Sicilia you're breakin my heart.

So since my last post, which took place at 4am this morning, my crackberry which i used to write it, has been stolen. i was asleep on the over night train from palermo to rome (where i am currently). while i was sleeping a man dressed in orange was creeping around our cabin with a flashlight and must have gotten his theieving hands on my most beautiful phone.. anyway it was covered by insurance and all is ok, though i am sad to see the crack go. ANYWAY i will continue from where i left off.
From Catania we were off to Tudia, which we would soon learn that the farm WAS the town. We got on a train and were forced off a few stops before our final destination due to train trouble. we were put on a random city bus, with no other travellers and a bus driver who had never seen the route. we got lost several times and were in the middle of rolling farmland, down winding streets. Finally a miracle occured, the bus driver who had been stopping many car along the way to ask for direction, flagged down the host of the farm, Sudhir, and we were finally released and off to Tudia. Upon arrival we were amazed to see the grounds and the old buildings which once made up a feudal estate. Sudhir and Gila are the couple that we stayed with and they are new in the world of wwoof. Sudhir, who is a follower of Osho, a rando eastern religion, had come back to Tudia I'm guessing because his mother needed his help (she is getting old and the farm is not doing well financially). Sudhir we would learn is a lazy bastard who expects his wwoofers to be his slaves while he does absolutely no work. On a side note his family is part of some blue blood lineage, and his older brother held the title of prince before he died and passed it along to his son. Sudhir missed out though his sense of aristocracy continues to shine through. Despite these things, the farm was gorgeous. It was in the roling hills of sicily about 2 hours from Palermo and 40 minutes from Cefalu. The grounds were breath taking, and the wwoofers had their own house to stay in. When we arrived there was an Italian couple, an Australian couple and Cesco who was a former UVMer. We were required to stay at this farm for 2 weeks, people came and went throughout this time, though Cesco stayed until we left. 5 days before we left 2 Americans, Curt and Hal from Seatle came to join us. They were a lot of fun and we all had a really good time together. Before we left 2 other wwoofers came, one from Belgium and one from Paris. It was a melting pot of cultures so to speak. We spend our last night in Sicily in a hostel in Palermo with Curt, Hal and Cesco who took off the same did as us. So much happened at Tudia that it would be hard to recap. There was also the greatest dogs ever name Tigrotta and Houdini, who i fell in love with. The staff at Tudia Rita and Niccola were also amazing, and were the best thing going for the farm. Also, one of the best parts of the farm was unlimited wine and olive oil that were produced there!!! aka many many drunken nights :=)
This takes us to where I am now. Last night I took an overnight train from Palermo to Rome, hence where my phone/ life was stolen. Rome seems amazing so far though I have only seen the Colesseum and the Roman Forum. I think we will wait till Arielle and Julianna (friends from UVM coming to visit for spring break) to see the major sights. Tonight I would like to venture to the Jewish Ghetto for some fallafel! We will also be venturing to Venice and Florence over the next 12 days!! more fun to come

You Want it is

Its been about a month since I last wrote so I will try to summarize and add some good details as much as possible. After our adventures in naples we went off to meet Rosa, the quirkiest little italian woman. She lived alone in Monte Falcione close to Avelino in Campagnia, though she had a husband and son in Naples. Monte Falcione was on the mountain side at a semi high altitude. We had mostly good weather, mild but sunny until our last day when we left to avoid the predicted snow. Rosa was cute and old and lived off the land and survived using natural medicine. The house we stayed in was very cold and to get the heat and hot water going a fire had to be built and reach a certain temperature. To keep warm at nightwe had to use hot water bottles. We ate mostly food she had grown, bottled or was fresh and in season from the market. The work was nice and relaxing. We pruned the branches of grape trees to prepare for grape production on a series of vineyards along with random yard work and cleaning. She had two dogs; frets and boss. Frets was the new arsenico because he destroyed all. During the time we stayed in Capagnia we got days off and had some time before heading to sicily (our next farm destination) to make a few tours of local coastal communities. We did day trips to Sorrento, Pompeii and Almafi and spent a night in Ischia- which was more or less a deserted island. Pompeii was really cool but got boring after the first 2 hours. The main attractions were the amphitheater, brothel and field of the dead bodies. In total we stayed at the hostel of the sun 3 times and it would later be known as our head quarters. It was there that we met many interesting people traveling like us.
From Naples we took an overnight train to Catania in Sicily. We spent 2 nights there. The first day we arrived very early after taking the overnight train and had some time to explore the city and get food from quite possibly the best market I may ever experience in my life. The food was so fresh and the market went on for many streets. There was fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, crepes and candy- this description doesn't do it justice. The marlets in the main square which has a really cool elephant statue made from volcanic rock, much like most of the city buildings due to mount etna being really close. The elephant is the protector of the city.
The first night we were exhausted from traveling but went out for a few drinks and dinner but went to bed early. The next day we attended the most famous Sicilian carnivale celebration in Acireale. The floats were amazing. The parade started off with a float featured Brarack Obama, Michael Jackson and the statue of Liberty which said Black power. The streets were filled with people, many dressed in costume, and confetti and silly string. I was of course in a homemade red tutu I fashioned with some tooling and a gold mask. It was a great celebration. Afterwards, back at the hostel we made friends with a beautiful quebecois man biking through europe. Becky ran into her friend from high school who was abroad and happened to be staying at the same hostel, ironically, and there was another girl from uvm... Small world. Also, the room next to us had male italian models who were in town for a photo shoot. it was quite an interesting situation.
The next morning it was time to head out and catch a few trains and buses to find our next farm in borgo tudia.. TO BE CONTINUED

