What we have been up to in the month of October! - Dozza, Italy
Dozza, Italy
After a fantastic 26 day tour of Europe we had very little time to recover before flying out to Munich for Octoberfest. Octoberfest as you can imagine was a very lively weekend full of drinking beer, eating German food and meeting other people from all over the world. We got into the spirit of things by Ross wearing a lederhosen and long socks and Bridge wearing a drindyl. The beer halls were amazing, you could fit up to 8000 people in the one hall. Generally their was a band playing traditional German music which was very catchy even if you didn't understand what they were saying, and they were all very nicely decorated. Outside the beer halls were show rides and lots of food stalls that catered for people of all ages. We had heard many stories of Octoberfest, their is a saying that says Aussies first to get drunk, New Zealanders first to get their clothes off and Italians first to kicked out. We were surprised how well behaved everyone was, their were no fights, no overly drunk people, just people having a good time with everyone. After spending 4 days in Munich we caught a train to Imola in Italy where we spent the next 2 weeks doing a HelpX. A helpX is when you do volunteer work on farms, homes, shops, backpackers etc in exchange for food and accommodation. We stayed with a family of 4, Davide and Victoria, and their 2 girls who were 9 and 7. Victoria was English so she spoke English to the girls and Italian to Davide who could speak English but was still learning I guess you could say. What a 2 weeks we had! The farm consisted of a vineyard, goats, rabbits, chooks, a dog, cats, a massive veggie garden and a lot of old furniture, tiles, bricks and timber that Davide had collected over time. They are relatively self sufficient growing all their own veggies and eating their own meat. Everyday they milk the goats and with that they make goats cheese and yougart. The goats cheese was lovely but the yougart tasted....like goats. Everyday was different. We started by helping build what you would call a goats mansion which consisted of lovely windows that overlooked the whole valley! We dug trenches, layed concrete and hammered shutters. Gender was not an issue and we were both given jobs, some may say that poor Bridge got the harder jobs with carting bricks and laying the concrete and shovelling cement. But she did draw the line at cutting wood when she threw the axe into the wood but couldn't get it out again! They are doing an extension on their house so we were plastering walls and filling holes. We also did lots of gardening and odd jobs like cleaning and ironing. It was so nice to be outside and doing some hard yakka in the fresh air. And the view was amazing overlooking the valley with all the vineyards. We were also lucky enough to be there for the grape harvest. They only have 3/4 of an acre of vines but we managed to fill a big skip and it was over 2 tones in grapes! We had a great day walking up and down the vines picking the grapes. It was a beautiful day to be doing it, the sun was shining and it wasn't to hot. The only problem were the bees, they were everywhere, all over the grapes! But they were the friendliest bees we had ever seen as none of us got bitten! Probably the best aspect of our 2 week stay was the food! We all know that Italian food is nice, but when using fresh produce straight from the backyard with real Italians cooking it you can only imagine how delicious it was. Everyday for lunch and dinner we had pasta with wine. They may have been just simple pastas with few ingredients but they were amazing and we always went back for seconds. It rained for about 4 days non stop and in that time we did every inside job imaginable and when their was nothing else to do we started cooking! We put on gum boots and went exploring in the veggie patch which was amazing, full of eggplants, tomatoes, capsicum, lettuce, herbs, beetroot, zucchini, chilli, cabbage and much more. After going through all their recipes we starting cooking, making eggplant bake, cabbage soup with cummin seeds, pumpkin and chilli soup, ratatouille, zucchini muffins, chocolate and beetroot brownies and much more. Our cooking skills have gone through the roof and can't wait to come home and cook dishes for everyone! I even managed to buy some pasta to bring home much to Ross' disgust! (You can buy pasta at home he says!) Saturdays were our days off so we borrowed their bikes and would ride around the country side and into Imola which was 40 minutes away. The town of Imola had around 30000 people in it and was a lovely place to just walk around and absorb the Italian culture, and Ross found the best gelato he has ever eaten! We also caught the train to Bologna which was about 45 minutes away. It was also a lovely city, but much bigger around 500,000 people.The day we went it was cold and raining but we still managed to walk around and check out a few places and drink some expressos. These areas are not so touristy so many people did not speak English. Luckily Charlotte who is 7 gave us Italian lessons and taught us basic sentences and how to ask for help or the bathroom! She was a very good to teacher! A great thing about doing a helpX was it took you out of your comfort zone and we were doing things we had never done before. At times it was challenging but it was a good way to see how other people live and experience a different way of life. It was a great place to recharge our batteries before starting our next leg. We now have grand plans to start a veggie patch and now think we would be pros at renovating our house with our new plastering, concreting, building and gardening skills! After leaving Victoria and Davide's place we caught a train to Milan where we stayed for 2 nights. Milan, being the fashion capital of the world had very expensive and exclusive shops that we walked right past. A men's tie that was in a window had a price tag of €350....we hadn't even spent that much in the last month! Milan is a beautiful city with lovely architecture, in the main piazza was a stunning Cathedral. We spent the day walking around and seeing different things. We went to the church where the last supper painting was painted but it had been moved into a museum next door which was booked out a month in advance. Next we were off to Poland. Just as we got into the air we were overlooking the Italian Alps, already thick with snow. By the time we got to Krakow the temperature had changed dramatically and it was about 8 degrees. We stayed at a fantastic hostel in the Jewish Quarter which was close to everything. Krakow is a beautiful medieval city full of lovely old buildings, a castle and lots of history. Poland was majorly affected by World War 2, due to its central location, it was made into the unofficial capital for the third reich. Therefore their was much history associated with that time. Just being in Krakow and visiting the Jewish quarter, Schindlers factory and Auschwitz concentration camp it really hit home about how badly they were affected by the war and how it has taken years and years to rebuild. We went to Oscar Schindlers factory which had been turned into a museum and legacy for Polish Jews. We both found it really depressing to read and here about stories from the war and how just because of their religion they were persecuted so horrifically. It was much the same when we went Auschwitz, we walked around the camp hearing stories and seeing things such as human hair, glasses, shoes and suitcases that they collected from the prisoners. It was hard to comprehend that what we were looking at was real possessions that had been owned and then stripped of by poor innocent people. I will say that the Polish people have done a fantastic job of running the museums and concentration camp as a memorial for all who died and survived. We also went to the Salt Mines where rock salt had been mined sine the 1200s. If we licked a wall (we didn't) you could taste the salt. It was a massive mine but it is no longer mined for salt. Polish food is similar to German food (but not as nice), it's very hearty food with meat, cabbage and beans. After Poland we went onto Scotland for a week but I will safe that for another post.....we have had a fantastic month and wish we could show you all the photos of Italy we have, as it was the most beautiful place and one of our favourite destinations! Until next time....Ross and Bridge xoxo