They speak English here!

I had planned a day trip to Hogwarts, but apparently a travel banned had been placed...tickets were expensive, anyways.

My adopted Italian family + Sherene. Gabrielle is hiding behind the water in the corner, then Elisa, me, Lorenzo, Romano, Alice, and Sherene.

A stow-away on the way to market...

My last stop on this epic European journey was to London to help Shayna get settled for her year abroad.Despite spending a full six days there, I failed to see even half of what I wanted. Hyde and Regent Parks got left by the wayside, I could have spent the entire day at the British Museum, and I didn't get near Bath for the Jane Austen Festival. That said, I really enjoyed London and want to go back (maybe before Shay leaves).

While the first day was stressful and comprised mostly of doing errands with Shayna. After that things perked up a bit. The next day we saw Troilus and Cressida at the Globe - standing like any true Shakespearean era peasant. Following this, I drugged myself with benadryl for my bugbites, which still are plaguing me!

The British Library (at which I totally would have studied had I still been in school), British Museum, and Food For Thought veggie restaurant took up most of Friday. I had the brilliant idea to sign up for a 10K on Saturday, but got a bit lost running there in the morning and ended up tacking on a good four miles before reaching the starting line (and I still ran my fastest 10k - 55:35, I know I'm slow). After walking the 3 miles back, Shayna and I went to see Billy Elliot on stage. Billy was a pretty darn talented 14-year-old gymnast, dancer, and singer rolled into one!

My last day we went to the Columbia Flower market (so cute) and Brick Lane (so much Indian food). Absolutely fantastic morning, followed by Harry Potter VI in the afternoon (a bit of a disappointment).We ended the day at Gordon's Wine Bar, where I got very tipsy (Shayna would argue drunk, and that I am the cheapest drunk ever) off of a glass of Fat Bastard Rose (hehe). I left the next morning, stayed two days in Berkeley, and now I am back in Seattle...on the prowl for a job.

So now my travels are over, but hopefully it won't be too long before my next adventure starts!

No ti preoccupa, ho una nuova posta (this is probably very grammatically incorrect). Sorry for the month-long dry spell...anywho, there is really no way I can quite do justice to my time WWOOFing, but I will try to recount a general overview of my experiences.

The first "farm" was more of a family vegetable garden and olive grown. A British man with an Italian wife, who had lived a for a good 10 or more years in England, owned the Umbrian hillside house and land. I shared the downstairs room with a French girl around my age and interested in Naturopathy. These nine days were not what I expected and didn't sit well with me. First of all, let me just say children. One of my few tasks for the first four days or so was to look after three 2,4, and 6 year old spoiled and ill-behaved boys. For most of you, this is explanation enough...for the rest of you let me say that this is not something I normally agree to for pay, not to mention as a volunteer on an "organic farm"! Ok, besides this, I hate feeling unnecessary, and here there really was not enough work to keep two WWOOFers satisfactorily engaged outside of an olive harvest season. That said, I did enjoy lazing by the pool in the afternoons and reading, picking ripe figs when the urge struck me, and the crazy Scottish-Italian music of Lou Dalfin we heard one night in Orvieto. Still, I was quite pleased to move on to the real farm near Bologna.

Had all three weeks been like the first two I would have said this experience was perfect! Elisa and Romano started this small organic farm in Livergnano two years ago as a way to begin a new family lifestyle, as they both had worked on research ships in the past and found this occupied too much of their lives. I adore their three relatively-well-behaved children (Gabrielle 4, Alice 6, Lorenzo 8) who didn't speak any English, so our conversations were short but still expressive. They were very imaginitive and much more self'sufficient than the other boys. The first two weeks I happily worked with Sherene (Shayna's age, from London, Israeli family...hehe) to prepare dried herbs and havest produce for market. I learned from Elisa about the use of these different wild and domesticated herbs as well as the difficulties of starting an organic farm - financially and logistically (pests, weather, labor, etc). It was really a happy existence in the beautiful hills of the Bolognan outskirts.

Romano returned at the end of the second week from 40 days at sea - needed to earn money for the farm debts - which added some days of excitement. Then Sherene left to return to University in Edinbourgh, and I acquired a new WWOOFer from Norway (20-year-old guys - artsy) and a Swiss couple with whom I didn't feel as much at ease. THEN, all my mosquito bites managed to get infected and starting itching and hurting unbearably...the war zone on my face and legs is the aesthetic manifestation of this tragedy. Anyways, I have really enjoyed the abundance of tomatoes, zucchini, and figs; the constant sounds of chicks following their mom; and the kitten named after Oliver...a previous WWOOFer and Disney movie.

