Aussie in the Boot: Tuscany Pt. 2

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: Tuscany

Host: Fattoria Di Corazzano

“A moment to pause, reflect and notice the growth”

After parting with Giulia and Federico in Bologna I took two trains from Bologna to Fattoria Di Corazzano. I wasn’t nervous about public transport, nothing but a little tummy hum. Just a few nights before I had watched Brené Brown’s Netflix talk, ‘The call to courage’. It helped me with my fear of feeling vulnerable. I had previously viewed, asking for help, as a fail on this trip, like it would mean that I am not a badass solo traveller if I couldn’t navigate everything on my own. But I didn’t feel nervous with this farm transition because, at every moment of uncertainty, I just asked someone, with a smile on my face, and got the answer straight away! Now, that’s badass!

€ 34.70 later, I arrived back to where it all began. They had family over (family I had made panzarotti with in my first visit: Aussie in the Boot: Tuscany). It was a beautiful feeling to be greeted by everyone and to have even distant family members know my name already! I felt full of love and energy and coming back to this farm gave me a moment to see the direct joy comparison from when I was last here. I now feel I have become more me, more whole!

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My first morning back I decided to look around the farm, I took my normal loop route around the hills. Molto Verde! So much green, so many smells and lovely warm sun, spring has sprung! I’m not sure it is my growth or the change in weather but the farm just felt more beautiful. It also felt a little more like home with all of the green and the comfortable 25 degrees with the warm sun on my face.

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I picked some strawberries for my Sunday breakfast. It sounds romantic but it’s actually a little rebellious because I don’t think we are allowed to just eat the crops willy-nilly. That morning I also saw Carlo (the owner of the farm) for the first time since returning. We had a happy and heartfelt greeting. He said, “It is so good to see you! You have just blossomed!” It filled me with joy to hear that. I had felt a change when I came back here but having someone else notice it just added a little block to the tower of happiness.

I then headed to the beach with Valentina, Giovanni and Maya. It was a beautiful and relaxing day by the sea of Pisa. It is very hard to compare any beach to Australian beaches but I appreciated the moment for all that it is. As I lay in the sand, on a beach in Pisa, I thought about how randomly awesome my life is!

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The first morning of work went so fast! We work from 7 am until 12 pm … I still enjoy the structure and certainty of that, I haven’t changed that much. I harvested asparagus all morning. Working slowly (something I have learnt to do) and mindfully, eating fresh asparagus as I went!

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I forgot how the harvest takes a toll on the back! I woke up so sore, lucky for my salutes to the sun that I do each morning, I can roll out of bed super stiff and kind of recover some movement. What also gets me through the harvest is that I get to eat strawberries all harvest long!

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I am really happy that I have returned as is has removed, what would have been a slight sad/negative taint on this location. It is so perfect how things work out.

Despite how happy and beautiful it all may seem now, I am still feeling many tough emotions related to food, body and confusion about the future. The thing is that I have already picked up many tools. I am much more conscious of these emotions then I have been in the past. I may still slip into old habits when the feelings appear, but I am making an effort to form new positive grooves and that takes time.

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Brené Brown would be so proud of me! Today was another public holiday (Labor Day)! In celebration of this day off work, the local town of Corazzano held a community football match. I signed up! No one spoke English and it was actually pretty legit, even though I was told it was just a joke …

There were four teams. We played two games each. The second round being loser vs loser and winner vs winner. Each game was 40 minutes (two 20 minute halves). I did a goal assist in a true Italian football match. It was really awesome and it is always great to do something scary and unexpected. My team ended up winning the whole comp! The score in the final was 2-1. Bianca Rosso!! Numero uno!!

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Fun Fact: Italian meal-time conversation tends to always end up as an argument/debate about recipes. Generally about what shape pasta goes with what sauce.

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As a Saturday activity, I decided to head to Florence for the day. It was a big struggle in the morning to find someone to drive me to the station, this kind of put me in a less cheery mood. When I eventually found someone to take me to the station I felt incredibly guilty for causing them to make the trip … but putting all of that aside, I powered on.

When I made it to Florence my ears were immediately flooded with the sound of native English speakers! It was kind of awesome to hear and I was even able to pick out the unmistakable twangy sound of Australian accents. I began my walk around the city by just following Asian tour groups, I got to all of the iconic places in the city, although it was at a very slow pace as the tour stopped often for photo taking!

I had done some pre-googling and had found out that the city of Florence is quite renowned for its gelato. Apparently, the best gelato (and vegan gelato) in the city was found at ‘Perché no!’. After some walking around, I decided it was time to find this store and see if it was worth the hype. As I stood outside of the store I was very happy to hear a passing lady tell her friends that ‘Perché no!’ is indeed the best gelato in Florence! There were six vegan flavours, I decided on chocolate and hazelnut! It was super delicious.

