la fine

i'm back home in the boston area now, after a crazy long day of travel yesterday. somehow, through hellish delays, sprints through airports and missed connections, i ended up in first class for my cross atlantic flight! (i suspect that its because my voice cracked when i was begging the customer service lady to find a way to get me back into America. no tears, i swear). i had the most delightful woman sitting next to me -- she works for Dannon yogurt but is a big foodie and lover of all things sustainable agriculture. we lounged in our comfortable couch-like chairs... feet up, wonderful blankets... drinking wine, eating cheese&meat plates, chocolate mousse, tea and cookies (i overdid it) and gabbing like a couple of school girls.

the rest of my time at Pignano was spectacular. everyday was like an eternity, but it quickly became hard to imagine/remember reality outside of those 500 acres of land. we spent my last couple of nights at dusk out in the wheat fields, helping Davide selectively harvest types of wheat for next seasons planting and drinking specialty beers. delizioso

ok, insert dramatic concluding thoughts here, right? i'm too tired for that today and i'm late to take micheline out to celebrate her birthday. maybe another time? or when i see you in person, for sure. big hugs to you all, thanks for reading!

pane pignano

i'm so glad that i stuck out the rough patch earlier this week; since then, its been much better. i've been baking in the kitchen with Zac (see photos), so I'm up every morning at 4:30 am! in the dark! He spent a couple years apprentice-ing with different bakers around the world, and moved to Pignano a few months ago to handle all of the bread baking. So far we've made challah bread, croissants, bagels, whole wheat sourdough, white sourdough, country rye... he's really good and he's very chill about it all (if you can't tell from the photos).

At night, things have gotten more fun...music playing, singing, fires in the teepee (where i no longer sleep). The landscape is breathtaking, but this is the longest i've stayed in any single place on my trip -- and it feels great to take it for granted and just live in the beauty of it. I'm here until Saturday and then back to Rome and then back to Boston on Monday! I can't believe the trip is almost over, but I have a feeling its going to be a loooong last week (especially if i continue averaging 4 hours of sleep per night). Note to self: get better at daytime napping.

pignano (part 2)

so, its taken me some time to figure out Pignano and i learn new things about this place every couple of hours. the farm has animals (horses, donkeys, chickens for eggs, pigs for prosciutto), vegetables (lots and lots: green beans, onions, celery, garlic, tomatoes, chard, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkins, etc etc etc), wheat, beans, buckwheat, and more. in addition to that, they operate a school, a high end villa/hotel, and a business that makes herbal creams/oils/sprays.

highlights:
-horseback riding (jessalee and nancy, i forgot to take a picture of myself but i thought of you the whole time. im going again this weekend)
-community meals, usually outdoors and with all food from the farm
-collecting eggs from the chickens. one time, this morning (feels like a week ago), i was feeding the chickens and they were following me everywhere and all up in my space. one of them jumped in my bucket of feed. i was so frustrated with it, and it wouldn't get out. i tried everything (i dropped the bucket, i kicked it a little bit, i clapped my hands near it, i yelled "move, stupid chicken") and eventually i realized how much out-loud talking i had been doing to the chickens, and wondering if anyone was awake and listening to me....by myself in the chicken yard at 7am, kicking at the chickens to get them out of my way and yelling "move, chickens" and 'get away, chickens' like it was helping anything at all. i've had similar experiences with the donkeys, although generally i like them more.
-cutting zucchini flowers (an italian delicacy... which we had as part of dinner. Ranineri said he could sell them for 1 euro each).
-consuming the last swiss chocolate bar i had left hidden in my backpack yesterday (my secret birthday), while finishing my book on a hammock in the afternoon.

downsides:
-i hate the teepee. i have to hike about 10 minutes into the woods, in the complete dark, to sleep there. and the woods (500 acres) are home to wild boars that i can hear moving around near me and i have to clap to keep them at bay. which reminds me of skunks in New Hampshire...which makes me wonder if the clapping is actually useful.

still, i was doing alright until last night, when we had an ant infestation and a bug the size of my fist was ON MY PILLOW when i went to lay down. i didn't sleep the whole night (and before that we'd be going to bed after midnight and waking up at 5:30), and today almost anything not completely positive caused me to burst into tears. i insisted on moving into an enclosed tent tonight, and i refuse to feel like i'm being high maintenance about it.

ok, enough complaining. the day times couldn't be lovelier here, so i'm going to focus my energy on making the night times work. or ill just learn what i can in a week and then run back crying to Alessia's house.

pignano

Thanks for all the great birthday wishes, everyone. I missed you all so much this week, and I am doing my best to enjoy the moment but I'm ready to return to the wonderful US of A. (On the 4th of July, I kept calculating the time differences....now, they are putting out the hot dog machine...now, they are probably watching fireworks and making smores...).