Despite not keeping a well-updated log of my thoughts and impressions, I think this month has given me some much needed time to think, and I feel more comfortable with defining the essense of small-scale sustainable agriculture. It also reinforced my dislike of yound unruly children, particularly boys (although Alice and Lorenzo are lovely) and I loathe dogs (they bark, lick, jump on you, and eat chicks). I definitely don't want to own or work on a farm, but I do want a nice garden and the share with others the benefits of eating locally and sustainably grown food (including animal products). This entry is much too long, but I encourage comments and questions. Tomorrow I leave Bergamo to fly to London for a week with ShayShay before heading home.

- Ciao Tutti!

Vespas and Crazy Italians

Yeah, Joy eats Canoli. Got a problem with that? And look, mama and baby!

Joy gets a bite to eat at an ancient Roman cafeteria in Pompeii...served well-preserved daily!

St. Peter's Basilica in all its glory!

So, I must have inherited my crazy from the Italian side of the family - speeding vespas, cliff-side vineyards and houses, and cathedral domes larger than a football field! Joy and I spent four nights in Sorrento, a town on the southish west coast. You might say that this was the beginning of the end. Two of our three days we busied ourselves busing it to Amalfi: once to hang out and bake in the Mediterranean sun and the other time resulted in a failed attempt to hike the Footpath of the gods (and a jumbled Italian conversation with and old-ish Italian woman. Our middle day saw us traipsing around the dusty vehicle-free city of Pompeii during the heat of the afternoon. Did I ention that it was buried by volcanic rubble in 79 CE, so we didn't come across any gelato shops (or lunch for that matter) in the various piazze. Besides dodging a few buses and a multitude of vespas in Sorrento, we had a pretty uneventful three days.

Our last Italian stop was Rome! I was actually pleasantly surprised to find a friendly, quasi-walkable, and interesting, albeit crowded and bustling, city. We packed it in the first two days, starting with a night walking tour (thank you Ricardo) through some major social hubs. Roman Ruins day followed with a visit to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Pantheon (yay for ancient use of skylights). Our poor dinner marred the grandeur of the day - chef boyardi style gnocchi and instant-rice-like risotto - but the soy and rice gelato flavors picked us back up. Our religious sites day was next, during which we visited several richly decorated churches, did a Jewish Ghetto tour (with its very own Roman Ruin), and then ogled the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica - the biggest in Christendom. We failed to find cheap tiramisu, so settled on gelato for dinner and called it a day. Last day in Rome, and the end of Joy and my European Tour, was low key spent shopping, bookstore perusing, church visiting, and garden strolling. We managed to spend a record low of 0.60 € each on lunch, and subsequently were ask to leave the Spanish Steps for munching away at our focaccia and cheese. I had a lovely chat with the restroom attendant woman in the Borghese Garden and ate too much dessert. Joy and I splurged on a vegetarian restaurant (baby zucchini risotto, mmm...) and semifreddo profiterole before feasting on our last gelato together (or what melted dregs were left after walking to the Trevi Fountain).

Tomorrow we part ways. It's been real, rapid, and rewarding...

...and now on to the farms!

Let Them Eat...Gelato?

Venice canal at night...sigh...

Cliffside vineyards in Cinque Terre...how do they do it?

Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo...double sigh...

As my trip with Joy winds down, let me share with you our first three home bases in Italia...

Venezia: 28-30 Luglio - Situated a good 45 minutes by bus from the city, Joy and I did a bit of European-style camping. We had our own little "bungalow" that served us well after long days getting lost in canalled alleyways. The highlights of Venice include getting eaten alive by mosquitoes while lunching in a park, eating gelato (the cheapest meal in the city=, and beating the line to get into Chiesa San Marco (thank you Ricardo Steves). I also had my first pizza - though not last - in at least 7 years! Very tasty, but I'll take fresh mozzarella and tomatoes over that any day (if you add in focaccia...mmm...). We saw the crazy Doge's palace and the Peggy Gugenheim 20th century art collection (yay Dali) - and had dessert for dinner one night to cut costs!

