Getting back to our roots

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Would anyone be upset if I didn't come home? For the last ten days I have been staying at an organic herb farm nestled in the Italian Alps, drinking tasty organic wine and eating all organic food. What more can you ask for? All through Europe, they eat a lot of organic produce and more importantly, Local produce. I feel like American grocery stores mostly have vegetables and meats that come from all over the world, which is not exactly eco-friendly. Here, you can buy just about anything, and it was produced within 50 miles. I will be chowing down on some delicious yogurt, wine, cheese, or whatever, and my hosts say "Oh yes, we go there if want, he my friend". At my family's restaurant, The Cellar, we have recently been striving to acquire more local goods, but they can be hard to come by. I just like the way Europe works. They know what's up.

Anyway, so this farm I am staying on is a biodynamic herb farm and apple farm. Melanie (the daughter) runs the herb side, and her father (Bernhard) runs the apple farm. Melanie has a little girl and Bernhard's mother also lives in the house, which makes four generations and their significant others all living in the same house! I'm pretty sure I might go crazy if that were me, but it I think it is pretty cool that they can do it.

Jason and I worked mainly for Melanie and the herb farm, which included jobs such as weeding, herb harvesting, picking flowers, more weeding, drying herbs, drinking awesome homemade apple juice, and other strenuous jobs. We also had the random jobs such as cleaning the algae infested swimming pool, painting rusty metal tables, beekeeping, and organizing the toxic chemical locker. Much fun. We worked hard, but we also played hard. We went hiking in the local mountains two days and went to an art festival in the nearby town of Merano. We also drank a lot of Bavarian beer, and had two private wine tastings at wineries that Bernhard was friends with.

Ah, I should mention that although we are in Italy, the people here are much more Austrian than they are Italian. Everything is written in German and Italian, but the locals all speak German and can understand Italian. Our hosts did not speak very good English, so we learned to speak a hybrid language of Italian, English, German, Onimonopea and Sharades. You also have to learn how to speak very simplistic English (We go walk in mountains the day before and very beautiful).

We are leaving tomorrow to go to Innsbruck, Austria and then Switzerland, Germany, and Amsterdam. Pretty stoked. I can't believe that my trip is already coming to an close, but I am going to try to go out with a bang. Stay tuned.

Peace and love.
Paul.

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Photos

beekeeper Paul
this was a new experience for me.

honey comb
This isn't me. I'm not that cool. I was just helping this dude with his bees while he was on vacation.

so awesome
Organic beekeeping is nothing like what you see on 'a 'B' movie'. these Bees are treated very well.

mountains
mountains around the farm

mountain church
Jason and I took a hike up a close mountain and saw this sweet old church.

Angelo and Jason
Angelo and Adzo are from Macedonia and help out on the apple farm

cloudy hike
At this point of our hike, it wasn't raining hard, but after about 5 minutes it started to pour and we were definitely not dressed apporpriately.

kittens
They look like little rats, but they were still cute

Jason the painter
We had to paint some metal tables

The mad professor
I had to paint blue tables white.