Soave harvest...

So Ladies and Gents, I am now officially moved into the apartment in Soave with Alma for the next month. I don't have access to internet so the next couple of posts will be without pictures unfortunately. But I'll try update as regularly as possible.

Harvest has started, and so have the shoulder and back pain! I am working for a winery called Inama, one of the main producers of soave classico in the region, a DOC wine made from a grape called garganega. Today was day 2, and we moved across to Monte Riondo to continue with chardonnay after finishing up the sauvignon blanc at the winery in San Bonifacio. The morning sessions are the best when the sun is coming up and the temperature is still fresh. I am picking in a group of four people, being Umberto, Renato, Laura and I. All much older than me, but it has been great because I'm forced to speak Italian all day long. Today we sat together and ate lunch in the vineyards, and I even got a sneaky caffe and slice of cake out of the event from Laura. One thing about the Italians is that they are always eager to make one feel at home, and it is always so warming. Harvest has been very tiring, but I have learnt so much in the fields so far. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

I shall keep you posted on the week's worth of white picking...

PS I now go to bed before 22H00, as well as walk with a limp. That's harvest right there!

Things Organized Neatly

Image taken from Things Organized Neatly

Image taken from Things Organized Neatly

There's always something rather exciting about finding a new blog to follow. My friend Vicky introduced me to this one, and I think it is pretty neat. The creativity of people often blows my mind.  I find myself at times sitting back in my chair and thinking "how the hell did that idea come about in the first place?"

Blogging has made the ideas and thoughts of people incredibly accessible nowadays, and the inspiration one can draw from the millions of online publications is staggering. Things Organized Neatly is one of those blogs that gets updated on a regular basis, and has great content. It is quite literally pictures of things organised neatly. It is such a simple idea, but the submissions are awesome:

http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/

Scrumping, it's good for the soul...

I got sent the link to this video clip by my friend Matt, who is also taking a year off this year. At the moment he is working aboard The Lionheart, a motoryacht based in Monaco. Two of the crew onboard with him are from Cornwall in the south of England, and this video was made by some of their friends. 

I'm not exactly sure what I am going to be doing with my life next year, as I seem to have suddenly come up with too many options and I don't know which direction I need to start running in. But watching this video always puts me at peace, because at the end of the day, you can be picking apples with a bunch of mates in Cornwall, and there is still a good time to be had by all...

http://www.vimeo.com/15808634

St Andre de Najac, France

I have always battled with France and the French. I don't know what it is. I have this horrible mindset against them. I don't think it is the country itself so much, because I love it there. Maybe what it could have potentially been is one or two bad experiences with people that just flicked a switch in my mind. I pride myself on the fact that I am not narrow-minded and that I am pretty accepting and easy going of people and their choices/backgrounds/preferences/differences. And so, with this in mind, I promised to get over this ridiculous "Fear of the French" before this year of travelling of mine was up. And I think this trip may have cured me...

On my most recent little travelling stint I found myself in France visiting some old family friends of mine. Vicky and her family used to live in Durban and then emigrated to Dubai when we were still kids, and have bought a house about 2 hours outside of Toulouse. St Andre de Najac is probably one of the most serene places I have been to. It is in the countryside and not particularly big at all. But I think it is this that gives the village its charm. It reminded me a lot of the Midlands and Drakensberg back home, and so it didn't take me long to slot into the relaxed atmosphere of the place. The days were spent in the pool or walking, and one day we even managed to sneak a horse ride in through the woods nearby. I'm also pretty sure I ate myself into oblivion. I couldn't stop eating...

On the Sunday we went to a little market in nearby Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, the village where the film Charlotte Gray was filmed. The market sold everything from hats to macarons to shoes to aligot (mashed potato stuff with cheese in it, you have to do one).

All in all the trip was amazing. Super relaxed, but exactly what I needed before starting  the wine harvest season at the end of this month. I can't thank Rob, Liz, Vicky and Al enough for such a fantastic and comfortable stay. I hope it isn't the last time I see that special place...

Me in my hammock

Spices at the market in St Antonin

War memorial to the soldiers from the town lost in both World Wars and Algeria

The old stone steps leading to the upstairs of the house

An old chestnut tree on the walk next to the river

The last sunset

Off to Toulouse...

So I am leaving for Toulouse tomorrow for a week... Photos to follow when I'm back!

Clock Tower, Molina, Italy

Street Art, Milano, Italy

This is the first time I've seen street art of this nature, and it made me so happy that I spotted in Milano. Usually you walk by these little subtle images without even noticing them around us. This was on a "no entry" sign on Corso Buenos Aires in Milano...

Familiar faces from home...

Este is an old friend from Stellenbosch. She actually used to live a couple of doors down from me in my final year down there. She had a day in Milano recently so was awesome to see another familiar face over here...

Este in Milano





Pogo

Pogo is an Australian DJ that has some of the most talented work I have ever seen. He's brilliant. I wanted to post some of his stuff because not many people back home know about him. What he does is take bits and pieces from old classic Disney films (usually) and then puts them together to make the most incredible songs. I still don't know where one would even start trying to attempt this, but he is brilliant. These are some of my favourites:

 

Joburg Jam was created when he was recently in South Africa for the Football World Cup. Nostalgia right here!

UPular Remix is from Disney Pixar's film UP. One of my favourite...

Pogo recently held a competition where people were able to enter animations for a remix called the Mellow Brick Road which he created from the original Wizard of Oz film. Not one of my favourite songs of his, but this animation was awesome!

Marriage by Gold Panda

Vespa Sprint, Venice, Italy

Anna in Venice

So I finally got to see my little sister, albeit for a brief 48 hours. The last time I saw her was over the Easter weekend back in April, so four months apart and chatting via skype has been torturous. At the moment she is on a Topdeck tour of Europe with an incredible bunch of people who I was able to meet on Sunday and Monday. That is one thing I love about Europe. Public transport is just so easy to use. In two hours I am in Venice.

Monday was our only full day together, and instead of doing the usual hustle and bustle of Venice itself ,we opted to head to Murano, the glass making capital of the Venetian area, along with a friend of Anna's, Kate. The weather was incredible, and after a short ferry ride frm St Mark's square we were on the island. We watched a glass blowing demonstration (which was amazing to see) and then explored . I loved the fact that it was so quiet. Nothing close to the crazy crowds and busy narrow corridors of Venice. It seemed so much cleaner and quainter, and hadn't been tainted by the masses of tourists that suffocate Venice. in the Summer Don't get me wrong, Venice is an incredible spectacle; there's nothing like it. But Murano is definitely a place I would recommend if you keen on seeing a different side to the area. It's worth a visit.

Saying goodbye was once again hard, but I can't wait to meet up with Anna again for another adventure. Not sure when or where this will be, but I nevertheless, I can't wait...

Glass blowing demonstration

Small fishing boat on the main canal

Kate and Anna in Murano