Picker Pick Pick Pick

I am now officially friends with the owners of a winery in Italy.  Me and Emily were so excited to finally get invited to go sip wine and see how the picking process works. 

 I picked grapes for 2 hours one day with Emily, and then by myself the following day for 7 hours!!! I felt like I was apart of a scene in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun.  I was with three young girls, one young boy (who was super shy), and three old men who called me by the name Ms. Americas.  We wear gloves and use clippers and go up and down the vines picking all the bundles of grapes.  Once your bucket is filled you dump it in the back of a tractor hauling a huge metal holder.  Sounds easy enough right?...

WRONG! 

I was soooooo sore the next day.  Bending up and down all day long was exhausting!

I started the day trying to talk a little English to the younger crowd, but only one girl knew just a little. Not being able to talk to the others was actually very relaxing.  I was in silence just thinking how amazing this opportunity is.  Who can say they have picked grapes from a winery in Italy?! 

God is good.

We had lunch at noon around a big table.  They asked me whether I wanted homemade Minestrone soup or Gnocchi. I chose the soup and was feeling pretty full when they offered me to try the Gnocchi as well… so I did.  Little did I know there was a whole other course! They brought out some kind of cooked meat, potatoes, and cooked cabbage.  It is very impolite not to finish your food so needless to say I thought I was going to fall asleep at the table from a food coma.  After lots of water and a shot of espresso we were off again for another 4 hours.

The girls started talking to me more after lunch asking me if I see movie stars in Las Vegas and telling me how much they like Johnny Depp. Haha   They started singing popular American songs like Katy Perry and Beyoncé while messing up almost every word.  I loved it.  We just sang, picked, and sang some more.  By the end of the day we had filled two whole truckloads and were ready to drop to the ground.  The poor old men looked drained while drinking their wine and beer as we cleaned up to leave.

I am so thankful for this experience, but will be ok if I never have to do it again.  I think I made my ancestors who worked in the fields either in Italy or Mexico very proud :)

 These are the stems that get sorted out.

The machine even knows when a grape is a baby and not ripe!

 This is seriously my favorite picture I have taken in Italy so far.  This cute old man taking a break for some wine.

It was Marcos birthday the other day so we celebrated with a lunch at his parent’s house with lots of wine followed by a drive to the mountains. 

We stopped at a beautiful winery called Villa Sandi.

 

There is little stone cottage up on the mountain where people from all over the world come to see the sights.

The old man who owns it fills up the fridge with bottles of wine, fresh bread, and salami daily.  You go in and pick and pour whatever you want yourself, and make a donation in a small piggy bank.  You can drop as little as 3 euros to 20 euros.  Whatever you want! I think he makes quite a bit of money though because the supplies probably cost him nothing and tourists will sometimes will be generous if they drink enough. Anyway, the owner was very impressive.  He spoke Dialect with Marco, spoke English with me and Emily, and Dutch to another guy.  I don’t really know how many languages he speaks!  He told me he was from Germany and knew Siegfried and Roy personally! Haha He loves Vegas. We hiked up the hill where you sit, drink, and soak up the Italian life. 

 

Business cards from all over the world!

It was September 11^th a couple days ago and I wanted anyone reading this blog to know how grateful I am to be an American.  I may be living in Italy for now, but I will never forget that day and how much I appreciate the brave soldiers who risk their lives for our country.

I hope you all have a great day! Oh and congrats to all my little cousins Taylor and Hudson who are getting involved in sports this year! And of course my all star cousin Gregory who is the best football player I know :) A proud Mimi over here.

Ciao people,

Meliss