Travels Around Europe - The Photos

Here's finally a catch-up of photos on my travels for the last month (or so).  Just a warning, this is a long one and my feelings won't be hurt if you just want to just scroll through the pics.  

I left the farm after La Festa di Primavera (The Spring Festival), a big event the farm had to celebrate the reconstructed Mulino (Mill), a historic mill that used to produce the flour for the area.  

Here's some friends enjoying the music after a long weekend of preparation.  

I left the farm and hitched a ride with Paola (she's the one weighting vegis in a couple posts back) to Firenze to meet up with some friends.  

Lexi and Bobby in Italia!  I have two great days with my old friends, showing them around my city before they headed up to Venezia to be all romantic.  Oh, and I'm assuming its public knowledge now (if not it is NOW) but congratulations on the engagement guys!  

I spend the last day in Firenze hitting up all my favorite places and really saying a good farewell.

This is a view of my bridge (Ponte Carraia) from the bridge next to the Ponte Vecchio.   It's the only bridge where you can sit on a ledge of the bridge and look over the water (although not legally).  It was the prefect was to say goodbye. 

That night I caught a train to Pisa and got an interesting scar on the way to the airport.  I'll tell everyone the story soon enough.  From Pisa I flew to Puglia.

The first night, Eugenio (the handsome mug in the red shirt on the right) and his friends made a huge dinner of Cozze (muscles).  If you know me, I'm not much of a seafood eater, but it was delicious.  These are my new friends from the south of Italy that welcomed me to Lecce with open arms and ready bellies.

La Roca, a town next to San Foca where I stayed in Lecce, with a tower built during the Byzantine times to look out for Turkish invaders.  Its amazing that it still stands strong and an incredible feeling to walk around.  Eugenio and I took a swim around this area.  The water was deep and amazing.

Here's Eugenio, or should I saw Pastore Moses, leading the way to the tower.  My week in Puglia was perfect.  Sun, beach, guitar and great memories.  After Puglia I headed to Napoli for a day.  No pics, just because I didn't do much but see some amazing churches.  I then took a 16 hour boat ride to Cagliari, in the south of Sardegna, to catch a three hour train up to Sassari to meet up with my friends from Anidagri.  We headed to La Isola dell'Azinara, a former island prison now a tropical paradise.  

This is the secluded beach me hung out for a while.  The water was an intense blue and a lot of fun swimming around in.  I'm pretty sure I was a sea animal in a past life, because I felt so free and comfortable in the water, realizing how much I missed it.  It was the perfect last beach day.

Christina, who I stayed with in Sardegna, showed my Castlesardo, a really quaint old town on the top of a hill overlooking the sea.  This area is known for their crafts. 

Here's a friendly Sardo making either a bowl or a pot mat like many Sardi have made in the past.  I left the next day for the next stop of my travels...but not before taking a picture of the family.  
Here are some of the nicest people I know. Angelino, Christina, Valentina, Giada, Virgina and Marco in front of a blooming tree at Christina's home.  

Next stop, Prague.  
An amazing view of the city from the castle.  Kind of looks like monopoly huh?  Prague is a beautiful city, fully of history and character.  I think it's one of the coolest places I've been. 

Here's St. Vitus' Cathedral, an uber gothic cathedral full of high towers and gargoyles.  It was really amazing.  The best part though, in my opinion, was inside.

Here is a magnificent stained glass window made by my man, Alfons Mucha.  It is just spectacular.  The coordination of colors and smart placement of figures really proves his genius and ability to work in many mediums.  I was in complete awe of this.  

Another thing I really like about Prague are the colors.  The buildings are painted the most interest colors I've seen, with a bunch of achromatic grays and muted colors.  It really makes wandering around enjoyable.

At noon everyday at the castle, there is the changing of the guards.  It's a big tourist spectacle and mainly for show since there's no monarchy to guard anymore.  But it really is cool to watch and see how synchronized they are.  

On my last day in the Czech Republic I went to Moravsky Krumlov, a very small town near Brno, to see Mucha's greatest work, The Slav Epic.  It is 20 giant paintings of his country's past and his heritage and complete perfection.  It was a very special feeling, standing next to the work he devoted the last 18 years of his life to, seeing his hand and the work he put into it.  Needless to say it completely inspired me.

This is just the view from the train station, and by station I mean one room with a ticket office to go either left or right.  It was probably the most Eastern Europe-y thing I got to see.  