Cinque Terre: 31 Luglio - 2 Augo - A little slice of paradise! Basically consisted of hiking and swimming in gorgeous seaside cliff landscapes. Food was our other primary focus. As the home of pesto, Cinque Terre offered the most amazing pesto gnocchi I have had. We also had incredible focaccia every day for pranzo. Our favorite meal was at Il Pirata, where we ate fantastic food (porcini risotto) and super friendly service. I know Ricardo warned me, but I didn't want to leave 5 Terre!

Firenze: 2 - 6 Augo - The city with the most expensive museums - of which my favorite was probably the "Images of the Cosmos" exhibit on Gallileo and astrology. David was also pretty cool and the Ufizzi had everything! We stayed in the cutest albergo, where we had our own room and a stout and jolly host! A Tuscan hillside day trip to Siena spiced things up a bit, as did a dinner at the kosher vegetarian restaurant near the craziest syangogue I have ever been to! Finally, gelato made everything better in this city, and formed the basis of our lunch on our last day out. Now we are down south in Sorrento!

Other tidbit: I realized that Madonna and Child were the only subjects of paintings during the 15th and 16th centuries!

Ciao

And it Rained...

Mmm...Sacher in Vienna!

Neuschanstein (Sleeping Beauty's) Castle

Buongiorno e mi dispiace, my adoring fans, but I have been a bad blogger and not updated! Let me recount some trials and tribulations in Germany and Austria (and excuse any blatant errors, I had to help Joy finish a delicious bottle of house white wine in Manarola...):

Fritzlar - Jul 18-21: "Delicious awkwardness" as Joy has calledour stay in the cute little medieval town of Fritzlar, in west central Germany. We saw many hilltop castle ruins, were fed too much food by her relatives, and pretended we understood some German...hmm...The family was very hospitable and attentive and took excellent care of us. In fact, Joy's 93-year-old great aunt didn't even want me to go running one morning for fear I would get lost or kidnapped or something. I finally made it out the door, but our hostess (the great aunt's daughter) was very concerned - "is something wrong? Did she feel that she ate too much? - it was incumbent upon Joy to explain that I often go running in the morning! This is only one of the many awkward culture and language clash moments, hehe.

Munich - Jul 22-25: The city that we did not actually visit...well, our three days there were spent everywhere but. We went to Salzburg (home of Mozart, The Sound of Music, and the giant chocolate covered pretzel that got away); Neuschwanstein (Sleeping Beauty and Mad King Ludwig's castle); and Dachau (a contemplative morning at the first concentration camp). Plus, we managed to get trapped in the evening thunderstorm and downpour on a daily basis!

Vienna - Jul 25-27: The city of decadence...particularly for our budget. It is a large city with grand and impressive architecture. We saw the gaudy and ornate apartments of the former emperor and learned about his crazy, manic-depressive, workout-a-holic empress Sissi. We also went to a classical music concert that was particularly touristy, but whetted my appetite for more classical music. Instead of dinner, we followed this concert with a slice of sacher torte and cuppa hot chocolate at the original Sacher cafe (mediocre). We also ended our lasted day with coffee, crazy cream cakes, and people watching at Cafe Aida on the main pedestrian route, before taking off on our overnight train to Venice!

Other Tidbits: German and Austrian food (real stuff, not pastry) does not mesh well with my diet - schnitzel and wurst anyone? Is it wrong for Cathedrals to charge to see the main area? still lamenting that pretzel I didn't buy...

Au Revoir La France - Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome to Switzerland

Switzerland for the win! While having spent onlz four days in Switzerland, compared to 13 in France, they were exciting and thoroughly enjoyable. Switzerland is the funny little country surrounded by France, Italy, Germany, and Austria, but not a member of the EU. It has its own currency, but seems to share everything else with its neighbors!

On July 13th we made our way from Lyon to Geneve to stay with a friend from Stanford. We were able to meet and hang out with his flatmates, which increased our sociability barometer considerably. July 14th - Bastille Day had we still been in France - found Joy and me touring the city on bikes that can be borrowed for the day for FREE (1 CHF per hour after the first four)! We saw the UN, gardens, and our first Protestant Basilica. Lovely city...complete with pastry shops and French speakers.

The next morning we skipped out of town early to get to Montreux to see Chateau Chillon. By far the most accessible of the Chateaux so far, this 12th centurz fortress hosted the ruling class of the Savoyards and Bernese while they toured their lands. Sitting on Lake Geneva, with picturesque mountains in the background, this castle is Rachel-approved. We strolled back to Montreux proper to pick up some bread, veggies, and good Suisse chocolate for lunch and dinner.

