Some closing thoughts...

Things I've learned on the farm:

First off, its a "fattoria" not a farm.

"Breakfast" has two different categories, cookies and coffee, and cookies and juice.

Fly swatting and smoking are expected at thedinner table.

Mother nature is boss.

Bed bugs don't usually bite.

Hand washing and hang drying your clothes is surprisingly fabulous.

Perhaps apart from popular belief, Techno DOESNT grow on you.

Christian Bale.

Simpsons in Italian is just as amusing.

Disney channel's, "Camp rock", is not.

Katy Perry's California Girls never gets old despite the repetition.

Allora (ah-loh-rah) can be placed anywhere, anytime, with any kind of inflection in a conversation and is completely acceptable.

The louder you are, the more right you are.

Headbands and sunscreen is REALLY all you need.

Contrary to my previous beliefs…you CAN survive on minimal food until 3pm.

Sirah is the best because the grape is higher on the vine(back pain wise).

Skype.

Conversations are the number 1 form of entertainment.

Hand gestures are worth a million verbal expressions.

Love can always be understood.

Tuscany sun rises are everything.

Any kind of pasta after a day in the fields, is the best kind of pasta.

Hard work is expected and unrecognized, despite it's sacrifices.

Grape stains and back pains, in time, all go away.

Traveling is essential.

Experiencing a different culture is a necessity.

And realizing how similar we all are in the end, is inevitable...

Signing off for the last time, thank you to all who helped make this trip so amazing and everyone else who has kept up on our crazy adventures. See you in the states!!

Goat Experiement

Goats Like:

Tree leaves

Grass

Melissa with the above in hand

Making noise

Wagging their tails

Escaping captivity

Goats Dislike:

Grape vines

Weeds

Melissa with the above in hand

Human touch

Thunderstorms

Sharing

Activities that don't involve eating

Getting their heads stuck in the fence

Small small world...

Funny little story...met my fellow Wwoofer and roommate for the next few days from the U.S. yesterday. He not only is from California, but grew up in So Cal (Newport Beach) and is currently living in Nor Cal (San Francisco), kinda like me! ALSO, he used to play volleyball. Pretty funny how we ended up talking so cal club volleyball and techniques for reading the block while picking grapes in Tuscany. Small small world...Had another long day in the fields, but pretty sure I'm getting in "farmer" shape because though the hours don't really change day after day, my tolerance for them does! Ohhh humans are so adaptable.. :) Here's a photo of the assembly line we crowd around after every harvest, picking out the vines/leaves/and insects that aren't weeded out in separating machine. This specific harvest was the Sirah, and the really really good Sirah...hence the oak barrel its delicately being put into. Yummy! :)

Techno and Mother Nature

Warning: this is written after what I feel like was one of the longest days of my existence.

Lets start with techno.

Techno: meaning the music, has been a part of my life more then ever before, these last two days. Fillipo has a thing for the beats apparently, and because he is the one driving us to and from the vineyard, techno is what we hear and will forever remind me of this place. Yesterday there was alot of techno. Meaning driving to and from the vineyard. Which brings me to my second subject...

Mother Nature: she decided to be quite fickle yesterday, and I learned rather quickly how much a farmers lifestyle depends on her. Rain to shine to rain to shine again. That was my yesterday. Clean the vines (pulling off excess leaves to help against fungi and humidity), get in the car, clean the vines, wait once again in the car. That was yesterday.

Today. Another big harvest day. Sirah. Began with, of course, the techno :) Then proceeded to 10 hours of picking in the field. I won't dive too far deep into the nature of the picking, because, like techno, it is incredibly repetitive and lets be honest, rather annoying after a while. The bugs, heat, unruly vines, and incredible hours all made me appreciate the career path i've chosen that doesn't involve the outdoors. And all this time I thought I was outdoorsy :P Don't get me wrong, there were moments of bliss in my day, but I think I realized how crucial communication is when you are in the midst of an incredibly monotonous task. After the solitary picking, we spent the next four hours sorting. I'm beat, and I hear theres rumors of a "take two" tomorrow. Aye...wish me luck!