Next on the list, Vienna.  I only stayed in Vienna for a day, but I got to see a lot.  At the end of the first day I went to the giant palace.  Actually, giant isn't a good enough word... let's use monstrous.  This place is enormous.  

What did I say?  Ginormous!  The thing about Vienna is that they not only built enormous buildings, but they surrounded it by a lot of open land, making it feel even more vast.  One can seriously feel miniscule while walking around on the property. 

Here is another huge building.  This one was at the top of steep hill behind a huge pond.  The architecture was an interesting mix of Italian and French.  The palace was really well kept and being there really made me feel like I was living when royalty roamed the grounds.  

My last day in Vienna was mostly spent in the Leopold Museum, discovering great artists that really should be more well known.  It was a great collection.  That evening I caught a night train from Vienna to Venezia, waking up to the sunrise over the alps in Switzerland.  As if I haven't said it enough, it was amazing.  

That's my three weeks in a giant circle.

Praha

I'm in Prague. I got here late on the 2nd and have been enjoying it since. Prague is an amazing city. There is great architecture with some of the coolest colors (a bunch of achromatic grays), nice people, amazing art, and an awesome public transportation system. It is really easy to get around here and find your way though the city. Some highlights of my time here:

Mucha Museum - I finally got to see it! It was the first thing I did here, other than get some delicious pastries for breakfast. They had all this well known works, with the print that made him famous, hand drawings, large oil paintings and sculptures. It was amazing to see his work up close and I left fully satisfied.

Prague Castle - Its apparently the largest castle in the world since its pretty much a mini town. The cathedral was incredible. Super Gothic with stained glass windows, sculptures everywhere, high pointed towers and an army of gargoyles. The castle also houses some great renaissance art.

Gardens - There is a large area near the castle that is devoted to grass and trees. Its really nice to just sit there, eat a sandwich and drink a Czech beer (which is delicious and cheaper than water) while looking out to the city.

This kind of seems like a tour guide book. Anyway, I'm having a great time and will be heading to Austria tomorrow or the next day.

Napoli

One day in Napoli. I arrived yesterday to a hot, humid, busy city. It caught me a bit off guard from the easy, laid back week I had in Puglia. I got to my hostel around 7 last evening and went for a walk, trying to avoid getting hit by the aggressive drivers. Beeping and yelling everwhere, mixed with a good amount of trash. At first I was a bit put off by this city, but I've since come to like it.

I've had great pizza here, which is a good thing since my expectations of the creators-of-pizza were pretty high. I've also been happily surprised my the art here. Decked out churches with great renaissance paintings and incredible sculptures. I didn't expect to see so many great pieces of art here. There are also really great piazzas here with tall towers topped with a protecting saint.

I crammed a bunch into the one day I've been here and now I'm off to the port to catch my 16 hour boat to Sardegna. Wish me luck with the seas.

PUGLIA

Puglia has been great. For the past week I've been in Calimera/San Foca, two small towns in Puglia, the heel of Italy. I've been staying with a good friend of mine, Eugenio, who was one of my flatmates in Firenze. He, his family and friends have shown me true Italian hostpitality and I've really enjoyed my time here.

We've gone to the beach practically everyday, and if you know me you probably can tell how dark I've become. The sea is beautiful here, with long beaches and also low cliff areas where you can jump into cool, deep, water surrounded by history. It's very humbing to be surrounded by buildings left behind by various empires throughout history.

Yesterday we took a long drive down to Santa Maria di Leuca, a place they call finisterra (the end of land) because it is as far down Italy as you can go. This is also the point where th Ardiatic says hello to the Ionic.

Tomorrow I head to Napoli for a day before going to Sardegna. I was going to go to Napoli sooner, but I thought it was better to enjoy good friends than to wander around a mafia infested city. Sorry, not pics for a while (I'm gussing) but at the end of it all I'll have a long picture post.

Whats Next

A lot has changed recenly. The Israeli family left the farm to do a bit of traveling around Italy. It was really great getting to spend time with and get to know them. The day they left we had a nice send off for them with cake and presents.
Here's Reut, the six year old daughter nfully of spirit, taking a break from her energetic dancing.

The day after they left, Firday, I got to cook for everyone again. A big portion of the group from Sardegna was at the farm so I cooked for about 20 people. This time it was a Japanese/Hawaiian meal.