I might have time to write later, but right now I'm late for my second shift of work (my favorite activity, braiding garlic...see below) and just wanted to post some pictures. I'm in tuscany at Villa Pignano...different than what i expected, basically an amazingly beautiful ecovillage. With lots of ecovillage drama, which i may elaborate on later. We wake up at 5:30, work until 11:30 or so, then lounge around, eat lunch, rest/read on hammocks for the afternoon...work again from about 5 - 7pm, then have dinner and social time. I'm in charge of the non-horse animals (chickens, pigs, donkeys) and then help Ranieri in the vegetable garden. Will write soon.

the first one to speak doesn't get to choose the gelato flavor (Firenze and Siena)

We spent a whirlwind 24 hours in Firenze, which was beautiful as ever, but full of tourists and a little bit hectic for our moods. At night, Mum was on the hunt for a disco tech... and at one point angry with us for not planning our ladies-night-out-on-the-town better. Stef and I thought she was kidding the first 2-3 times she brought it up, and by the time we realized how serious she was, it was too late (meaning Stef and I hadn't done our disco tech research and were already too tired / too full of wine to correct the mistake). Rookie error. We should know Paula Tocco better than that, and I only hope she forgives us one day for robbing her of the chance to experience Firenze's late night dance scene.

I brought Stef and Mum to Siena so that things might slow down a bit and allow us to relax. Siena is a gorgeous, small citta in Tuscany. The center of town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and I came here once before to visit my friend Kate while she was studying abroad here. Long story, short: we picked the wrong week for a peaceful, Tuscan vacation. This week is Il Palio, a medieval horserace in Il Campo (the town center, where you see the photo with the hordes of people). As Stefanie put it, its sort of like being a naive tourist in Washington, D.C. coincidentally on the 4th of July. Everywhere you look, Sienese citizens are wearing their neighborhood flags draped around their necks, or participating in parades. As I type now (in the calm, hidden backyard of our B&B), I can hear young men singing Sienese songs loudly in the not-so-far distance. Yesterday, we escaped Siena and drove to the small town of Montepulciano and to a vineyard along the way for a wine tasting. I finally got a dose of the fields of sunflowers that I have been yearning to see -- and the drive between towns was almost as enjoyable as the visits themselves.

A few hours ago, Mum and Stef left to head back to Switzerland and fly to Boston. It was hard to see them go (i almost asked them to smuggle me in their suitcases so i could have a 4th of July at the lake), but we certainly had a long 10 days together. Last night, as we strolled around town after dinner, Stefanie suggested we play a game called: "the first one to speak doesn't get to choose the gelato we buy". Mum tried to escape and experience some time in the city without us, but she realized after storming away that we were holding all the cash and she was stuck with us a little longer. It seemed (the whole trip) that our lowest moments were often followed by 5 minutes of bowling over with laughter, unable to catch our breath.

contentissima (Tonino, Gino, Zia Lella)

Lately, I feel like I'm living in a Jane Austennovel. I think that its a combination of the fact that I am "summering in Europe" and also that I don't have a cell phone. In France, we stayed at a beautiful little bed and breakfast with a large garden area in the back. The morning we planned to leave, we had a surprise visit from two of Mum's cousins: Tonino and Gino (brothers). We "received" them in our living room for tea, and then spent the morning with them and their family, looking at old photos. The woman in the flowery dress is Ana, mum's cousin, probably about 40 years ago. The other black&white photo is my grandmother....adorable.

Then, we got to meet the final aunt on this trip: Zia Lella! She is mini, like Nonna, but very quiet. At our first dinner together (with cousin Sabrina, her husband Gianni, and their son Nicolo), my mother was in the middle of telling a story about how in France I had accidentally spilled a plate of lentils, breaking a wine glass and spraying lentils all over the table (true story)...when SHE knocked a wine glass to the floor, breaking it. We were all mortified (but overtired and slightly drunk) and used all our energy to hold in our laughter until we noticed that quiet, reserved Zia Lella had burst into laughter while watching the 3 of us. For the record, we haven't broken anything since then. (the cute little boy is Lucca -- their 4 year old neighbor that managed to sneak over and get a seat at the table for each of our dinners).

We took a day-trip to Venice yesterday together, which was absolutely lovely but really full of tourists... and we said goodbye this morning. We're in Firenze now, trying to see it all (its Stef's first time here) but also trying to chill out a little bit after a very intense week.

Sorry, I hate formatting photos on google-blogger. I can't seem to make them look right and I dont have the time to spend on playing around with it.

tavola internazionale (zia elvira and family)

Stef, Mum and I had a warm welcome and 2 very full days in Mulhouse, France. Lots of lots of things: laughter, stories, hot dogs, hugs, tears. Stefanie spends a lot of her time nodding, smiling and giving a "thumbs up" sign; my italian is improving and i am tired but grateful for it more each hour. We met Zia Elvira and her husband and 3 of their 4 children: Aldo, Claudio and Antoniette (the 4th is in America and organized the visit for us!). Stef and I used the opportunity to make a family tree and start collecting email addresses.

I'm too tired tonight for full sentences! Highlights of the last couple of days:

-stories of Nonna's dramatic engagement to a Belgian man, which she broke to marry my grandfather;

-a personal tour of the cutting-edge fire station, where Aldo is head honcho (see photo of Stef and Mum pretending to save the town of Mulhouse while Aldo smiles unknowingly);

-a day trip with Zia Elvira and cousin Claudio to Colmar, a quaint french town about a half hour from Mulhouse, where

I ate many bread-type items with various forms of chocolate and sugar;

-13 of us squeezed around a dinner table, communicating in various combinations of Italian, English, French, Spanish and German and translating for each other;

-Ethan (our french-speaking cousin), wooing Stef with drawings, euro's, kisses, and blackberries....and eventually telling his mother that he'd like to marry her. He's 5 years old -- but watch out Matt! He's just about the cutest little thing I ever saw.

Driving to Vicenza (Italia) tomorrow to meet Zia Lella and her family. Buonanotte!