Fri. 9-1. Harvesting Grapes

PICKING UVAS
This weekend we headed to Orsago (2 hour train ride) to stay with a family and help them to harvest grapes. A grad student, Marie, invited us to go with her- it is her boyfriend's family's house. The family was extremely friendly. They didn't speak a lick of English, besides one of the aunts, but somehow we communicated fine and got along perfectly. By the end of the night, we were singing and went out dancing. It was fabulous. The meals were delicious... real Italian cooking, with pasta first, salad and veggies second, meat third, then dessert, then coffee. It lasted three hours for dinner, but we were outside and in good company, so it was wonderful. My back is sore and my fingers stained, but I am extremely glad I had this truly Italian experience!

The house where we stayed.
The whole family (4 of 5 siblings) live there and work the farm together.

We ate outside- meals lasted 2-3 hours.

The farm.

The buckets we filled with grapes.

uva (grape in Italian)

Riding the tractor through the grape vineyard.

Posing with our tools.

BJ & me- hard at work on the grapes.
We felt this the next day in our backs. owe.

Marie drove the tractor- watch out!

The fruit of our labor.
(sorry- i couldn't resist)
Our first day of work-in three hours- we filled the truck!

Sitting outside for a fabulous, home-cooked meal.

We went to town with our hosts.
They danced Salsa. (er, tried)

The little town had 27 bridges.