Smash Those Grapes!!
On the heels of our precious visit with Chelsea and her family through Labor Day weekend, we had some company from France, plus a unique experience with my Tuesdays in Italy adventure group. We were able to help with a local grape harvest as well as getting to stomp on some grapes with our BARE FEET!!
YouTube link to Lucille Ball stomping on some grapes: (1 minute, 15 seconds)
The request for a grape harvest experience came in from my friend Terry Sim, who is nearing the end of her missionary experience here in Northern Italy with her husband Lyn. After researching online for some vineyards that were close to Vicenza, and pinpointing a few that offered a harvesting experience, I began reaching out to each of those places for more information. The vineyard that had the best communication by far was MENTI, located about 25 minutes west of our house (in between Vicenza and Soave, on the way toward Verona). MENTI is located in the tiny town of Gambellara.
Their harvest experience was a little pricey, but I was able to talk them down in price since we didn't need or care for the wine portion of the tour (which included wine tastings).
The weather on the morning that we went (Sept 15th) was perfect for working outdoors, with temperatures starting to come down finally. It didn't take long, however, before those sweatshirts and jackets all came off!
First, we met inside to sign waiver forms and find a pair of gloves that fit our hands comfortably . . .
We filled up basket after basket with huge bunches of grapes. It was usually a team-lift approach to carry each heavy basket over to the end of the row once it was full.
Eventually, she figured something out and with me helping her, we got 'er done . . .
Videos of some of our fun amongst the grapevines:
Video #1: Stefano explaining the history of their family vineyard, with grapes that were planted almost 90 years ago in volcanic soil. (1 minute, 41 seconds)
Video #2: (12 seconds) Lauren trying to find her rhythm early on in the snipping process, ha ha.
Video #3: (15 seconds) Taken by Valeria (publicity & marketing) as she walked through the vineyard.
Video #4: (14 seconds) One of the crew hauls away a PORTION of the crates that we filled up. Per Valeria, this wasn't 100% of our efforts. The hauler-guy had already transported an earlier load that we had filled. :)
After picking grapes for about 90 minutes, we paused for a refreshing water break before moving on in the tour . . .
Emily (yellow shirt), Leslie, Stefano (orange shirt), one of the crew members whose name escapes me now, Ed and Lisa on the far right (Lyn Sim's brother and wife), Terry Sim (red shirt), Lyn Sim, Lauren, and me.
A few of us stood at the entrance to their storehouse while we waited for everyone else to catch up. The ivy and vines covering the exterior of the building were quite extraordinary!
(8 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/hXDMYQ7dBQBWad2n7
Video as the crew hangs up some of the grape bundles: (9 seconds)
Video as they tied up some new bundles to be hung: (23 seconds)
MENTI is the last name of Stefano and is also the name of their family vineyard. Stefano's great grandfather, Giovanni Menti, inherited the estate through his wife's family in the late 1800s. The farm originally consisted of fruit trees and vegetable gardens, with a few small plantings of grapes for family consumption. Over four generations, the vineyard has evolved into what it is today: organic and biodynamic farming, with a high demand in international sales.
Below: Looking out the window toward the old house next door that was built in 1553 - it's even older than the centuries-old church in their village of Gambellara!
This building contains their business offices, a large kitchen and gathering room, as well as some living quarters. While the Menti family has kept the villa in their possession for several generations, it once belonged to the maternal line of the family (particularly through the uncles) all the way back to its origins in 1553.
Here is a link to their website: https://menti.wine/storia/
There are several OLD family photos and the story of how their vineyard came to be - very interesting stuff!
*You can have your web page translate it into English, if it doesn't automatically do it. For me, if it doesn't do it automatically, I just click on the "three-dots" menu for whatever browser I'm using (i.e. Chrome). I look for the option to translate the page - and then voila!.
Next, we went down the same steep staircase that brought us up in the first place . . .
Video of Emily being a ham: (9 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/52BXS6WUzjpG3Rmx8
This section of the tour wasn't really in our itinerary, mainly because we told them that we wanted to participate in the grape harvest but not the wine cellar/tasting portion.
But in the room off to the right, they had set up an area for us to STOMP ON THE GRAPES!!
Video as Emily stepped in first and then gave a glowing report: (19 seconds)
Closeup video of all the grapes, juicy liquid, stems, etc.: (12 seconds)
Video of Stefano showing us some grapes that are further along in the fermentation process:
(15 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/VRh1RcTVZcT3jBQH9
Once we left the cellar, we walked next door to prepare for lunch with all the crew. We had a nice view of the vineyard with all of its well groomed and manicured rows on the hillside.
It was so fun to sit shoulder to shoulder with the owner of the vineyard, Stefano, and his team. There were about 20 of us in all, and we laughed and chatted for a full hour together. Several of the crew spoke either limited English, or they "leaned on" a buddy for help with translating some of our many questions. This was one of those times where you're reminded that we are all pretty much the same, no matter where we are in the world. We work hard, we love to play and socialize with friends, we love to love and be loved in return, and we strive to have joy in our families and circles of influence.