Signing off now so I can get some rest for tomorrow. Missing home a bit tonight but still a little surreal that I'm here. Love to all!

Tuscany...

Learned a little more about Fattoria Kappa (the winery I am currently working on) yesterday that I would like to share with you. It's a completely organic vineyard that was started about 7 years ago by two Austrians interested in making a excellent quality wine that can be sold at a reasonable price to restaurants and individuals. This past year they made about 18,000 bottles, and their ultimate goal is 40,000. Fairly small for a winery, but their goal is to keep their wine at an excellent standard and use traditional methods with a close knit group of workers. The market is about 80% in Germany and Austria with other distribution sites scattered in Europe. They have an incredible appreciation for excellent quality without a desire of great expansion which I really admire.

These photos were taken at the Kappa field. The two men are the owners and I was fortunate enough to tag along with them while they inspected the Sirah and the Bordeaux. They showed me the differences in the leaves and taste, and concluded that the harvest for the Sirah will start on tuesday! After this, Andrea took the four of us (3 yr old son Leonardo included) to one of his favorite beach side restaurants for some champagne and appetizers. The scene on the water was divine and it really made me miss the So Cal sunsets in Long Beach :)

Response from Mom

Hi Melissa,

I wanted to respond to the amazing grape-leg photo, but don't know how to do it without posting a blog. So here goes....

I am soooooooo jeolous!!! You got garden duty, big weeds, my favorite!

And stomping, looks like a fun way to get down and dirty.

I am back on California time, miss the fresh croissants. Finished the video, it is so silly. I have so enjoyed reliving the whole month. It went so fast, it is a blur.

Hope we can all come stomp next year. Can the farm use a whole tribe of Melcher's?

Take care,

Love, Mom

Mushy toe time....finally. :)

Alright, had quite an eventful day today. I'll try and keep it short and sweet though. Yesterday was a rest day so not much happened besides the fact that I cooked for Italians...and get this, I cooked spaghetti of all things! Think it was a success by the broken "congratulations!" at the end of the meal. Who knows though...

This morning they put me to work in the vegetable garden. Rows and rows of fennel, lettuce, peppers, etc and my job was to basically clean it up after what looks like years of over growth. It was pretty great to get my hands in the soil, but rather exhausting after a while because what looked like small manageable weeds ended up having incredibly tough deep roots that must have been growing there for quite some time.

I did however get a little break in the middle to FINALLY STOMP THE GRAPES!!

Apparently today was the first day the merlot would start fermenting, and the perfect time to begin stomping. 5 minutes for each container every morning for probably a week or so. I'm ecstatic. Not many wineries use the stomping method anymore because of the advances in technology, but apparently this method is much more conducive to good wine because it is more delicate and less intrusive on the grapes, capturing more of the flavor.

After the grape stomping and weed hacking, we were off to a restaurant with two of the owners of the winery, and the 5 of us farmers from the house. Apparently we were going to the heart of excellent Tuscan wine, I was thrilled. The lunch was outstanding and the wine, delicious. I also saw our wineries wine being sold at the restaurant which was kind of a thrill.

After that one of the owners, Stephan, drove me out to Volterra (where some of the new twilight film was shot, for all you vampire junkies). Unfortunately it was fairly overcast so I couldn't get a good picture of the incredible view Volterra has on the Tuscany region, but definitely somewhere I'm already planning on going back to. Stephan had been there several times so he walked me through the "must see's" and gave me some background on the city, it was pretty wonderful being able to have a drawn out conversation in English (it's been a while). Thats about it for now though! I'm pretty sure my day tomorrow will consist of more stomping and garden duty!

Ciao for now!

Farm shots

And the Italian Saga continues...

This is the view from my window at the farm I'll be working on for the next couple weeks!

Yesterday was my first full day of work at this beautiful vineyard in Cecina (in the Tuscany region). It was the first day of the harvest for merlot so we got out into the field before the sunrise. We picked the entire crop (6 workers) in 7 hours. If I gained anything during that time it was incredible respect for the workers who are out in the fields everyday bent over for hours on end...and a whole different kind of appreciation for my next glass of wine. It was physically grueling but the setting couldn't have been more beautiful so I tried to focus on that when I could hardly stand up straight.

