After more than a month and a half living and traveling in cities, Brian and I really started to miss the countryside; all the green and quiet and working outside that we've been enjoying here and we were glad to get back to a wwoof farm. This farm, Spannocchia, is settled just outside of Rosia, a town near Siena in Tuscany. Spannocchia has a pretty incredible intern program where kids between the ages of 19 and 24 come and live for three months on the farm working from 7:00-12:00 and 3:00-6:00 every day assigned to a specific type of work such as wine intern, animale, or intern of food and hospitality. They get to take Italian lessons, cooking classes, and "field trips". There were eight interns there for the summer group, most were Americans and two from Canada, all with little farm experience. On our first day, we were met at a little bar in Rosia called Circolo Arci by Broni, the director of the intern program, who drove us into the farm, gave us a quick tour and then straight over to dinner on the terrace where we met Francesca and Randall, the owners, some guests and all the other interns. Spannocchia itself is around 3000 acres, mostly woodland, but also includes several gorgeous gardens, vineyards, olive groves, an assortment of fruit trees, lots of animals (pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, sheep, chickens, cats). All this land is taken care of by the Italians Riccio, Carmen, Julio, Angelo, and some others that we didn't really work with. Brian and I were required to work 30 hours a week and not much else. The interns took care of most everything so wwoofers don't have as much responsibility. Lunch was prepared by them and dinner by the Spannocchia cooks, Graziella and Gaetana. The interns also cleaned and took care of dinner duty and the dishes which are things wwoofers might normally do, but their system made it easy on us. Pretty sweet deal. We loved getting back to working outside and also enjoyed the experience of animal care for the first time. We harvested potatoes, stacked wood, built fences for the pigs, moved the pigs, cleared out brush around the electric fences, and helped transport grains in the mill. Brian also helped Julio, and interns Nick and Jon with the haying and feeding the animals and I got to spend a lot of time in the gardens with Carmen and interns Karla and Annie harvesting the vegetables and planting new ones. The maiale (the pigs) at Spannocchia were pretty cool to work with because they are an heirloom breed specific to the Tuscan region that were once nearing extinction. They're called Cinta Senese and can be recognized by their colors: black with a white band around the middle. I've never worked with pigs before and found them to be pretty funny, sweet, crazy and I guess a little gross all at the same time. There was one little sick pig that was really personable that they had named "Babar" and Annie, the vegetarian intern, was constantly lobbying to save.

In our time off, we often took advantage of their gorgeous pool or took walks around the property. Weekday dinners at Spannocchia are pretty incredible. Everyone on the farm eats together, including any guests there just for vacation. They have wine on the terrace at 7:00 and dinner at 7:30. Every meal was four courses prepared with the fresh ingredients from the farm, including the wine. The first course was normally a pasta or soup or risotto, our favorites being a wild boar ragú made from the wild boar found on the property served with homemade tagliatelle pasta and the mushroom risotto. All the meat came from the animals on the farm and were served with a fresh vegetable side dish like eggplant or zucchini. These courses were always followed by a salad made with the garden greens and homemade olive oil and vinegar. The desserts were always good. We had salame dolce, moka, wine donuts and a spice cake made with a persimmon marmalade taken from the persimmon trees on the property. Every other Wednesday night is a little more special, nostra cena, that includes an extra course and candlelight. Everyone dresses up and stays late talking and enjoying themselves. On the other Wednesdays, they have pizza night. Seriously, this place is everything you'd hope it to be. For our pizza night, Brian went over to watch the process and ended up getting to make the dough coached by Gaetana. It was delicious. Some of our favorite pizza toppings were veggies from the Spannocchia gardens, plain old margherita made incredible with the homemade sauce, and gorganzola and pear. There were no organized dinners on the weekends, so the interns and Brian prepared the meals together. One night we made our own pici pasta and had a cobbler made with blackberries picked on the farm, plus fresh whipped cream. Broni and the interns would also use the free time to take day trips to nearby towns. Our first weekend, Brian went with Broni, Jess, Jon, and Cat to Montepulciano which is an old beautiful city mostly known for its wine...which, come to think of it, describes most of the towns in Tuscany. Some of the interns also went to Florence and stopped at this restaurant owned by Dario, a butcher who became famous after working with Mario Batali, which they all raved about and the rest of us regretted missing. The next Sunday, even though she'd already done a ton of driving that weekend, Broni said "Life's too short, let's go to Darios again" and left at 11:00 with Nick, Brian and I. The restaurant is over an hour away in Panzano but is a beautiful Tuscan drive. When we got there, we unfortunately found out that on Sunday's Dario has a pre-set meal that costs 50 euros and even though it looked incredible it was still more than we wanted to pay, especially since lunch is normally just 10. Luckily there was a great market going on that day so we had fun exploring it and finding our lunch of bread, cheeses, meats, veggies and fruits from different vendors which we ate picnic-style near an old church. Plus we got to see Dario at his butcher shop and sample some of his food there. Turned out to be a great substitute.

