Monday
September 3rd, Alayna and I left Nuova Terra for Rome. The last
couple of days leading up to our departure were fun yet sad as we prepared to
say goodbye to our new friends indefinitely. There was a new lightness to the
atmosphere as the period of fasting ended in time for the weekend and people’s
stomachs were finally filled. We were glad for the change before leaving since
the nine days of limited food had been rough on the community members and very
uncomfortable for us. It was easier to enjoy ourselves when everyone else was
as well. So when we went on a trip to see some more sights nearby, it was a
good time for everyone! First we climbed up a beautiful mountainside with rocky
waterways and the air filtering through the greenery to see a castle at the
top. There was a lot of construction going on and we managed to sneak inside an
open tower door and climb up for a better view. Quite magnificent! We then had
a little picnic and siesta time before we went to a wonderful town called
Civale and toured some of the historic sites. It was the last stronghold of the
Roman Empire and a gorgeous place. The view out over the river and into the
clear blue-green water was breathtaking. We got to try a tasty local pastry
that was fried and fruit filled for a little flavor of the city. However, the
neatest part about the day was the fact that there was a lavender festival
going on in the city and the scent of the flowers wafted all around. I even
picked a little bit to put behind my ear so I could smell it whenever the wind
blew through my hair. Oh the magic of the little things. We ended the night
with pizza in Udine and said our goodbyes to the rest of the group as we
prepared to leave early the next morning.
It ended like it had begun; with
Daniele escorting us at the train station. He was the last and the hardest
goodbye. As we boarded the train that morning and pulled out of the station I
felt a little tug in my chest from the direction of Codroipo. Goodbyes are
always hard, but as our hosts told us its arrivaderci, not goodbye. (See you
again) It was hard to be too sad for too long since then it was time for us to
say ciao to Roma! It was an interesting train ride where we did not realize we
had to switch trains, went to the wrong station, and somehow ended up on the
right train to Rome. We ended up back in Venice instead of the station we
wanted in Bologna. Our tickets said nothing about a switch, but there was a
town called Padova listed as one of the stops we were meant to go through.
There also happened to be a train leaving for there in a matter of minutes. We
hopped the train there without a ticket (luckily no one ever checked) hoping to
find a way to Bologna. From Padova there was no train to Bologna specifically,
but there was one to Rome. We hopped that train instead, again without a proper
ticket, and found that it was in fact the same train we were supposed to catch
in Bologna! It seems to me that we have some strange sort of luck where things
usually get a bit messy but somehow work out.
Upon arriving in Rome we found our
way to our hostel and found that there was free pizza every night. That turned
out to be the saving grace of the place. It was clean and comfortable, but not
set up well for socializing. Free pizza forced everyone to congregate in the
tiny kitchen of one of the two buildings the place was divided into. This is
where we met most of the people we hung out with. The first day we spent with
our randomly assigned roommate Zach, the Moroccan/French guy. It poured the
whole day and we missed the meeting with our walking tour guide because of some
miscommunication, but we still walked around and saw the city together. Zach
left the next day and we met a bunch of other people from all over the world.
There was Eva from Switzerland, Ursa from Slovenia, Lee and Luci from
Australia, Francisco from Portugal and several others. We walked through
markets, got coffee and wine, and even played ring of fire one night. It is
always interesting playing drinking games with people from different countries
because you learn all kinds of fun new games and rules for games you already
know. So not only did I get to see the sites of the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum,
Pantheon, Vatican, etc. and enjoy the city life…I got to do it with an awesome
new cast of international friends! That is what I love about travelling,
especially in hostels! It is so easy to meet wonderful, interesting people
looking to have a good time. (Thank you Lee and Luci for teaching me about the “Gerkles”)
Rome wasn’t my favorite city because it feels like it has lost any remnant of genuinely
Italian flair through rampant tourism. The spirit of the place has been
corrupted. The people I got to spend time with made all of the difference and turned
a shallow city into a place worth staying in. (The Colosseum was also
breathtaking, but the people were still way cooler)
As we left Rome, we did it with new
friends and experiences to take with us. Luckily that sort of souvenir weighs
nothing. We caught a train to Florence and then San Miniato where we were
picked up by a group of WWOOFers and soon found that our lives would once again
become completely different. It turns out that our current farm is not
personally managed by the family that owns it and that we had been in contact
with. In fact it is basically a hostel for WWOOFers with other employees
regulating us. For the most part we WWOOFers take care of ourselves and do the
shopping, cooking, cleaning, and so on. We have a lot of freedom outside our
working hours to do whatever, so people party at the winery or go and travel.
There are about ten WWOOFers in total so things can get a little bit crazy! Everyone
is relaxed and wants to have a good time, drink some beer or wine, and simply
enjoy Italy. Compared to our other stays, this place is a haven for heathens.
It isn’t quite the personal family farm stay we thought it might be, but it is
still quite the Italian experience we wanted to have. So far the work has been
simple bottle labeling and cooking since they just had heavy rains in Tuscany
and the grapes are too plump to harvest. If they have too much water in them it
compromises the alcohol content of the wine. So in another couple days we get
to start the harder work, but in the meantime we are taking it easy and
enjoying ourselves!
The company at the winery has been
great, but Alayna and I also got to spend the weekend in Florence at another
fun hostel with some other interesting travelers. When we first arrived in
Florence, we were not terribly impressed by the area surrounding the train
station, however we soon found that the center of the city is quite beautiful
and has amazing gelato. The latter was enough to make me love Florence, but
overall I found that the city had a better vibe than Rome. It was artistic and
chic, but not contrived. Though much of the city looked like other cities we
have seen, one place in particular took my breath away. That was the Duomo.
There are many duomos in Italy, but this one was so spectacularly huge and
ornate. You don’t even see it coming until you are on the piazza and suddenly
you are confronted with this feat of ancient architecture. I was stopped in my
tracks in awe. Oddly enough the inside was not as impressive, but still cool.
Unfortunately we did not get to see the David statue or the art gallery, but I
think that just gives us an excuse to go back. Likely our next trips will be to
Pisa, Sienna, and some other nearby towns, but we will see how things unfold. It’s
hard not to love life in Italy! More to come soon.
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