Another element that made it difficult was the language barrier. On the farm there is one person who speaks english at all so the majority of my time picking was in silence, only listening to the beautiful native tongue around me. To pass the time the workers would sing and joke, and I'm pretty sure their high spirits kept me going, in that way language is pretty universal.

To put it delicately, I was pretty done after the picking. We all came back to the farm house and sat around their table to have some lunch (my meals in this order so far since I've come here; pasta, pasta, coffee, pasta, pizza. Not sure they could get more cliche italian then that, and all pretty delicious. :) So just as I was clearing my plate, and ready to take an incredible nap, the truck full of our merlot had arrived and it was sorting time!

From 4 until 1am with a few breaks in between for food and coffee, we sorted. There is a huge machine that separates the vine from the grape, not perfectly of course though, so then our job, in an assembly line kind of fashion, was to separate any stray vines and completely clean them off before they were emptied into huge bins that later we will crush with our feet!

Needless to say it was quite a "bonding" day for me and the group of workers. By the end of the night we were all singing, and practicing our broken english and italian. It turned out to be quite a night and I was really enjoying it by then end, even with the crazy work hours.

One of the owners of the vineyard was there for some of the sorting and we got to talking (he spoke pretty good english!), he is Austrian and only in the area for a week or so. While he is here though the one place he really looks forward to going is Volterra, maybe 20 minutes from the farm. He invited me to come along with him and a few others to Volterra on friday, and apparently that is the same day Andrea (another owner and the person I was contacting about the farm) had planned a trip for me to see another vineyard and have lunch at one of his close friends restaurants. The timing for it all seemed to work out so it's looking like my friday will be quite eventful! I can't wait!

Today we are resting (thank goodness!!), an I'll try and take some more pictures of where I am staying. Signing off for now!

Melissa

Final stop....Rome

It's old, historic, huge and we haven't fallen in love yet.

Rome has been very kind to us. We had lunch at a great Japanese restaurant and put the huge (all you can eat) sushi menu and our stomachs to the test. Then we walked for hours around the Forum and Colosseum and Rome saved it's afternoon downpour for moments after we found the Metro and were on our way back to the hotel.

Today is our last day in Rome, Melissa and I are going for the big sights at the Vatican, Melissa is preparing for her farm experience and I am trying to shove all of our little purchases into my overstuffed suitcase. Our first mishap of the trip happened today, I dropped the keys to our luggage locks down the drain, no chance at retrieving them. Oh well, helps me to remember how flawless our trip has been. Even the storms seem to clear out of town when we are arriving.

See you all soon as I return to California,

My advice to all of you......

Travel Europe:

When you can still climb 500 steps and live to tell about it.

In the Fall when it is cooler and more beautiful than you can imagine.

Pack light..... I brought twice as much as I needed and I was really trying.

Plan well, be flexible and enjoy every cup of cappuccino.

Filet, Souffle, Cafe...

Okay, we have been gone almost a month, have had some fabulous cuisine, but we have found that you can't get a decent breakfast on the road. When I say decent, I mean a bit of protein, maybe a little juice, and a bread that is not filled with chocolate goodness. Don't get me wrong, chocolate croissants haven't been all that bad, but yesterday we were preparing for an athletic event, the climb to the top of the Duomo Dome. Something like 450 steps through narrow passages that actually circle between the inner and outer domes. So we decided we needed a good, old fashioned power breakfast from non-other than Mc Donald's. Yes, we thought that surely Mc Donald's (they are everywhere over here) would hold true to the egg Mc Muffin, or pancakes with sausage. You can tell we are getting a bit desperate for a solid breakfast. Anyway, we go to Mc D's and find that the menu is completely unrecognizable. I had fish filet, chocolate souffle and of course cafe. As I was dipping my fries into the creamy chocolate center of the souffle, we were reminded by Jess that, less than 12 hours prior to this meal, we had been on an organic farm in Tuscany eating all home grown organic foods, cheeses, pasta's and the meat was even raised on the farm. It was a "10-mile meal". Apparently our bodies were thrown off by the pristine meal in Tuscany and started craving this.....