Being at Spannocchia felt like all that we had hoped to experience with wwoofing. We felt like we learned a lot about food, got a taste of planting and harvesting, caring for animals and how to incorporate all these things into your meals. We loved walking out to the garden and picking the thick, dark basil and veggies or gathering fresh eggs as well as getting to see or be involved with making most of our food from scratch. Maybe one day, we'll have property of our own where we too can pluck early figs from their branches, or slurp down a juicy plum after a day of hard work, or make a zucchini frittata with eggs stolen from the chicken coop... (that part was added by Brian) It was exactly like what we had imagined Italian farm-life to be. It's kind of interesting though because the farm is largely run by Americans. There were Italians who took care of the farm but it is owned by Americans and supported by an American board of directors on the Spannocchia Foundation. And maybe all of our American expectations and ideas of Italian farming were met because of this reason. It would be interesting to see if a farm like this could sustain itself run strictly by Italians or how different it might look. Maybe more of a focus on lunchtime and café and less focus on organization, atmosphere and experience. Probably no pool. Maybe exactly the same. Maybe who cares. Either way, we had an incredible two weeks there. We had a lot of fun with the interns, felt like we learned so much and were inspired more there than in any other experience we've had on this trip. We'd love go back one day.

If you want to check out more on Spannocchia, go to this website http://www.spannocchia.org/

Also, check out our pictures on Picasa!

Jessica and Brian

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Where do we begin? Some of you may think we put our blog on the back burner, but we have a perfectly good explanation. No internet access for two weeks - believe it or not.

We've been working at an 'agriturismo' called Casa Rossa in a small town, Niviano - just south of a bigger town, Piacenza, which is south of a much bigger town, Milan. Francesco and Laura are the owners who live here with Laura's 15 year old daughter, Ginevra. All of them couldn't have been more kind to us. We were treated like family, fed plenty of delicious food, and as expected...the countryside was beautiful. Our work day started around 8:45 and lasted till 4:00 M-F with a casual lunch break from 1 - 2:30.

Our Italian is getting better every day, largely due to growing confidence. We've made friends from London, New Zealand, Poland, and California... And of course there are plenty of stories. Both of us have mastered the Rubik's cube, learned several new recipes, spent hours in the sun, and took several naps in the loft of a barn. There were good times and bad times - hot showers and cold, but the most ironic thing was that we had to leave Tennessee to become a redneck - pics to follow. But the hardest part is telling the story. Inside jokes don't translate. Coincidences to us are less meaningful to you. Everything here is new and exciting and frankly... too much to put in a blog. When we are back home, we will tell the whole story - complete with hand gestures and spousal interruptions.

I dwell on food, this is no surprise. So I guess i'll talk about it. Casa Rossa has been the culinary highlight of our trip. Laura and Francesco love to cook and most importantly love to feed. Fortunately for them, we love to be fed. The generalization of Italian cooks filling your plate until you can't take it anymore has finally been validated. Every meal was more than we needed. Then when we couldn't take it anymore "Non c'e la faccio piu!" Laura would bring out a homemade tort or a bowl of Macedonia (kiwis, strawberries and apples macerated with grapefruit juice and sugar). Need I mention the espresso? Of course, pasta has been a staple here as well. Regardless of the meal, we ate it as a 'family', together... with many laughs and broken translations.

