CHAPTER 5 - LA FAMIGLIA
As I have mentioned previously, 7 years ago I went on a one-year high
school exchange program to Italy. In that time I was immersed in the culture,
having stayed with two Italian host families, attended Italian school and as
such had learnt a little of the language. I was needless to say, eager to get
back this year. I was at the same time hesitant as my Italian was hardly what
it was and after 7 years a lot can change. This chapter is more or less about
my time in Italy and my families…
Catching a boat from Barcelona, my first destination in Italy was
Sardegna, where I intended on staying a little while, practicing some Italian
and maybe finding some work. My plans quickly changed however when I received
an email of invitation to work at a farm in Tuscany. So my stay in Sardegna was
short-lived - the handful of days however provided me with some confidence that
my Italian was conversationally ok, some time to recuperate and a decent amount
of sunburn after lazing on beaches.
Having never before been to Rome, it was one of the major
destinations for me this year. Logistically it worked out better that I went
there before heading to Tuscany and therefore I jumped on another boat and had
a terrible nights sleep before arriving. I was a little over cities at this
point, and the couple of days there felt like a tourist rush – getting around
as quickly as possible to see all the major sites. It was, however, phenomenal
as a city, full of history and magnificent structures – but in retrospect it
would have been better to be a bit better informed, and have had much more
time.
Il Pollaio Del Re was the farm in Tuscany at which I was to have my
second Work-Away experience. Nestled in amongst rolling hills, olive trees and
vineyards, the place was majestic and more than I could ever ask for.
Unfortunately due to some time constraints I was only able to spend a week
here. But it was a memorable week of hard work, siestas, amazing food, fun and
Italian. Run by the ever-charismatic Viviano and his adorable mother -
Giovanna, the farm specializes in birds but also has a small collection of
donkeys, ponies and goats to create a rather large amount of work. As such,
they are always in need of volunteers and fortunately when I was there, there were
another two – Ramiro and Brendan. The three of us assisted in the daily running
of the farm, watering and feeding the animals and during my time also
constructed a rather lovely stone retaining wall. This little project made me
realize that in my 5 years of studying civil engineering I was left with very
little practical knowledge… great. The week was definitely a highlight and I
feel that one day I would love to return. It was also a great week of speaking
mostly Italian, which gave me a lot of confidence in returning to my host
families.
Ravenna, in the northeastern region of Italy, is where I spent my
time on exchange. Returning there was a bit of a surreal experience. The town
itself had not changed much, no major building developments or renovations – to
me the city centre looked exactly the same. Instantly I felt at home again –
knowing every street and corner. Obviously, both of my host families had changed
a little, but I felt just as at home staying with them as I had before I left.
In the time that had passed my host siblings had grown up, changed
relationships, graduated etc. My host parents had also changed in the lapsed
time, but I guess to a lesser extent. It was fantastic to see all of them, to
share experiences, stories and reconnect with people that had been my family
for such a long time. Ravenna will no doubt always hold a special place in my
heart and I must thank them all for hosting me once again J
Next stop was to visit an Italian student who had stayed with my
family in Canberra 3 years ago – Carlo. Although having only met a handful of
times when I had returned to visit the folks in Canberra, and once when I had
hosted him in Melbourne, we had built a pretty good host sibling rapport. I was
only more than happy to visit him in his home in northern Italy – in Pella
along Lago D’Orta. Hosted in this beautiful area and touring around with Carlo
was a lot of fun, and again I wish that I could have stayed longer. Cheers to
him and his family for taking such good care of me.
Ultimately, I had to leave Italy, where I felt comfortable with the
culture and language, and hit to the road again – this time heading north to
German speaking Switzerland. This was a bit sad for me as I do love Italy, but
the excitement of traveling to unknown lands also has its appeals. Also
appealing was the fact that my actual parents were in Switzerland, at a place called
Sargans, staying with another hosted student - Christina. As such, I bee-lined
there to meet up with them, having not seen them in over 8 months. I had a
wonderful 4 days with them, being shown the beautiful Switzerland by our hosts
and even nipping into Lichtenstein for an afternoon. I fell in love pretty
quickly with the country and the way of life here and could’ve stayed longer if
only it was not so expensive (even by Australian standards it is). After a
couple of days I left – going ahead of my folks and Christina – to Geneva where
I was to meet up with Tim for us all to go to CERN. I will let him continue the
blog from there, but just to comment that it was great to see my parents for the
short period that I did and enjoy Switzerland with them.
That brings an end to my final European solo chapter. From here I
will let Tim continue the blogging whilst I continue with my photos. It has
been fun, but given me an appreciation of the work required to blog all of our
adventures; which stories to include and which to brush over. For the most
part, I hope that I have given you an idea of my last couple of months, but as
you can imagine there is so much that I have had to leave out. I hope that you
have enjoyed following and are looking forward to the next adventures of the
Earthbound Astronauts now that we are back together!
“Travel is the only thing that you buy that makes you richer” -
Unknown
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