Welp folks here we are in Sion, Svizzera. Hmm, what to say about this place. Well for starters, the Z and Y on the keyboard have switched places so please excuse anz(y) mistakes. Its soooo irritating, among many of the annoyances we are experiencing, but hez its part of the trip, right?!
Sion, is the oldest city in Svizzera, dating back 7000 years. It has 4 castles and nice mountain panoramas. It is though, verz verz expensive. One coffe costs 3.50 CHF, which is about 5 USD!!!!!! We refuse this price. We went to the grocery store to get food to cook at our hostel (which is filled with Swiss teenagers...grrr) and it cost 35 francs for pasta, sauce, juice, bananas, bottled water, one chocolate bar! You get the picture. We are having withdrawals for Italian espresso, cheap fruit, and the liveliness that thrives in every Italian city.
One of the main reasons we decided to pop up here was to get our passports stamped just in case we ran into trouble for being here over our 90-day tourist visa and unfortunately we came up short on this endeavor. We found the office and the correct door after walking up and down flights of stairs to find the right one office(my one year of French in college is failing me). This is the strangest office we have ever seen. Just to paint the picture we stepped into a small, stuffy room full of five doors and no person in sight. Carli decided to open one, a natural step I guess, but I couldn't pull myself together enough to do it. Inside the door was a woman waiting behind a glass window and not a smile to be seen, so of course our reaction is to laugh nervously and she does not find this amusing. I cannot stop giggling, and she doesnt speak English. Long story short, our passports didnt get stamped and we are out of here early tomorrow morning, so if we get detained back in NY you will understand why....ha.
We will be getting on the train tomorrow for Siena Italy where we'll stay for 2 nights. Crossing our fingers, we are hoping to rent Vespas to tour the area's wine region! Dont worry Dad, Siena is a alot smaller than Roma and we will be wearing helmets :)
The farm we just moved from was beauuuutiful, although the nearest village, Cessole, was quite similar to the Twilight Zone, no joke. It was creepy. The lack of people was strange, but even stranger were the 3 or 4 people we did interact with were well, um, odd. The farm, Tenuta Antica, runs an agriturismo business where guests came to stay and eat dinner, lunch, and breakfast. The family (Mauro, Pia, their two sons Daniele and Luca and nonna Anna) were very sweet and welcoming. We worked in the vineyard replacing vine stakes, planted a vegetable garden, washed dishes during the meal hours, made tagliatelle (egg pasta) and prepared antipasti dishes. A very well-rounded experience indeed. Two other WWOOFers were there, one girl and one boy, both Italian. Eugenia, who was very sweet and easy to laugh and Giovanni (cowboy without a horse) who was always trying to improve our Italian and asking us random questions...haha. We miss them both!!* Hello Maurociuciu, if you're reading this!*
Carli and I had the day off for her birthday, so we bussed it to Acqui Terme for a few hours, where we walked the streets, drank really yummy cappucini, ate breadsticks, bought cheap fruit, and got gelato. Back at Tenuta Antica our friends had prepared a BBQ lunch and Pia made an incredible torta with a cream 25 on top! It was a great day that ended with skipping rocks on the river and drinking wine at night. Bellisima.
Ok, this keyboard sucks. Will write more in Siena and post pictures there too.
Is everyone enjoying the spring? We hope its as lovely there as it is here!
Love from M and C.
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