Right now, Jess and I are in a cafe in Piacenza. We just skyped a B&B in Ischia, an island off of Naples, and made a reservation for the week. It's called Villa Ischitana and the room comes with a free scooter rental to take to the beach. Tonight we're getting on an overnight train to Naples from Piacenza, and tomorrow we'll take a ferry to Ischia. After Ischia, it's back to Viareggio where we are housesitting for a Polish woman for 15 days. Don't worry though - it's not as random as it sounds...we met her through our host at the B&B in Viareggio. Sweet old woman whose husband passed away recently... apparently she couldn't find anyone to housesit for her because she has 4 cats. Also, she thinks we'll be able to find work there - maybe at a restaurant. And if we're interested she will rent out a room in her house for us after the 15 days at a good rate.

lots going on... hard to remember it all right now, but we're safe and happy and healthy -- well almost healthy. Our allergies have been a problem on the farm. They are clearing up now, but the last week has been rough.

We're short on time so i'll end this now.... if the connection is strong enough, we'll upload pics from Viareggio and maybe Casa Rossa.

Let us know if anything important happens back home. Miss y'all. Love y'all.
Brian and Jess

check out our photos from Viareggio

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It has been a few days since our last post, and I wish I had more to say and show you. The biggest news is that the matriarch of the farm, Paola, is back from her 2 week honeymoon in Senegal and the social/work dynamics have changed dramatically. Our cook, Lucia, has since resumed her position as cook, people who werent getting paid are now getting paid again, and the farm is starting to look prrrretty good. We've planted zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, arugula, basil .... and still have about 1/2 of the plot available. We've trimmed 50 year old rose vines, raked leaves, tied down support lines for kiwi trees, slept, swept, eaten great food, and watched one of the biggest annual soccer matches in the basement of a pub in Trastevere, Rome. Lazio won 4-2. Today is Easter and the only real plans we have are to play soccer and eat. We picked up a dessert in Rome called Pastiera, which is essentially an Italian cheesecake made specifically for Easter. You can see a pic at the bottom. Here are two different recipes I have found ... more involved ... less involved.Overall, the WWOOFing has been going well. The weather is warming up here, flowers are beginning to bloom, and guests are starting to visit the farm. We still have our pros and cons though... For instance, the 4 white dogs that would follow us around have been spending most of their time on the other side of the property, which is too bad... Grazia, the Italian WWOOFer who is essentially our boss, is nuts, generally making work days more of a drag. On the positive side, we might have the opportunity to film this 80 year old Italian woman (friend of Paola) making some of her family recipes and possibly assembling a cook book from them. I'm trying to work up the nerve to ask the owner of our local Gelateria if he wouldn't mind showing me how he makes gelato. Depending on how these work out, we'll be planning our next stop soon. Some thoughts we have: to stay with a friend of ours in Salerno for a few days, find a smaller farm where we can practice more Italian, take a week to travel, or stay here a little longer.... we're flexible. We're also considering getting a refund for our rail pass and spreading out our travel time - thus making our money last longer. Happy Easter! For many of us, we will celebrate more than the symbolism of the bunny and the egg. May we thank God for his mercy and gift of Salvation. However you celebrate Easter, I pray you are safe, happy, and well fed today. Buona Pasqua, Joyeuses Paques, Felices Pasquas!, God påske, Schöni Oschtere!
But if this is your way of celebrating, then I will simply pray that you make it through the night... Anyway, thanks for keeping up with us. We LOVE receiving your comments and knowing that you are reading the blog. It keeps us connected with all of you. As always, feel free to email us at bstrutz@gmail.com or jessicagracepresley@gmail.com