This whole harvest experience at MENTI was something I would highly recommend to anyone coming out this way in September. Just let us know if you're considering coming for a visit and we can set something up.
I just finished up my beginner course in Italian this week, and I am so grateful for all of the new things I've learned. We took a written "final" on Wednesday, which was quite stressful actually. I had crammed my brain all morning with the 8 weeks of notes that I took, and I even had Scott quiz me on some of the pages before he had to go to work.
Here are a couple of pages from my notes within the past 2 months. At the beginning of each class, Giulia ("Julia") would always tell us about some fun little community event coming up, in case we might be interested in going. And then we'd dive into whatever lesson she had prepared for us. In this case, the articles. (They are my nemesis...)
Two of the most difficult verbs to conjugate - but also two of the most commonly used verbs in Italy - are "fare" and "andare".
Fare: (pronounced like farr-eh) means "to do". The tricky part is that it doesn't conjugate in a typical way.
Io faccio = I do (Io = "yoh") (faccio = "FOTCH-e-yoh")
Tu fai = You do (fai = "fye")
Lui/Lei fa = He/She does (lui = "loo-wee", lei = "lay") (fa = "fah")
Noi facciamo = We do (noi = "noy") (facciamo = "fotch-ee-AH-mo")
Voi fate = Y'all do (voi = "voy") (fate = "fah-teh")
Loro fanno = They do (fanno = "fah-noh")
Andare is similarly troublesome, because you don't conjugate with "ando", "anda", etc.
Here's the breakdown:
Io vado (OF COURSE, you say, this makes perfect sense!) (Andare to vado??)
Tu vai
Lui/Lei va
Noi andiamo
Voi andate
Loro vanno
I think I did relatively well on some sections of the final exam, but other sections were strenuous brain-draining. I'm not sure if I did alright overall, or if I hilariously butchered everything. Either way, we're all winners, ha ha, because we will still get a certificate no matter what!
A group of ladies from our ward Relief Society met for a fun activity in September, called "Speed Friending". It was modeled to be similar to Speed Dating, but with the intent for the newest move-ins to get to know us and vice versa. Lauren and Addie Mae staged each table setting to include a color-coded key, along with a dish for snacking and plenty of snacks within reach. The color-coded key had a category question and it corresponded to whatever color of M&M you pulled out of your bag. We then got to share and discuss that question with the person seated across the table for a couple of minutes. Then one side of the table would move over one seat as a rotation, while those seated on the other side of the table stayed put.
It was really fun!! The sister missionaries were able to join us, too, and they had a great time.
On another day, Scott and I had an appointment with the Passport Office to begin the process of renewing our passports - which are both due to expire next year. The beauty of doing this on a military base outside the U.S. is that we don't have to relinquish our passports during the lengthy process!! Apparently, when the new passport booklet arrives (from the U.S. State Department), then someone here will punch a hole in our old passport booklet to render it useless. We still get to keep it as a memento, though, which is great.
My incredible new passport photos . . . LOL
Don't show any teeth!!
And by all means, DO NOT SMILE!!
Although, I tried to "smile" a little with my eyes . . .
I splurged and made a hearty pan of lasagna, something I haven't done in FOREVER. Laura told me later that her husband was especially grateful for the casserole, since she herself doesn't do much cooking. They tend to eat the same couple of things on repeat, so he was happy for something new and different.
On a nice, quiet Saturday with nothing else going on, my dreamboat built it for me. That's true love.
He was so right . . . They all fit so perfectly!!
I also tried something new, and it turned out surprisingly well. Stuffed artichoke hearts.
Basically, you lay out the artichoke hearts on a baking sheet. Then spoon in a little dollop of ricotta cheese, sprinkle some mozzarella on top, and add some seasonings like paprika and oregano. Once they are baked and beautifully melty, you can top it with some fresh basil. It was a fun experiment and I think I will make them again sometime. :)
Laura absolutely loves sweet things, and she is also a gift-giver. Those 2 things combined are her love language, I think, ha ha. Well, true to form, she picked up the most incredible dessert I've ever had - from a small bakery near Ederle called DolceLisa. ("Sweet Lisa")
It's sort of like an ice cream cake, but it only has a small layer of ice cream. It also consists of layers of cream and a crunchy crumb layer, plus this cake had an additional layer of pistacchio in the middle. It literally changed my life forever. I am not the same person anymore. Truly. This is the stuff dreams are made of. XOXO
Scott and me + Laura and Garrett . . .
I have been wanting a little bit more storage space for some time, so we finally ordered a cabinet that arrived in a box with dozens of pieces and parts. Yay for Scott . . .