Anyway, the climb to the dome went well, basically we all survived and no one freaked out while in the small, stuffy, dark places. A great experience, and one I won't forget for awhile. The view from the top was spectacular and the trip down was quick!

The rains have found us, so we all settled down in our tiny hotel room, and sang "Favorite Things" while watching the Sound of Music and listening to the crashing thunder.

Today we packed up and headed to sunny Rome, our trip is almost over, so sad. Jess, Graham and I leave Rome on Tuesday. Melissa heads to a farm in Livorno that is on the west coast of vineyard adventure. They asked her to bring a bathing suie for the grape crushing, they do it by foot. Good luck Melissa.

Ahhhh...

In love again?!!!???

Watch out Gene and Tim, Florence has two men that have stollen our hearts. Suchi, the golden retriever at our hotel, and of course David, more yummy than we expected. We had to do some smooth talking to get into the sights with my not-so-great reservations. But the gracious Italians, saw the hot, distressed and longing Americans and let us pass. Yes!!!

After a long day of museums, we found gelato and shade our only salvations. Dinner at a tiny sushi bar was a highlight. I can't believe I have finally grown tired of pizza.

We all decided that a bus tour of Tuscany, with a air conditioned bus, guide and wine tasting at lunch was just about right for our Rick-weiry bodies. So on Friday we headed out with 50 plus tourists and became part of those "horrible tourists groups". It was great to have someone else doing the thinking, the organizing, the narrating and yes, the driving.

More great food, more great wine and more great gelato.....

Not ready to leave Venice..

Majestic is the one word I can use to describe Venice. We knew right after getting off the train, two days in Venice wouldn't be enough. We met up with Gray and Jess at our hotel, a pretty fabulous reunion, and the four of us set off for our first dinner in Venice. Our first full day in Venice included a tour (Rick Steves podcast style of course) of St Mark's Square. For a visual of this, think of a four person, two head phone shuttle through a busy square. Rather hilarious. We decided after a few hours in the hot tourist filled square and surrounding areas, that Venice at night would be much more enjoyable so nap time it was! We set off for more sights later in the evening, listening once again to Rick as he toured us down the Grand Canal. We arrived at a much cooler and less crowded St. Mark's square where we made it just in time to ride the escalator of the Campanelli to watch the sunset over Venice. Stunning. The pictures can tell you the rest but let me conclude by saying Venice is another destination we are already planning a to come back to.

Bolzano, our new favorite spot

We arrived in Bolzano, Italy by train and fell in love again. In love with the pizza, in love with the gelato, in love with the mandatory Sunday stroll in the park.

Three days without internet has just about slowed us down enough to feel like real Europeans. Melissa is buying things from the vendors with her limited Italian, she is doing great. The sun is shining and we are enjoying eating huge grapes from the market.

But today we are in Verona, we passed by Romeo and Juliet's hangouts and are now back on line.

We are excited to meet up with Graham and Jess this afternoon in Venice. Life is good on the road. Sorry we don 't have much access, but stay tuned. We are still out here hoping to hear from you.


Carol

Running out of words...

Sitting on the balcony of our hotel. It's been a really long time since I've seen something this beautiful. Wish I could describe it in words, and I'm afraid pictures won't do it justice. Guess I'll just have to soak it all in now, and look back at it as a fond memory.

Today we decided to take it easy. Breakfast, stroll down to the main square, excessive "little perfect gift" shopping. Hope the pictures do this gorgeous town justice. We are now in the process of getting geared up for Italy.

Tomorrow we leave for the Dolomites in Bolzano!

