Oliva, oliva, oliva!

Home of "The Godfather". We feel safe knowing the Mafia lives just down the street here in lovely Piedimonte. :)



Pruning olive trees in the SUN is lovely.



She didn't really need a ladder, for all those childhood days spent in trees finally is coming in handy.

Frutteto Fogliarino without the monsoon rains and smothering fog!



These ladders are much heavier than they appear, truly we are growing muscles we didn't know existed!




The Viking family! Angelo and Cristina our farm hosts in the middle. Like the hand made costumes?



Yup, thats me actually sewing! And yes, it stayed put the whole night!



Cristina & Angelo's friend, Paolo, owns this farm in Randazzo, Sicilia. The Nebrodi Mountains are in the back
ground and Mt. Etna is just to the right! And incredible piece of land handed down to Paolo from
his family. Now he is farming there alone and trying to manage all the land and
restoring three buildings. Bellisimo!



Carnivale!

Ciao a tutti!

A couple updates for you all...

Three days ago we learned how to prune olive trees!  I think it is safe to say that this has been Maggie and I's favortie job thus far.  At first we were a little hesitant not having a clue what we were doing but after a quick lesson we felt like naturals.  There are two types of branches on olive trees and can be catagorized into male and female.  Female branches hang towards the ground and are the only branches that produce olives, while the male braches stick, more or less, straight up into the air. They are to be pruned because they don't produce any olives and keep the sun from reaching the female branches.  Although there is a delicate balance because you do not want too much sun to get through to the female branches as it will burn the leaves and kill them. 

Pruning is actually relaxing and takes me back to my childhood tree climbing days!  We use old wooden ladders that date back generations just like you see in the movies, and once in the tree you can climb to the tiptop for a fantastic view of the continuously steaming Mt. Etna.  And to put a cherry on top, the weather has been pretty great. 

In our spare time Maggie and I have been going down to the river, just a few minutes walk from our house, and collecting really neat old tiles and stones that we plan to bring back with us.  It is amazing what Italians throw away.  I am sure we look like a couple of looney Americanas scavaging around but they are too beautiful to pass up! 

Another fun fact we have learned is the ever famous film, The Godfather, was filmed throughout Piedimonte and Fiumefreddo, and at a beautiful villa that we pass on our way to town.  Apparently the director tried to film elsewhere in Sicilia, the most famous city for Italian mafia, but was approached by the actual mafia for some dough for permission to film.  Hence the reason they ended up filming here. 

Tonight we are attending a carnivale party. Costume mandatory.  And yes, they are homemade by yours truly.  We are pretty proud.  You have to wait for pictures to see what we dressed up as. 

Another noteworthy piece of information: I ate anchovies in my dinner last night.  Aren't you proud 'ma? 

It looks like we are going to be heading back to Sicignano for four or five days to help Gianpalo prune grapes before we head north to Livorno.  We are both excited to be back in familar territory.  That is all from now.  News from Maggie to follow about the carnivale and happenings!

Love from Sicilia,

C & M

Piedemonte, Sicilia.  Fifteen minute walk from our farm.

Pasta making with Pietro



Mt. Etna and all her glory.  Maggie and I are thinking about snowboarding her....pray for no broken bones or erruptions!


 

Buon St. Valentino giorni!  Our Valentines sister love lunch. 



Dear Sicilia

Yes, we are alive and well, although still cold.  I know, I know what did we expect coming to Italy in the winter.  However, Sicilia is noticably warmer and the sun is out!  Oh how nice it feels to get some sweet, sweet vitamin D! The weather is actually very similar to a nice sunny spring day in Oregon so I suppose we shouldnt be complaining too much.  :)  Sicilia is even more beautiful and full of culture than we had imagined.  At the new farm is in the perfect location with the sea a ten minute drive to our east and the beautiful Mt. Etna directly to our south, both of which can be seen from our room.  Perfecto!  The new farm is 1 hc and consists of many olive trees, any kind of fruit tree you can imagine, grapes and many, many veggies.  So far we have chopped down a good chunk of bamboo and blackberry bushes, weeded many stone walls that hold up multiple terraces along the property, and planted some onions.

