After we left the farm, we traveled to Cinque Terre, which is comprised of five coastal cities along the western border of Italy. It is pretty much hippie-heaven; UNESCO declared it a protected territory, there are recycling bins everywhere, and hikers flock to trek in the beautiful scenery.
Cinque Terre is also known for its vineyards. Since its so hilly, there are tiers of grapes along the mountains.
tiered vineyards
We stayed in the only hostel in Manarola — we had to lug our heavy suitcases up a mountain and about 40 steps to arrive at the front door. But I packed it, so I carried it with only a little complaining.
Manarola
In Cinque Terre, you can either hike between the villages or take the train. So in the a.m., we were ambitious and started out on the trail. We hiked north to Corniglia, where we had to march up 382 steps to make it into the town. That was fun...
steps up to Corniglia
From there, we decided to take the harder trail up into the mountain for a bit of a mid-morning workout, to reach the next village. Turns out, it really went up the entire mountain. I kept thinking it was going to turn and head back down, but in the end, we ended up with a tremendous view and some buns of steel.
view of Corniglia
We finally made it down to the next village, Vernazza. It was quaint, lined with little shops and cafes, and was definitely my favorite town. We grabbed some lunch, got lazy and decided to train it to the most northern town, Monterosso.
First, everyone should know that Bosco Delrey's first single is out and available on iTunes. And it's damn good. You can read about him on MadDecent's blog or just search Bosco Delrey in the iTunes store.
Next on the docket, I'll tell you about Venice. We only stayed one night and it was raining and miserable weather, but the city was one of a kind.
It was refreshing to go to a place with no need to look both ways before you cross the street because there are no cars, only boats. Big ferries traveling up and down the Grand Canal, two person gondolas driven by men in striped shirts and straw hats, and motorized water taxis were the only means of transportation. During the day, the streets were mobbed with tourists and were quiet and empty at night. Venice is a museum in that it's kept alive for people to come visit.
Murano: We traveled to the island that produces all of the famous Murano glass, which was lined with shop after shop that were selling dizzying amounts of jewelry, plates, figurines, creepy clowns, vases, wine stoppers, and chandeliers. We had a hard time finding an actual glass workshop, but luckily we wandered down a corridor and saw one man working. Most likely, a lot of the products there were imported from Asia, considering some of the pricing was pretty reasonable. We found two amazing stores though that had to be authentic. One had vases and glasses with flower decorations on them, and the other had the most incredible chandeliers I have ever seen. If only I had the money or a house to decorate!
Jewish Venice: On the second day of our trip, we visited the Jewish Ghetto in Venice and toured three of the five remaining synagogues. During the 14th and 15th Centuries, even though the Jews were confined to one area, Venice was apparently one of the more tolerant places for Jews to live in Europe. Jews from different cultures immigrated to Venice but stayed separated, which explains why there were 5 different synagogues to accommodate the different traditions. Today in Venice, there is a permanent community of only 30 people who are recognized by the Jewish Community (excluding Chabad-Lubavitch and the hundreds of Jews who travel through Venice on trips and travel). Sorry there are no pictures of the synagogues because the tour guide was watching me like a hawk, but I did get a shot of the Kosher restaurant and glass figures of religious men.
Today is our last day on the farm, and tomorrow begins our long haul of traveling to Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome, Mykonos, and Athens. My life as a WWOOFer is put on hold for a while, but will hopefully resume at some point in my life. ‘Till then…ciao bellas.
Tonight our host, Federico, taught us how to make traditional Bologna style pasta. So now, I'm going to teach you.
Here in Emilia-Romagna they use special eggs that are extra yellow. All the pasta in this region is traditionally yellow. It is a result from feeding the chickens maize.
He started out by mixing seven eggs with 600 grams total of durum wheat flour and regular wheat flour. You can also substitute the durum with buckwheat or chestnut flour, or put minced spinach or herbs in to change the color. He used the electric mixer and then kneaded the dough.
He had a square wooden board (about 2 1/2 feet wide) and a wooden roller just as long. He started to roll out the dough into a circle, turning the dough and rolling it out more.
