included in their extended family, and were made to feel right at home.. bit of a change from previous farms. They also displayed some typical Italian habits, like watching TV all the time, eating and drinking out of plastic cups and plates, not having dinner till sometimes 9.30pm and then it was always pasta.. really we had pasta every day for lunch and dinner.. except when Adrian and I couldn't take it any more and made risotto one day!
They were also meat eaters, which led to Loris, who has a crazy sense of humour, joking all the time about the food having meat in it "carne, carne!" and not only that but kangaroo meat.. yes, I did mention that New Zealand doesn't actually have kangaroo's but by then the joke had stuck and I heard about it at every opportunity!
The work there was pruning the pine trees, so not very exciting and I did get sick of it but at least there was company and the family and atmosphere was cool. They took us to see Lecce one night and we went back on Sunday, our day off.. its incredible! Full of baroque architecture and over the top decorations on all buildings. Loved it, especially under the lights at night. They also took us to a farming museum nearby that was way more interesting than it sounds, and the 2 of us biked to the beach one day too. Only 20mins ride away through fields and fields of olives, but very different to the north; the earth is red and flat and the trees very very old - 1,000 years even!
Whilst I was there a friend of theirs was doing a project for a wildlife sanctury/museum thing that needed English as well as Italian audio to go with the photos of the landscape, plants and animals. So I was drafted up to do the job!! First I spent ages with an Italian who knew good English translating the text into readible, sensical language - harder than it sounds! Then I read it all out in my best educational sounding voice! So, if you are ever in Porto Cessario, Puglia, Italy, seek out the museum and listen to the English option..
Had a really beautiful and enjoyable last 2 weeks in Italy, it was also nice and mild, 25 degrees or so in the day.
Then hopped on a plane and arrived back in London town.. and bumped into 2 guys I met picking olives on the bus back!! So, had a week back at the squat settling back into life and its been great!! Have a new, different room so not quite the same as before and things here are as crazy but wicked as always..
OK, think I have written enough for now, getting bored!
Love and festive fun times to you all
xxx
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Italy photos
Hey, so these are a random selection from Venice, Trento, Bolzano and Verona.. random in that I couldn't see the photos to pick which ones to show so they are not what I really would like to show.. will try again maybe if I have the patience!
The Doges Palace in Venice
City Wall into Verona
Sunset in Venice
Mountains in Trento
Typical water fountain found all over Italy,
runs constantly for cheap refreshment!
Bolzano, in the very north, German architecture
and huge mountains!
Beautiful autumn afternoon in Bolzano
Lake Riva, near Trento
Pizza!!!
Couple of shots of St Marks, Venice
The Doges Palace in Venice
City Wall into Verona
Sunset in Venice
Mountains in Trento
Typical water fountain found all over Italy,
runs constantly for cheap refreshment!
Bolzano, in the very north, German architecture
and huge mountains!
Beautiful autumn afternoon in Bolzano
Lake Riva, near Trento
Pizza!!!
Couple of shots of St Marks, Venice
Italy photos
Hey folkaroonies, here are a smattering of photos from Italy, only from the last few weeks as I sent the other photo CDs home to NZ, so none of Tuscany and Umbria I'm afraid. Starts off at the end, in and around Lecce, the 'heal of the boot'...
Crazy Basillica in Lecce, the whole town was
like this.. more detail below
Bikes and fellow WOOFer on quiet beach
near the farm at sunset...
The front of the farm near Lecce
Detail of the Basillica, the artist included him
self in the left side just up from the flower.
A very old olive tree given a helping hand
Kiwi picking near Rome
The fountain at the WOOFing farm/estate
.
Roberto showing us how to make pasta
Crazy Basillica in Lecce, the whole town was
like this.. more detail below
Bikes and fellow WOOFer on quiet beach
near the farm at sunset...
The front of the farm near Lecce
Detail of the Basillica, the artist included him
self in the left side just up from the flower.
A very old olive tree given a helping hand
Kiwi picking near Rome
The fountain at the WOOFing farm/estate
.
Roberto showing us how to make pasta