After the gelato, I made my way to the central market. It was in a large warehouse building and full of amazing food stalls and restaurants! It seemed like an awesome spot to visit often if you are staying in the city.

I continued to wander around the city but found that I wasn’t really sure what else to look at. I found the city very touristy and I’m sure it would have been great with family or friends as I would have had the motivation to wait in line and enter some of the museums or churches. But alone it wasn’t really what I felt like doing so I took in the sites and then headed back on the train. After the guilt that I had felt in the morning about the lift to the station, I decided that I should walk home from the local station … 12.5km! It was a massive walk but it was pretty beautiful. The day in the city made me feel like solo travel wasn’t for me because I don’t really enjoy just wandering the cities alone. The walk home from the station made me realise that I just have a heart for a different kind of travel! It is another case of my black and white thinking, immediately ruling out my ability to travel solo because I didn’t feel super enthusiastic for one day in the city.

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The strawberries have been getting more delicious by the day! It is amazing that in my short stay here I have been able to notice the change in their colour and can taste their richness developing! The asparagus harvest has become the new leeks — we have to harvest them every day because they just continue to produce new asparagus every day. I am still enjoying the work of this stay, there is a lot more variety now that it is spring… strawberries, asparagus, radishes, zucchinis, artichoke and salads.

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I have noticed that a key link to some of my sad moments is when I lose some confidence in myself. I am a long time ‘people pleaser’ and I have found that I have spent a lot of time trying to make the people around me happy (even if it’s not possible) without considering my own happiness. When I am alone and travelling, this kind of behaviour can be detrimental because it is a very important time for me to be looking out for me!

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Italian government … MADONNA BENEDETTA!!! I have returned to this location in order to complete this visa process.

When in Australia I got a working holiday visa for Italy which allows me to stay in Italy for one year and work if I want to. In Australia, I was told to visit the post office within 8 days of my arrival in Italy … this appointment turned into many trips to immigration in Pisa and Florence. Basically, they don’t encounter this type of visa very often and so I have had to go through a very long process to sort through the system. Not one step has been simple.

I have searched for a meaning for all of this madness. I started to think that it was a sign that I shouldn’t be in Italy, that I am meant to move on to another country … I have come to the conclusion that it is actually my next step to becoming Italian! At first, I was directing my frustration towards the whole country, thinking that I just don’t like Italy. Then I realised that my frustration should be directed towards the government. Every true Italian hates the government!

In all of the visa stress I honestly just wanted to leave the country. My brain ran through a ton of ways I could escape. But I knew how I would feel if I ran and I pictured myself making up perfect reasons (excuses) as to why running was valid.

“Are you ever drinking a cup of tea and just don’t want it to end because then you have to face the world?”

All of this visa nonsense created quite a bit of stress for the end of this location. I am grateful that I had Carlo (the owner of the farm) to help me navigate this drama. I am constantly being tested. It feels like I’m having a million fireballs thrown at me and I need to keep learning new matrix ways to dodge them!

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For my final visa step, I headed to Pisa, this time on my own. I think that it was quite symbolic that I completed this on my own as Carlo had helped me from the beginning but this was my mess to finish. I paid more money, put my head in a machine for photos, got my fingers and hands scanned a million times and visited immigration again! It was crazy but I did it! There is so much to it that I can’t even explain it all, I’m not sure I even understand it. Basically, I have done what I need to do so that when I leave for India in 3 months, they will let me out of the country (I hope!).

I really just want to have it in writing that executing the working holiday visa in Italy wasn’t easy!! I know that in a year (maybe less) I will be telling people that it was a breeze to navigate the visa. Your brain keeps the good and forgets all the stress and madness. I must remember that it was, in fact, a nightmare, a nightmare that I was strong enough to get through!

As I waited for my train at Pisa station, I sat on a cold, metal, station seat and sifted through the paperwork from immigration, shaking my head with confusion, but relief that it was over. A lovely Italian girl came and sat next to me, we talked for about 40 minutes until my train came. I think she asked me out? It was like a little ray of sunshine peeping through the clearing clouds. I was reminded that my journey is a good one and Italy was worth the fight! There is good to come!

On the train, I also sat near an American couple and chatted with them the whole way! It was an afternoon of positive energy and the immigration drama is already slipping from my mind.

After a final day of work in the fields, I headed to Livorno to catch the ferry to Sardinia … I’m leaving the mainland and I an excited to see what the island brings!

See ya, arrivederci!

Kindly, Steph