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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I have a farmers tan…
Yep, it’s true. I have officially made it. After three amazing days in Viareggio, we arrived at our new wwoof farm, Casarossa. This organic farm/Bed & Breakfast is on the outskirts of a little, unimportant (non touristy) town called Piacenza, about forty-five minutes south of Milan and is home to Francesco, Laura, and her daughter, Ginevra. There were two other wwoof girls here when we arrived and they told us that their experience here had been very bad (no hot water, Francesco is moody, they had to work all day 8-6) and that they were leaving in the morning. However, our experience has been very different. The entire family has been extremely pleasant and hospitable, Francesco showed us how to turn on the hot water the first day, our working hours are they same as at Villa Lina, (six hours) and we have eaten all our meals together which Laura has prepared for us. Every meal gets more delicious than the last. So far, we are very happy here. Brian has been working in the vineyard and I have been pruning the hedges. Which is how I got my farmers tan. Yippee. The only frustrating thing is not being able to access the internet on the farm. Yesterday, Brian and I took a long walk outside of the farm and its so gorgeous. We are looking forward to doing that more often. Brian has gotten two recipes from Laura for some of her delicious cooking. Her apple torte is published with Slow Food. As soon as we find a faster internet connection with more time, we will post our pictures from Viareggio and the farm. We will try to make another post soon, but it might take a little while…thanks for keeping up with us!
Jessica and Brian

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Hello. Salve. What up. Hey. Ciao.

Sometimes we forget which one to use, but we're adjusting well after our time in Knoxville. It was a really sweet time at home with family remembering Jessica's Papaw. Since then, we have been saddened to learn that two of our friends from Central UMC have also passed away, Nancy Connelly and Virgie Peake. Our hearts are with their families as well as continuing to be with Jessica's.

As for us, we arrived in Rome on the 29th and left for Viareggio the following day. Our room is h i l a r i o u s - also clean and unique. The ceiling is on average 4 1/2 feet high, but the bath is HUGE, the bed is comfortable, and we have two skylights where I can stick my head out and stand up straight... pictures to follow.

Viareggio is a beach town in Tuscany. We are VERY happy here and are glad that we have till Sunday. The seafood is everything we expected - fresh. Last night we took a stroll down and around the marina. The weather was slightly cool, maybe 60 degrees, with the waves crashing against the rocks. Sweet. Romantic... still full off of seafood and pasta, we headed toward the brighter lights and found a theatre playing a late showing of Wolverine Origins.... I was reluctant, but Jess was dying to go.... Needless to say we bought 2 tickets and loved every minute of it. People clapped at the end. Funny really... It couldn't have been a better movie for us to see in Italian, because it was easy to follow.

Today, we woke up late and have been spending time getting adjusted. Jet lag can be nasty.

Some other updates: Jessica solved the Rubik's Cube. (picture below). Brian played with a cross eyed cat (picture below). Sunday we head out to our next farm in Piacenza (south of Milan) http://www.casarossapiacenza.it/
We put up a new album from our easter and "little easter" picnic on Picasa. We will wait and create an album for Viareggio, because we haven't taken many pictures yet.

In the meantime, the sun has set and someone in a distance is playing a harmonica. It's time to get off the computer and enjoy this beautiful town.

Love you all

Jess and Brian

Flight from London to Rome

Rubik's cube. Solved.

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We haven't made a post in a long time and apologize for that. My grandfather passed away this past Saturday and we, last minute, decided to come in for the service and to be with my family during this time. Papaw was a great man who lived a good long life. He was a farmer in Virginia and was loved by all his family and many friends very much. The picture below is of my sisters and I and two of our cousins, Scott and Lindsey, on Papaw's 67th birthday. We will be back in Italy on the 28th. Thank you all for keeping up with us and your love and support.

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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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For those of you who may have heard, there was an earthquake in Italy. It was in Abruzzo, which is the next region over from us. It didnt affect us, but someone said they felt it last night.
Heres a link.. http://tinyurl.com/earthquake-in-Italy .
If you look at the google map image you will see three lakes that are north of Rome. We are next to the tiny lake in the middle (At least 100 miles away from all the destruction.)
We are happy and safe. If anything should happen, we will post/email/and do whatever we can to get a hold of you.

On another note, we put more photos up on Picasa --- in the Viterbo & Villa Lina Album.
We went north to Viterbo on Saturday and took some pics. Beautiful city. At one point during the fall of Rome, Viterbo was actually bigger. Unfortunately for them though - the population never changed and it still has about 60,000 people... which doesnt hold a candle to Rome.

We have to get some rest

lots of love to all of you

Brian & Jess

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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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