Aussie in the Boot: Emilia-Romagna

I am spending six months travelling around Italy. I am staying with hosts around the country, WWOOFING (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). Learning, sharing and creating great connections. There will be ups and downs, but I have my yoga mat packed and a 560g jar of Vegemite, so I’m ready to take it all on. 

Region: Emilia-Romagna

Host: Il Granaro

“I think I have met more cats this far than people”

“Be in the experience, not the expectation”

I arrived on the farm, the 9th of March 2019, to the sound of chiming church bells. It brought a smile to my face as it reminded me of my temporary Tuscan home. I spent the weekend with Fabrizio, a “permanent wwoofer” on the farm, he only speaks Italian so I am learning a bit more. The other two residents, Salvatrice and Alessandro are yet to arrive. We made bread and played cards in the night, Fabrizio taught me the game, ‘Scala Quaranta’, we deserve a medal for our communication, the rules aren’t simple!

Fabrizio is a lovely man… although I’m not sure if its a cultural difference but I am getting a little uncomfortable. There is a lot of little tummy touches and head patting, he also keeps saying, “tu beauty!” I think he just likes me.

I am feeling some strong emotions, once again I don’t have any wwoofer friends, plus the wired vibes from Fabrizio. I have had many stressful moments so far on the adventure. My go-to release has been food, lots of it! It is very clear to me that I need to shift my emotional outlet, the food has been a way for me to dodge emotions when I should be sitting with them. I’m not sure if it is the endless supply of great carbs in this country that makes food such a comfort right now but I know it’s not a groove I want to slip into.

I feel as though there is a reason that we are faced with people and places at certain times. I was wanting the company of young wwoofer friends… there are none here. I must learn why these people are in my life at this time. I feel as though it is because I still have to learn to trust and love myself, without being distracted by other young travellers. Woohoo, let’s get on board the personal growth train!

Two little thoughts; a pattern I have noticed on farms has been, bread with an unknown baked date, wrapped in an old and slightly dirty looking tea towel. Second thought, I have found it very strange, the contrast of habits in the lives of the people I have met. They are all so health conscious, organic food, plenty of veggies, no processed goods… but they smoke!

Monday morning, my first workday on the farm. Fabrizio and I packed a picnic lunch, I asked where we were going and he pointed behind the house. I assumed we were going to do some work in the vineyard out the back. We then packed everything into the big van and drove off… definitely not to the vineyard out the back. We drove for about 30 minutes, passing through many villages and ended up in the hills of a small town. The conclusion that I came to was that this vineyard we were in was owned by Alessandro. We spent the day chopping the vines, clearing them for the new season.

I have now worked three days on this vineyard at the other location. I also finally met Alessandro at a night market where we sold the wine! They do three a week, I am allowed to go to all of them! Alessandro is amazing and the energy here is great! They are very focused on the concept of social farming, inviting consumers to be invested in the processing of the wine. In more fun words, they have parties where they drink, eat and stomp on grapes.

Alessandro is like Tony Robbins — tall and wise. We have had many great, deep conversations. I have also realised after my first week here, that I have been wrong this whole time. I have been longing for connection, thinking that the solution was the company of other young wwoofers. I have had connection all along, I just wasn’t embracing it. Everyone here is so kind, Fabrizio is also the sweetest man. I think I read him wrongly!

The first week went by so fast! I attended all of the markets, worked in the vineyard and met many random guests (people just seem to turn up for meals here). When we work, the church bells ring to symbolise the passing of the hours (like at the last farm). But here, they don’t have the same meaning, I am not using the sound to count the hours that have passed. It is just another sound that echos through the mountains.

Something that they have also learnt is that Italians consume about 1 litre of wine a day!

On my first Sunday, Sal and I went for a great walk through the mountains. I encouraged her to go somewhere she had never been, spotting a thin trail along a ridge, made by hunters. The mountains here are truly wonderful! For a random afternoon activity, Alessandro invited me to go with him to the small medieval village of Monteveglio. We attended the famous church for the Sunday mass… I only stayed for half. For two reasons really. One, because I felt like I have done too much yoga to participate in those Christian rituals. Two, because I eat a lot of vegetables and high fibre foods… therefore I have a large amount of gas which isn’t great in a small church with lots of people!

I have been having a great time at this farm! I have also been doing a lot of thinking (stuck in my thoughts as usual). I have come to a very positive conclusion. I can actually wake up every day and chose to be happy! I am a very emotional person, so of course, there will be days to let those emotions be felt, but happiness, that’s a conscious choice that you can make! This has come about from all of the positive people at this farm! This chain of thought has really helped me with my feelings about food. I can choose my reaction to the thoughts that come in my head. Now it’s time to live this revelation!