With the help of Adi, a fellow volunteer, I made a bunch of sushi for the gang.
It came out pretty good and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Then it was time for some Kalua Pig and Fried Rice. This also came out pretty tasty and as close to the real stuff as I could get. I ended the meal with some Haupia. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the food and I was pretty satisfied myself. I'm glad I got to share a piece of Hawaii with my Italian friends.

This past Sunday was the Festa di Primavera at the farm. It was to celebrate the completition of the reconstructed Mulino (mill). The architect of the building asked me to do a drawing for her and the farm of the Mulino.

Here's the final drawing. I'm pretty happy with how it came out and I think she was too. I gave it to her at dinner on Saturday night, following a big send off for me from the group. They gave gifts from the farm and named me the best volunteer they've ever had. It was a really special moment for me and I'm so happy I found this place.

But now I'm in Firenze again. I met up with Lexi and Bobby yesterday and since then we've been catching up and I've been showing them my city. We only have until tomorrow though as they depart for Venice and I depart for Puglia.

For the next few weeks I'll be off traveling. For now its Puglia, Napoli, Sardegna, Prague, Austria, Switzerland (more or less) and then back to Italy before heading to Ireland and then to SF. Not sure that I'll be able to post much, and probably not with pictures, but I'll be sure to do a big long post at the end of it all. Ciao.

I'm a Carpenter

For the last week I’ve been building a cabin.  Nahum, the father of the Israeli family here, has been showing me the ropes of carpentry.  The work has been great.  It pretty hard labor carrying all the lumber and going up and down the ladder and levels of the cabin, but now were getting to the point where we can actually see the building and it’s pretty gratifying.  

Yesterday we put up one side of the roof.  I had to face my fear of heights to put that up, but after a few planks of wood it felt pretty sturdy.  This being my day off, I’m assuming the roof will be done by the time I get back and the floor will be in progress.  I can’t wait to finish it!  I already feel pretty comfortable with building, so hopefully after I'm finished with the cabin I'll be a pro (at least at hammering nails)

On another project of mine, the strawberries are finally showing their color.  I think in a few days we might be able to taste some of them!  Just in time before I leave the farm.

I’m really feeling spring now.  All the flowers are in bloom and the trees are getting leafy again.  There’s one tree that I pass everyday that I just realized is full of flowers and leaves.  Seasons…who knew?

I also got to go back to Cinque Terra.  After a long hike with a new injury to the good ole knee, I came down to see this view.  The three days of limping was totally worth it (although a bit unnecessary).  I’m glad I got to go back to Cinque Terra though.  It really is one of the most beautiful places in Italy.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

The weather here is either been freezing cold and rainy or beautifully sunny.  For example, there was this hailstorm a few weeks ago.

I’ve seen hail before, but only a few pieces of hail, not a storm.  It was pretty amazing being inside and hearing the loud drops of ice hit the roof.  In the two minutes I went outside to take this picture, I got a good amount of hail in my boots.

The good thing about weather like this though is that we get to stay inside to work.  These are Fukuoka clay balls.  Fukuoka was a Japanese man that developed a specific to cultivate vegetable with the goal of bringing back how nature likes to farm.  The idea is to mix a bunch of different seeds together with clay and compost.  Then we throw them where we want them to grow and what needs to grow will. 

Always after a long stretch of horrible weather, we have really nice weather.  This is the stone path that I have been working on with another American/Danish volunteer.  I hope I get to finish it before I leave. 

Some other outdoor work I got to do was to transplant a bunch of strawberry plants.  This was a good day of walking up and down the hill, bring the plants to their new homes on the permaculture mounds. 

With such great weather, I got a chance to go to Porto Fino on one of my days off.  I made some friends who live in the city of Chiavari, so they took me around the area.  I guess Porto Fino is pretty famous (although I haven’t heard about it until then), with the rich of the rich inhabiting the fisherman town.  It was pretty beautiful.

Now that it is spring, everything is starting to grow, including the insects.  I’ve been noticing an increase in months. 

For the last two weeks there were three other volunteers here, besides myself and an Israeli family.  The mom and son are from Denmark, but have been living in the States for the last 10 years, and have been traveling with the mom’s boyfriend for the last three months.  They left the farm a few days ago and we had a really nice dinner and send off for them. 

Ok, kind of a scrambled post, but I finally got to put up some pics.  More to come soon!