Much Love, Brian & Jess

p.s. there is a new album up on Picasa. Click Photos above

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We're finishing up our first week on the farm, and after several blisters and long naps we are relieved to have the weekend upon us. So far, we have bent the young vines on the vineyard in order to 'train' them how/where to grow, hoed around the olive trees, hoed around the lavender bushes, plucked the lavender bushes, and tomorrow we will more than likely start planting in the vegetable garden. Nobody said it would be easy, but thankfully our hours arent too bad. I never realized how satisfying it would be to work on a farm... Tough, but therapeutic. Our muscles are already adjusting to it. Work aint bad tho when you get a delicious meal prepared for you by a 60 yr old italian woman... BUT, the only thing that compares to the food is the long nap afterwards.

The house we are living in is beautiful. Did I mention our front yard is an olive grove? Also, the dogs on the property have taken a liking to us and made it their responsibility to watch over our house day and night. Today, we went out for some pizza and gelato mmmm... pics to follow.

We have our weekend free and are contemplating where to go for the weekend... any suggestions?

Here are a few pics ... a couple from my birthday dinner. And as always you can click photos above to see the full album on picasa.

Also,

Jessica and I both are constantly thinking and praying for her family and her grandfather who is in the hospital in Virginia. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as well.

love you and miss you all.

Brian & Jessica


Salumi platter with 7 different kinds of cured meats..... mmmmm

Below is a photo of dinner cooked by an Italian WWOOFer, Grazia. Polenta and Lentils with insalata crudo.

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Yesterday, first of all, was gorgeous. It made such a difference on our impression of the place and our moods. It was rainy today but we're hoping that yesterday was a glimpse of the weather turning. The flowers are starting to bloom and it's a touch warmer...so hopefully... We began our work yesterday in the vineyards which consisted of about nine of us, four wwoofers and five Italiani, slowly working our way down these long rows of vines, vine by vine, and training each vine: bending it at a right angle and tying it to the wires strung down the rows. Not too difficult and with the beautiful weather it was really enjoyable. We definitely didn't do it correctly at first and would often get stopped by Leo or Lisabetta to show us the right way. Half the time, I didn't know why they wanted me to cut a vine or tie it at that particular place or whatever but I just do what they tell me to do. Maybe someone will explain it later? Non lo so. I'm by far the slowest one. Leo and Stefano can do two and half rows in the time it takes me to do one. I don't really know what the deal is... Today we finished the second vineyard (having to take several breaks as the rain came in and out) and then started work on this huge lawn in front of the house where Brian and I are staying. Leo and Stefano are using weed-eaters to cut the grass and the four wwoofers have to rake the cut grass and load it into the back of the trailer on the tractor. It's pretty ridiculous. I mean, get a lawn-mower. I don't know if that's what we'll be doing tomorrow or not, but it will take forever, whoever has to do it. It's very strange to be a foreigner. The foreigner feeling when you're just traveling and sight-seeing is not so bad; just kind of part of the exciting and interesting experience. When you're trying to really live in a place for a while, the feeling is different. It's definitely more lonely and confusing and frustrating trying to communicate and work alongside these people. Even with that, I'm so glad to be here with Brian. I would hate to be doing this by myself. It would just be so lonely. Together, we laugh and joke around and have a good time. I wish we could have taken pictures in the vineyards or at any of the amazing lunches that Lucia has been cooking for us but we don't want to come off too touristy just yet...