I think that the Moon is very powerful. Alessandro is a strong believer in the powers of the Moon and has told me about the importance of it in the winemaking process. It is almost a full moon and I think I am feeling the effects. I had a bit of an off feeling kind of day. On top of the emotions, my hot water bottle leaked in my bed and I had my first medical emergency of the trip. I was working in the field and the side of my face got lumpy and begun to swell (It is common for me to experience extreme reactions to insects!). We went to the chemist and 10 euros later… I was healed. I don’t usually even take Panadol, but I didn’t really want to go to Emergency, and I could hear Dad in my head telling me to take the medicine! Crazy times as the Moon grows!!

It is amazing the variety of jobs I have done here. I think it’s because on this farm it’s not “work” it’s just life, I am a part of this jumbled family and we just do what needs to be done. It also feels like a very authentic Italian style of working… very relaxed and not super productive! When we start to get into a rhythm, its lunch time! Some of the jobs have been:

• Weeding around vine babies
• Planting baby vines
• Making bread
• Administering tick medicine for the 5 cats (almost made me want to be a vet!)
• Bug-proofing the new bags of flour
• Oiling tops of poles
• Making lunch
• Pruning the vineyard
• Working at the market
• Making peanut butter
• Plucking daises for face cream
• Bottling wine
• Salad scavenging from the garden and beyond.

Since the beginning of this trip, when finishing a yoga practice I have brought my hands at prayer at my heart’s centre, then to my mouth, then to my third eye, before saying namaste. This is to symbolise my effort to have a kind heart, speak kind words and think kind thoughts. I am proud to say that I have felt that I have followed through with this throughout my time… the kind word may be partly due to the language barrier, but nonetheless, I am spreading the love!

I went on a long hike through the mountains, alone, without my phone. It was an amazing walk with spectacular views. The only thing was that the “roundtrip” that I thought I could see, began to not seem like a roundtrip. The walk that I thought would be 2 hours max, ended up being 3! I got a bit lost but was saved when a ravenous dog ran out at me, the owner yelled at it… in English! I was able to talk to this kind lady and she helped me find my way down. I was very proud of myself because not once did I actually feel worried, even though I lost sight of home.

I made gnocchi for all, again confirming the fact that every Italian has their own recipe and theirs is most definitely the correct one and the only way to do it! I also made vegan crepes with Sal! The highlight of the day was when Sal said: “You are the best wwoofer, there have been other nice ones but you are so positive!”. It is amazing to connect with people in this way, where they have absolutely no preconceived ideas about you and you have the opportunity to be the best you!

I have spent a lot of time with Sal. She is great company, such a laugh, and she would always help me wherever she could. Sal also already had nutritional yeast, chickpea flour, oat milk and chia seeds! So, obviously we were destined to be friends!

Quotes from Sal (All spoken in the most fun French accent): 

• “Do like you want!”
• “When you are a beautiful plant, you love the rain!”
• “You are a wwoofer! You can work slow”
• “I love bitter! I am bitter woman!”
• “When I come back in another life, I want to be a man. So I can drive a forklift!”
• “When you have a passion, the world is beautiful”
• “I am like a baby, I try everything”
• “I am never sad, It’s not my soul!”

It seems that I am getting in a habit of accidentally long walks. First the incident in the mountains and now, I got lost in Bologna. On the market night, I decided to explore the city on my own, not keeping a record of the market location… I took some turns and trying to remember each one. There were only so many right, left, left, rights that I could keep track of. It got very dark and I knew I was lost, but it meant that I found the great parts of the city! Spoiler alert! I made it back to the market safely, with the help of Alessandro.

Fun Fact: In Italy, you never actually own your cats! They are the property of the community or the Mayor!

For my last few days, we went through the processes of bottling the wine. I love the passion that Alessandro has for his work and even though I don’t drink, it makes wine so interesting. When we do any of the winemaking procedures, we play classical music! Alessandro says that it is scientifically proven to make the wine develop better. We had a bottling party with many friends. I made sure to put the love in with every cork!

As I packed my bag I thought about how quickly time went by! I was rolling up my main, big jacket and it brought a smile to my face. I could see a mud stain on the zipper from leek cleaning in Tuscany and just near the pocket I could see dried, red drops of wine from the bottling. So many experiences, so many to come.

Now I’m heading north, not far from Verona…

See ya, arrivederci!

Kindly, Steph