When it thinned out and started to get sticky, he sprinkled more flour on, spread it around and did the same thing on the other side.
The next step was to make the dough even thinner. He rolled it around the pin little by little, and pressed his palms down and out as he was rolling, so the dough would spread lengthwise.
Here's a video of that step, because it's hard to explain.
Federico said that an old Italian lady from the area taught him how to make pasta. So many of his sentences started out with, "The old lady says..." He told us that, "the old lady says the pasta is ready when your ass is sweaty." Obviously it takes some sweat of the brow to make sure the pasta is good.
When the dough is very thin (almost see-through) and starts to crack on the edges, it's ready to be made into the pasta. We made tagliatelle, which is the flat, wide noodles, but the dough can be used for tortelloni, tortellini, ravioli, etc.
Once the dough was thin enough, he used a hair dryer to make sure the moisture was out (he told me not to include this part about using a hair dryer, but I thought it was funny). Then after it was dry, he rolled the dough up by hand and cut strips of the roll with a knife.
He unrolled the strands and put them into piles on a screen so they could dry more. You can save the pasta for about a day, but if you want to keep it longer, you should freeze it.
Then you just throw it in some boiling water and it cooks very quickly. Old lady says, when it rises to the top of the pot, the pasta is almost ready.
I met a girl named Youlia in Paris and she sent me the link to her awesome video short which just happened to be all about dancing vegetables. Funny how I am now planting vegetables... Coincidence? I think not.
If you liked it (which I'm sure you all did), become a fan on Facebook to help move the film forward.
The image I had of Milan was a modern, sleek, fashion capital. But the city proved me wrong. It was much more than just extravagant outdoor malls and designer stores. There was history, stunning buildings, casually dressed people, and of course.....the Duomo.
We have arrived on our fourth and final farm called Il Cavicchio in Rastignano, Italy. We are actually farming veggies this time around, so my farming tips are back in action.
Today we planted tomatoes and zucchini in the morning, and squash and melon in the afternoon. It has gotten very hot here, so we take a break during the middle of the day.
Before we arrived, another WWOOFer prepared the land for planting. He set up the drip irrigation system and lined the rows with plastic to prevent weeds from growing.
To plant, we poked holes in the plastic, dug a hole, dropped in the plant, and then covered it back up with the finest soil we could find around us.
After planting, we pretty much drowned the veggies with water from the hose. The plastic helps to keep the water in and the weeds out.
After watering, we had to go back and make sure no roots were showing, otherwise they would be scalded by the sun. If they were, we just put more dirt on top.
Farming Tips:
1. Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers grow best when planted in two rows, 70 cm apart from each other. Within the rows, the plants should be 60 cm apart. This takes into account how big their roots grow.
2. Zucchinis, squash, melons, and watermelons grow best when planted in one row, 1 meter apart. If you are using a drip irrigation system, they should be planted on one side of the piping, as close to the actual tube as possible.
I leave you with Rosemary Clooney, because this is what I have been humming to myself all day.
We are staying in Milan and I haven't seen anything yet, so I figured, why not link you to some cool/educational/cute videos?!? (btw, I ate my first pizza in Italy last night, and it was delicious)
I probably should have explained what WWOOFing was a little earlier, but I found this video that does a great job. Sadly enough, I'm not in the video, but it will give you a good idea of what the organization is all about.
This next video is a little late because it was made for Earth Day, which falls on April 22nd, but I think it is still relevant because my trip is about organic farming and environmental awareness. Take a look. You might learn something.
Today we depart from Les Courmettes and I am going through a little bit of baby goat seperation anxiety. I had trouble falling asleep last night because I was distressed about leaving this heavenly alcove, otherwise known as a goat cheese farm. Despite the poop, fleas, ticks, and occasional batch of sour milk, it was an amazing experience.
I will close this chapter of my travel blog with my representation of the joys of goat culture that I have grown to love in the form of a whimsical illustration/watercolor painting.
I take comfort only in knowing that there are a few goats at the next farm.
