11 June 2011

Goodbye Umbria, Hello Tuscany

Just a brief update....

Yesterday we met Darcy and Adolfo's new addition to their family - Baby Alfalfa (aka- Filippo) and then had to say goodbye to them and their amazing farm. We made it down the hill from the farm with our huge packs and stayed the night at the Haerrs' in Spoleto. (Grazie mille Haerrs!)

There are so many pictures from our last day at the farm but here are my favorites that I'd like to share.


Our last day on the farm was the only day that it didn't rain (/hail) so we went on a hike up to Paterno. They have an marvelous view of Darcy and Adolfo's farm:



Nick + 7 weeks of WWOOFing = Ponytail.

Ciao Gelso

Ciao Lola

This morning, Nick and I were kindly taken to the Spoleto train station by the Haerrs, who woke up at the crack of dawn to share some coffee and cantucci one last time before our 5:40am train to Firenze (Florence). We just arrived at our B&B- Il Grillo de Firenze where this very sweet Italian lady (Lara) has already made us feel at home.

Our plan, as of now, is to stay in Florence for 2 days and then head to Rome for our final days in Italy. I think Nick is ready to see Leo and eat some Mexican food, but I don't want to leave yet! I love it here.

Off to eat some pizza, admire some art, and spend all of my money.

P.S. Today is technically Nick's (and many of our friends) graduation day from UC Davis!!! We will be celebrating in Italy!

Ciao ciao!

08 June 2011

For posterity...

Tee here, reporting back about our most current adventures in Italy. Once we have some more time I will get a more extensive post up about the past week. We are currently at the "Haerr's Hotspot Cafe" in Spoleto. We took a trip into the town here after taking care of all of our morning farm duties... milking goats, feeding chickens, cleaning their water, collecting eggs, feeding the donkey, goats, goose, sheep, watering plants, harvesting berries and day lilies (Nick will tell more about this later) and... I know I'm leaving something out. Anyways, thank you Haerr's for your hospitality (and cantucci)!

Good news... I'm surviving the farm life. Bad news... I don't want to leave! My bug tolerance is............ still low, but I think it's getting better! (Nick would disagree.) However, I have fallen in love with the animals... especially the goats and donkey. It's a beautiful farm with gorgeous view of the valley. I am enjoying the fresh eggs, berries, and lettuce. Here are some photos of our time on the farm so far.... enjoy!

Welcome to Localita il Piano!


Insanely large and frightening ants...


huge onions

loving farm life
filtering the fresh goat's milk

freshly picked berries for breakfast!

feeding the horses alfalfa 

carruba and her momma

my personal favorite- gelso

bananagrams!


Sheep have long tails?!!



Look Mom and Dad! I am milking a goat! (Lola... the nicest one.)


Farm fresh dinner with some local (Spoleto) white wine

06 June 2011

Yet Another Brief Update

Ciao all,
Things have been pretty busy over here in Italia (and pretty slow here at Il Percorso Scenico) since Theresa's arrival last Friday... I have largely delegated the job of photojournalist to Theresa (she has a nicer camera than me after all), and she has promised to post extensively about our travels when she has had ample to time let them settle. For now, I figured I would take the opportunity to post briefly about our travels thus far and the projected itinerary for the remainder of our stay over here.

Roma: 27, 28, 29 di Maggio
Our stay in Rome was pretty short, but we tried to pack in as much as possible... Theresa arrived too late on Friday to see much besides the way to our hotel, so our exploration of Rome began the next day.




The highlight of our time in Rome was definitely the night walk through the city past many of its famous monuments... Like this one:


La Costiera Amalfitana: 29 di Maggio - 4 di Giugno
After our brief stay in Rome, we headed down to the town of Praiano on the Amalfi Coast... We had originally only planned on staying for 4 nights, but Praiano cast its spell on us and we extended our stay for 2 more days. Just check out the view from our hotel room...
Our days were pretty jam packed down on there. We explored the towns of Praiano, Positano, Amalfi and a bit of Sorrento, spent a day in Pompeii, and 2ish days on the Island of Capri (there's a funny story there... but I'll leave that one for Tee). We also endured quite a few hair raising bus rides along the incredibly narrow, twisty and beautiful highway running along the coastline. It was really an incredible time... we will be sure to post much more extensively on our time there, once we've had time to process the thousand or so photos we took. Here are just a few of those photos to whet your appetite.


Spoleto: 4-6 di Giugno
I know what you're thinking: "Spoleto again?"
Yep, I liked this place so much that we had to come back so I could show it to Theresa... And the Haerr's were nice enough to let us stay for a few nights so we could experience the town. The night of the 4th was La Notte Bianca (a part of the wine festival Vini nel Mondo here in Spoleto) an evening filled with wine tasting, live music, and awesome cup holders...
For only 10 Euro, Tee and I each received a wine glass, an awesome cup holder to hang the glass from your neck (so that your hands can be free for Italian gesticulations), and four wine tastings from booths located throughout the town. There was also live music all over, and the town was packed...

The partying continued until about 3 am, but Tee and I only managed to partake of the festivities until just after midnight. It was truly an epic evening. (You can see more about the festivities over on the Haerr's blog, they are much more on top of their blogging).

Yesterday, the 5th, we headed to Monteluco (the hill next to Spoleto) for a hike through the Sacred Woods along the path of St. Francis. The weather in morning was great... but as we made our way up the hill the thunder heads rolled in. By the time we finished our picnic lunch it was pouring. Thankfully, a little old Italian man (Giovanni) gave us a ride back down to Spoleto. We still managed to get soaked on the short sprint back to the Haerr's apartment.

After a few hours holed up in the apartment playing Bananagrams, the rain subsided enough for Tee and I to head to 9 o'clock mass at San Gregorio Maggiore. While I was largely lost during mass, Tee was following along and managed to fill me in on what was happening. Though I'm sure I still managed look like a total stooge. It was a very interesting experience and the church was fantastic.

Localita il Piano: 6-10 Giugno
I know what you're thinking: "Loc. il Piano Again!?! Why are you going back to all of these places?"
Because I like them, that's why. Also, Darcy and Adolfo need someone to babysit the farm while they are having their baby... and I volunteered to be that someone. We are headed out to the farm this afternoon to review the goat milking/animal feeding procedures. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again and introducing them to Theresa.

Somewhere in Europe: 10-15 Giugno
Have I told you that I am super good at planning? We are headed somewhere after we finish up on the farm... but that somewhere is yet to be determined. I'll let you know what's happening when we know ourselves.

Rome: 15 Giugno
My plane ticket says that I fly out of Rome on the 15th, so we'll be in Rome by then.

Ciao.

27 May 2011

22 Maggio - Gubbio

Last Sunday, for my day off from Ca' Mazzetto, I took the opportunity to check out Gubbio... another scenic Medieval Umbrian town.The town is very nice, they have the standard repertoire of Umbria: Il Duomo, a Rocca, lots of old churches, amazing views, nice architecture.... Gubbio even has a Roman amphitheater.











While all of the sights were very nice, the real highlight of the day was the Corsa dei Ceri. This yearly festival is one of the greatest/most random celebrations ever. The Ceri (or candles) are made of two large wooden prisms end to end with saints mounted atop, they weigh a couple hundred kilos. These pillars are then mounted to carrying boards, so that they can be lifted by groups of crazy hardy men and run all over town. The festival culminates with a race at the end of the day where the three saint topped ceri are raced through the town finishing at the top of the hill. Technically, I missed the official Ceri Marathon by a week, but the day that I was there was the junior division (ages 16-20 I believe). It was all pretty hilarious.







It was definitely a great time.