Then our 3-hour voyage to Gimmelwald began - on the shwankiest of trains we´ve traveled on yet. My jaw was floored and head out the window the entire time we loped along through the mountains and countryside. Language shifted as German speakers boarded the train and I could no longer read the signs we passed. Around 8pm, we took the five minute cable car up into the fog-shrouded village of Gimmelwald.

And so began another crazy cool birthday adventure! No, I didn`t get sick in a rainforest or bum around a city alone, but I did traipse over Alpine hillsides, listen to symphonies of cowbells, and stand at waterfalls of snowmelt... all the while awed by the massive, majestic peaks in the background. Then, in true Rachel style, I came back to the hostel and made moelleux au chocolat from my French chocolate cookbook, with fresh Gimmelwald butter and eggs (did I mention my vacation from veganism?) and dark Swiss chocolate. I was actually more content to finish the unmarred bar from the Montreux chocolatier.

July 17th weather contrasted greatly with the warmth and sunshine of my birthday. Still, we set off for a morning jaunt, heading up into the mist. By the time we reached the target waterfall, it had started a steady drizzle...then hail...then downpour with flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. At the point when our clothes were soaked through and there were puddles in our shows, we decided to return rather than brave the peak that was our original destination. An hour and a half later we stumbled onto the hostel doorstep - chilled to the bone and soaked through. The glasses of hot water and fresh bread with avocado healed the body a bit, but my shoes have taken days to dry thoroughy.

Somehwat refreshed, we said goodbye to our mountain paradise and started along the route to Zurich. Our slightly longer than 12 hour stay and couch surfing experience was very pleasant. Just chatting with our hosts, cooking dinner, and watching the Daily Show was all we could have wished for at that point.

Now we are on a train to Kassel, Germany, where Joy`s relatives will pick us up to go to Fritzlar. It is rainy and cold, but I am really going to miss this country of French, German, and English melange and impressive landscapes!

Le Tour de France

The "POOF" (AKA pouffe or two giant coconut dusted meringues stuck together)
Upside down, Joy and I frown at the forbidden "Love Gardens" - scandalous!
Carcassonne at night! Yes, we stayed in a walled fortress...Our gustatory pleasures...and our first French wine!
Le Bolero (citrone et fraise) avec La Symphonie (chocolate et noissettes)

Bonjour mes amies! Don't get too excited, I missed the Tour in Monpellier by a day! Oh what a week! We leave France tomorrow; luckily Joy assures me that Vienna has delectable and enticing patisserie, as well (plus Swiss chocolate is next)! So what craziness have we been up to?

Tours was our nstop - cute town along the Loire River. The first day wasn't too exciting, wandering around gardens, a museum, and cathedral. The evening involved bag pipes, accordions, and lively dancing. Joy, no surprise there, was thrilled to join the riverside gathering of merry locals.

Our big bike adventure too place the next day. About 21 km and a handful of Mirabelles (mini plums we found on the side of the trail) into the morning, we reached Villandry - one of the hundreds of Chateaux dotting the Loire Valley. We skipped the house itself in favor of meandering through the expansive gardens, which included the biggest veggie garden I have ever seen! We finished off our jaunt with a picnic lunch of classic baguette, avocado, tomato, and our POOF (see picture for more details), before heading back to Tours on our bikes...amidst an afternoon downpour.

The 24 ensuing hours we had in Carcassonne were well spent. After a long day of train travel, we stayed in Ye Olde Youth Hostel in a medieval cite - yes, you heard me correctly. We squeezed in some modern entertainment with an outdoor concert by a French pop star "Gregoire" before hitting up the older sites. The next morn we wandered this fantastic specimen of 12th century architecture - scaling stone walls, keeping watch on the ramparts, and marvelling at an 800 year old church.

Carcassonne was pretty awesome, but it left us in the awkward position of arriving after hours in Nice...the staff was not pleased. I felt bad, but there was nothing we could do about the delayed 6 hour train! Our leisurely days at the beach included less beach time than I had hoped for, but much wandering around the San Diego-esque waterfront and smaller, quainter town of Antibes. Our cullinary creation the first evening: tomato basil crepes and fig crepes with market produce, took the cake in this city. Last night we ate dinner and drank wine on the roof of our hostel looking out over what Joy terms the "million dollar view!"

Yesterday on the train to Lyon, we broke our four day pastry drought (though we did buy chocolate in Nice...) with the most beautiful delicacies. In a Lyon internet cafe :)