After

I left my heart in Santo Stefano Roreo

Soo much has happened since I last blogged. We saw Davide and his friends many times after our first meeting. Life was amazing in Canale because of Davide, but not so much farm and work wise. It was time to leave Pino's- the weather was cold, the work was scarce, and the accommodations were sub par. For our time at the vineyard we each received 2 bottles of wine. We are currently rolling through Italy lugging 8 bottles of amazing wine! We took a train from Torino to Naples (the danger zone, where the sketchiest people thrive and your bags must be watch intently..) on Monday, and found ourselves at a warm and welcoming hostel called "Hostel of the Sun." We spent yesterday seeing the town of Sorrento, a beautiful seaside village built into rock cliffs. The weather was incredible. Clear, and the most sun we've seen since last summer. I got mildly seasick on the ferry to the town, which isn't that uncommon for me, but it was well worth the trip. Southern Italy is a drastic change from the northern alps region we traveled from. It's like we've entered a tropical wonderland. Though it is great here I miss Canale, and I've run into some bad luck. Yesterday I bought a sandwich and forgot all my change! I realized about an hour later and when I went back a different person was working.. Hence I lost almost 20 euro. Then today on the city bus Casey and I (in our travel backpacks) could not reach, nor understand that we had to use the ticket stamping machine. We got fined 37.50 for a 1.10 fare.. That sucked. We soon realized Kirsten got a fine, too.
Anywho, we are now on the bus to Avellino, going to meet Rosa, the host of our next farm! We shall see how it compares to Pino's "palace."

tok, tok, tok

Last night Pino received a call from one of his students asking if we wanted to go to a concert with him and some friends from school. Obviously we accepted and had a too much fun. First we were picked up by a beautiful italian man named Daniello, and taken to his beautiful village, S. Stefano Roreo. We went to his amazing house to meet up woth the others. The streets were all cobblestone and his house was up a long winding driveway. He and his family have their own vineyard. We met the rest of the italians including his brother, who is also very beautiful, Davide. After we went to a birthday party to pick up more friends. Then we were off to a club in Torino. On the way we casually chugged wine in the back of Daniello's car. We had so much fun in the car, singing American songs and of course they taught us all the bad words and would laughed when we said them. The 'concert' was elvis impersonators and cross dressers with pasties on their nips. To say the least we had a blast. We didn't get home till 5:30am and slept all day. Daniello just called and were going out with them tonight :)
Andiamo!

Maybe yes, maybe no!

We have started working on the vineyard. We trim the branches of the grape trees, which when it isn't too cold out is somewhat therapeutic. The farm seems a little dysfunctional, or I guess just a usual Italian family. Life is easy, and time moves slow. We have visited the village of Chieri, Torino and Alba over the past few days. They're mostly very small and old, except Torino. Torino is a large city with a beautiful town square, and 7 castles! We got amazing pizza and got a tour of the town from Pino and his kids.
Today we visited the school Pino teaches at- chemistry, plant and soil science, and tree cultivation. We got a tour of the school from a student who speaks english. We saw the school's vineyard and wine production facility. We joined a class and did wine tasting at 9am! The students were very riled up and excited for visitors! All the classes focus on agriculture and the environment, including french, which is pretty cool. After we went to the open air market and walked around the shops of Alba. We went to a cafe and the woman worker gave us free cream puffs, which were amazing! We also went to a bakery and got really good nutella cookie sandwiches. Alba just so happens to be the home of the nutella factory.
We have eaten so many delicious meals. Today Pino made us pasta with gorgonzola and riddichio and for dinner pasta figgoli ( I don't know how to spell any of this).
I haven't picked up any italian so far, everything sounds the same! I'm starting to talk like a foreigner, my sentences are simple and the structure is poor :)

Casine Ca'rossA

We got to Pino's last night after arriving in Torino and trying to figure out where to find the nearest bus stop into the small town of Canale. Pino gave as directions in broken english from the center of town, though it seemed we'd be stranded till the morning. We took a chance, waited for the last bus of the night at a random bus stop and were helped by a crazy woman who was looking for an invitation to Canale. The big, blue bus we were instructed to find brought us down curving roads through the Alps way too fast for a city bus, but we made it alive. We were relieved when Pino was waiting for us at the bus stop at almost 1am. He took us to his house where we have 4 beds in our room, one for each of us. We stayed up taking about the environment and life.
Today we got to sleep in because Pino picked up his kids from school and was teaching the high school he works at. His kids were great, Elsa 14 snd Barardo 12. Later in the day we took a tour of the vineyard, tried all the wines it produces, and played archery with Barardo. We ate dinner with Pino and his kids who made us dinner! Tomorrow we will be working on the farm!

The adventure in the making

Last semester feels like a blur as my travel plans for this semester come more and more into view. I thought the day would never come when I would arrive in Europe and see all the wonders I've dreamed of. Myself and my travel buddies (Becky, Casey, and Kirsten) have begun our journey, starting in Paris and now embark upon our adventures on farms in Italy, Greece and France.
I got into London on the 15th with Becky and we took the Chunnel straight to Paris. Kirsten and Casey met us at the flat we rented and our plans finally started to come together. Paris was incredible, and I am sad to leave. We were lucky to meet with an old friend of Becky's father who is Parisian and gave us a more intimate view of the city. By the end of the trip we were able to master the subway, see most of the tourist locations and eat probably have our body weight in cheese and baked goods! We left Paris to today and are now on the train to Italy. We are going to Torino, from there we will take a local bus to a small village in Cuneo called Canale. The first farm owner, Pino will meet us at the bus and our farming will begin in the morning! Our first farm is a vineyard.. And the rest is to come :)