Con affetto,

Jessica and Brian

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Sunday was an okay day for a birthday. The weather was dreary and cold. Not a soul was around. We woke up too late for breakfast so we walked into town to grab lunch. Silly for us to think we'd find anything open as it was between 1 -4 pm, and as anybody who has known ANYONE who has been to western Europe knows this is the time when everything closes. Needless to say, we found nothing. So, hungry and tired, we walked back to our 'WWOOFer kitchen, whose stock was expectedly low as we arrived unannounced on a Friday leaving little time to stock it. By some birthday miracle, we managed to find some zucchini, grape tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, capers, spices, pasta, day old bread, and some farmers cheese - which translated into a tasty meal that we ate in our humble little kitchen. After lunch we went back to our house, or the bottom floor of the house we live in. It was cold, so we turned our space heater on that conveniently enough, overloaded the power outlet and blew out the electricity on the entire floor of the house. We then spent the rest of the evening transferring our things to a tiny little cabin of a house on the other side of the property where our space heater would work. Eventually, someone caught wind that it was my birthday and gave me some salami and a bottle of wine made from our property as a gift... i'll post some pictures later. Eventually, we made it out for a nice dinner at a fancy shmancy ristorante in town. Food was great, as expected. Walked back home and stared at the millions of stars that finally decided to come out.

When the sky is clear, this place is beautiful. But rainy days are for the birds.
Thanks for all the birthday messages! It means a lot to know that people are thinking about us and wishing us well.

I'll let Jess post about our first day of work... on the vineyard

A Presto

Brian

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Yesterday, when we arrived at Villa Lina, we were first greeted by these four big white dogs that we love. They are very comforting. We also met Katrina, the girlfriend of the son of Paola who owns the farm from Miami, Joe, another wwoofer from Texas, Grace, another wwoofer/office worker, Stefano, worker on the farm, Lucia, the sweet little cleaning lady and cook, and Leo and Lisabetta, the head man on the farm and his wife. Katrina took us on a tour of the farm which is fairly large, has several houses, and larger ones to rent, several pools that are pretty gross right now, ponds and fountains, goats, olive trees, and kiwi trees which is the main thing grown here. She also took us to our living quarters which is part of Paola's house. (Paola is away until April 10 on her honeymoon). We have our bedroom, bathroom, a large living area with a fireplace (yea!) and kitchen for our use. After touring the farm, we ate lunch with Joe and Katrina in this little tiny building that is really a kitchen that just stands alone where we will eat all our meals with the wwoofers. Last night, we walked into Ronciglione (got lost a little bit), found the piazza and the fountain (thank goodness again). We ate dinner at Arcadia, a little pizzeria/ristorante on the outskirts of town very close to Villa Lina. Yum. Monday we start working at 8:00 and have been assigned to help in the vineyard. They think it will be fun for us because the vines are very young and we can learn how to bend the vines, etc. I just hope it will warm up some! Brian says it's not that bad, but I'm definitely layering up and running the space heaters a lot. We got a little homesick last night after arriving at a place that feels more permanent but are excited about how much we will learn. Hopefully our Italian will continue to improve. Sometimes we think we're pretty awesome and then...other times we don't. We just realized there is a working TV in here in the office and so we're watching soccer. Typical. We have so many pictures but can't post them all here. Check the rest out on Picasa by clicking "Photos" above!

Much love,

Jessica and Brian

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Where to start... We've been a little scattered the last few days and haven't had time to blog like we should have but I'll try to catch us up. In Roma, we enjoyed our stay at the hostel Alice in Wonderland, tried to adjust to the time change, learned about getting along with your spouse while traveling, worked on our Italian, saw some sights, got lost a bit, and ate some of our favorite foods. Overall, a great time. We had planned to spend this first month traveling to France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, etc., but realized that Rome would be the most southern of all those places and it was pretty cold. During the middle of the day, it would be allright, but at night, very cold and getting down around 40-30°. This, we decided, would not be an ideal way to travel and sight-see. So, we called Villa Lina and they said we could come on a month earlier than we had planned. Just a hop, skip, a metro line, another small train through a type of Italian ghetto which I didn't know existed here, a bus ride through gorgeous country (thank goodness), and a jump later we arrived at Villa Lina. It is definitely a farm and in the country while at the same time, picturesque in a way that only Italy can be. Just a note on style, while in Rome, I noticed that everyone dressed monochromatically in black or gray then add a splash of color like an orange scarf or pink tie but once we got to the country, you start to see a lot more color and jeans and browns-just like in America. City mouse vs. country mouse. You're welcome for that. Here's some pics from Rome...

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