Tomorrow we have plans to take a local train that runs all the way around Mt. Etna to a medival village for some sight seeing.  Should be a good day in store for us.  Just as in Sicignano about zero people speak English here so even the smallest journey can turn into quite the adventure.  The best is when someone starts speaking to us and we tell them 'Noi parli poco poco poco Italiano' (we speak very little, little, little Italian) and they continue to speak to us as if we are fluent speakers.  With that said our Italian seems to be improving baby steps, day by day, and we have decided that when we get back to the states we want to take an Italain course.

Our cooking skills have also been expanding since we have been here.  Two nights ago Angelo and Cristina, our new hosts, taught us how to make home made pasta!  It was delicious to say the least.  When we get back we are going to cook a proper Italian dinner for family and friends so be prepared to eat until you feel uncomfortable!  No joke.  If we put food on your plate and tell you to mange, you better eat it all just to give you all a little taste of what we have been put through for three months.  Good thing we both like to eat and good thing we are staying active because we would be putting on the pounds!  No comments please if we come home and look a bit chubbier in the face.  Haha.  We dare you to come to Italy and return the same weight. 

More to come soon, hopefully pictures as well.  Love to all and Happy Valentines day (which is even cheesier in Italy than the states if you can imagine...) 

C and M

...

Yes, you may have guesed it, more snow today.  Maggie and I are praying that the snow lets up enough to catch the bus to Salerno tomorrow.  If it continues to snow as hard as it has been the bus wont be able to make it up the mountain so keep your fingers crossed everyone!  If all goes well we will be bunked up in a hostel tomorrow night ready to catch the morning train to Villa San Giovani. From there we will catch the ferry to Sicilia and then another train to Catania.  We will stay the night in Catania and catch the train the next morning to Fiumefreddo where our next host, Cristina, will pick us up!  Yes, lots of trains and room for error but so far we have had good luck on our travel days and are hoping that tradition continues.  Knock on wood.

It is crazy to believe that we have been here for almost one month.  Here are some things we have learned thus far about Italy and Italians.


1. Just like in the movies, Italians love to talk with their hands.  I swear they could carry on an entire conversation without saying a word.  We are basically learning how to speak two separate languages if you count hand gestures.  I love it.

2.  This may sound a bit too personal but it needs to be mentioned because it drives me nuts.  Toilets here normaly do not have seats.  Weird, I know.  It has taken a bit getting used to.  However, some do have seats, BUT they are not fixed to the actual toilet, they just rest on top of the seat.  I cant count how many times one of us has almost fallen off.  So for those of you with plans to visit Italy in the future consider this your fair warning.   

3.  Regardless of what Italians will tell you, they are crazy drivers.  Enough said.

4.  Italians are probably the most hospitable people I have ever encountered.  They are always wanting us to eat, drink, invite us into their homes, introduce us to their families and friends and show us a good time.  We have learned that whenever we are offered anything, saying no thank means we will get it anyway.  I think our record for esspresso in one day might be five simple because people dont accept no grazie for an answer.  And I thought I was addicted to coffee before I left...

5.  All stores open around eight in the morning, close at about one in the afternoon for lunch with the family, reopen around five thirty and close again around eight thirty for the night.  It has taken us a bit to get used to this but we finally have the schedule down.

That is all for tonight!  We are heading to none other than Luigi's for a final night of pizza.  Keep your fingers crossed for our travels tomorrow and the day after (I cant seem to keep track of the days anymore...).  Pictures to come soon.  Much love from Sicignano,

Car and Maggie

Heading south to Sicilia

Sadly, but true we are leaving our snowy oasis of Sicignano on the 9th of February. We are very excited to see Sicily and actually work, for cross our fingers, there is currently no snow there! We will be north of Catania by 40 km for the next two weeks. From the way Italians talk, it seems it will be a very beautiful place! From there our plan is to be in Cecina (Toscana region) not far from Livorno and Pisa. Anyway, we will write again when we arrive in Catania!

Ciao tutti,
M & C