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| Mountains and vineyards... |
After leaving Ischia, I headed back to Naples to catch a train north to Trento, in the region of Trentino- Alto Adige. One of the first things that you notice when you get there is how orderly and clean everything is. This far north, you're nearing the Austrian border, and
there is definitely a German presence about the place, from the
architecture to the orderliness, to the languages being spoken. In fact,
German is taught as a second language in this part of Italy.
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| in every direction! |
For the third time in four years, I went to visit my friend Lucia, who
lives with her daughter in Pressano, near Trento. When I visited before, she lived in the forest near Segonzano, working as the caretaker of a nature center where children came to learn
about the natural world. Now she lives in a small village, and it's
quite a contrast from their previous home.
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| vineyards |
The second thing that you notice about Trentino is that every available space for farming is covered with one of two things: apple orchards or vineyards. And the vineyards are laid out differently than any others I've seen in my travels: they're draped over pergolas so that the grapes hang down and are easily harvested.
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| Grapes ready for the vendemmia! |
During my visit, the
vendemmia, or grape harvest was taking place, and I had the chance to help pick grapes one afternoon for Lucia's aunt and uncle. It was something I'd wanted to do since I first came to Italy in 2006, so it was fun to play out that dream.
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| Lending a helping hand. |
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| Zio Ferucchio cutting the grapes off the vines |
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| Them's a pile of grapes! |
To be honest, we only helped out for a few hours; no time to even get sore arms from hurling the grapes into the trailer. But I was happy to be included, and enjoyed being part of the crew.
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| Grapes in this area are used to make Pinot Grigio. |