More photos from Hallstatt

Okay, so it continues to be up. up and away

We left Salzburg, so sad. And headed out to the wilds of Austria. We took a train for about 3 and 1/2 hours and every time we tried to find our destination on the time-tables, we couldn't find it. So we took a leap of faith and hoped for the best. We would have followed Rick and his advice, but we accidently threw away the pages about Hallstatt. Anyway, the conductor said, "yes we go to Hallstatt". So we continued on the train, out past the most beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers and little towns. Beyond your imagination.

Then we arrived at the Hallstatt stop and there was nothing. Just a wide place in the road. We look around and luckily I remembered from Rick's book that we needed to take a ferry across the lake. So we asked a biker that happened to be riding past and spoke a little English. He said, you go by boat, go to the dock. So we headed down a little path and found a small dock with 4 other people waiting. We could see the ferry coming across the lake. It was so great, a ferry to our hotel. It deosn't get better than that. The air is warm, though the photos make it look cold. The 4 people at the dock were Americans from Denver I think, we are meeting so many I can't remember. And of course, they are following Rick's book. Seems like everyone who is at these great places are following his lead.

Our pension is unbelievable. On the lake, creaky and totally everything is uneven and we have tripped a bunch of times and we love, love, love it. How will we ever be able to stay in a regular hotel? We have a skeleton key for our room, a bed with a roof, yes, a roof. And two flights of circular stairs just to get to our floor. Packing light pays off again!

If we never come home, you will know where we are.... Hallstatt is our new favorite place. Up, up and away into the mountains we go.

From the town on the lake,

Hump day, downhill from here!

We took a little cable car up about 10,000 feet... or so it seemed and could see the whole world...or so it seemed. Totally awe inspiring. We celebrated our half-way point, more commonly called "hump-day" and saw how totally green Salzburg is.

Check back later.

Carol

Shots from the S-Burg

Melissa's Happy Place

Oh Salzburg, you are magical. Your hills are definately alive with the sound of music and we are loving the easy pace, beautiful gardens, lakes and mountains of Austria.

We took our first guided tour today and loved getting out of the city and out into the wilds. For excitement we road the summer luge and shopped at a Turkish market. We are having P, B and J tonight Turkish style. Add chocolate and a bottle of wine and yummmmm.

I think our photos will tell it all. We are changing our itinerary to head south for warmer weather. Rain in Vienna and Prague have pushed us to Italy.

We already plan on coming back, Austria is just too yummy to eat in just one course.

A quick trip to Halstatt then we will head to warmer destinations. We love being free to make it up as we go along.

See you in Halstatt....

See ya Rothenburg!

Leaving Rothenburg this morning. Highlights of our half a day trip are as follows...talking to Gene on i chat and watching the sun rise from the wall surrounding the city. We did the mile and a half walk around the city this morning, and now were headed to Munich!

Low lights include...everything else. :P

Castles and Cousins

After leaving Duisburg (the Melcher side), we went to see the castles along the Rhine and visited cities involving lots of phlegm-pronunciation such as Cochem and Bacharach. Along with castles, sun-drenchedvineyardscovered the hillside. And we were fortunate enough to see it all unfold at sunset.Before reaching Wiesbaden, we wondered if the long lost Lopez family would feel at all familiar,but after seeing Uncle Vic'swarm smiling face waiting for us at Bingen, we knew we would feel right athome. It turns out, my namesake, Caroline, is more Lopez than I could have imagined and her joy at being the mother of 11was palpable. Getting a chance to meet the "tribe" was a highlight for Melissa and I. Remembering names, noticing familial similarities and playing a few rounds of "Golf" just added to the magic.

Test your memory with the photos. Oldest to youngest.... Josephine, Stephan, Maria, Phillip, Tina, Suzie, Peter, and Paul...and of course, Stephan's girlfriend Sina's baby Chihuahua..Laney :) Alex, Caroline and Vic round out the group. Whew!

We will be on our way tomorrow, but what a great opportunity to connect. We are already making plans for our next trips and hope to see Stephan and Sina in the Spring in California.

In the end, travel isn't just about great food, castles, sunsets...it's about connecting. The best part of our trip so far has been the people. We are constantly reminded of how small the differences in language, culture and geography really are.