On a nice, quiet Saturday with nothing else going on, my dreamboat built it for me. That's true love.
Befores and afters . . .
When Scott assembled the lefthand door with the storage racks, he said, "Hey, here's a place you can stash all your million boxes of tea!" LOL
Sometimes, while we're playing a card game at the dining table, Scott will put on a light jazz playlist on YouTube for us to listen to. Often, there is an AI-created scene that goes with the mood of the playlist we're listening to, and this one was so pretty. Fake - but pretty.
I've also been attending early-morning seminary with Scott on Monday mornings. His companion teacher, John Pyne, works full-time in the military, so he has to go to early-morning formation on the first work day of each week - and it's seriously mandatory. This means that he isn't able to attend seminary on those days, which then creates a need for a second adult to be there. Enter the spouse . . . stage left.
I set my alarm to wake up at 5:30 a.m. and then we are out the door about 15-20 minutes later to drive across town together. The sleepy kids arrive around 6:10-6:15, being dropped off by their sleepy parents. Class begins at 6:20 a.m. and lasts for one hour.
Scott has figured out a great way to get their sleepy little brains to wake up and be more in the mood to participate. He has created several fun games - such as Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Matching, Guess Who, etc. They are all scripture/gospel based. The kids will choose which one they want to play during the first half of class, and it's ALWAYS Boys against Girls. If there are enough boys in class that day, then I stay on the girls' team. But sometimes there are some boys missing and they need my help, so I move over to their side of the room. It's so funny, but these kids will segregate themselves 100% of the time. The girls always sit on the right, and the boys always sit on the left.
There are usually 6 or so girls who come regularly, and the boys usually number around 4-5.
They all love the friendly competition of whatever game during the first half of class, which not only wakes them up but they get to learn, memorize, discuss, and then better retain the information. How magical.
During the second half of class, there is a Come Follow Me lesson to discuss and fill up their spirits. This year we've been studying the Old Testament as a worldwide church, and the kids have been plowing through the chapters of Isaiah lately. Scott will typically divide them into 4 groups, with a scripture or two, or a quote from one of the prophets. Each group will then have 4 questions - related to the assigned scripture or quote - to discuss and be prepared to share with the class.
Here is an example of what our Group 2 was assigned one morning . . . (At least one person in each group takes a photo of what we will be studying, and then we can refer back to it as much as we need to.)
One weekend in September, we had the privilege of hosting a family from FRANCE. Elder Dandonneau served here in Vicenza last year and he came over for dinner many times, along with the other misisonaries and any young single soldiers who were able to come. He was also in our home last New Year's Eve as we played a bunch of festive games together. Well, he finished his mission recently, and he wanted to bring his parents on a little tour of some of his favorite places - including Vicenza.
The question was asked in our ward chat on Messenger if someone might be able to host the 3 of them for a weekend, and I jumped at the chance. What a delight it was to have them in our home!!
Elder Dandonneau's first name is HEAVEN . . . But when I heard his parents pronounce his name, it came out sounding just like "Evan".
I don't remember his parents' names, mainly because of their French accent, ha ha. But they were awesome!! We'll call them Monsieur and Madame.
Monsieur was extremely curious about everything, asking lots of questions. Pretty much an equal to my Grandma Doris, as a matter of fact. He spoke relatively good English, and if he ever got stuck, his son would step in to translate.
Madame was very smiley and attentive, and I don't think much slipped past her. She spoke minimal English, but I think she understood more of what she heard in the conversations than what she was capable of speaking in return.
Monsieur opened up to us on Sunday morning before church, trying his best to share his deepest sentiments about how much he felt welcome in our home. He told us that he had never met anyone like us before. He said that in France, the people are generally much more guarded, and that it takes some time to draw them out and to feel like you have a genuine connection with anyone new. But in our home, he said he felt an instant connection with us, and he absolutely loved how open we are - opening our home to strangers, laughing and conversing with them, and more than anything - we acted naturally in these ways. It wasn't forced, it wasn't guarded, and it wasn't skeptical. We were genuinely happy and having a good time with our guests. He was blown away by the whole experience!
We take so much for granted as Americans, don't we . . . For example, as we walk down any street in the U.S., we usually smile as we pass someone by. In a store and while waiting in line, if our eyes connect with someone nearby, we tend to smile at them. If we DON'T smile at others, then it's usually interpreted as rude, or something negative. But in other countries, it can take a long time to draw a smile out of the people you come into contact with. I've even heard it said that in places like Italy or Germany, they sometimes find it slightly annoying that we Americans smile so much. In their culture, they are much more guarded. So if you smile at them when you don't even know them, they are slightly taken aback. A return smile is usually reserved for someone that they know and trust, not for some weird American who walks by, grinning from ear to ear.
So what we perceive as "normal" behavior and social etiquette in America, Monsieur was blown away by. And he struggled to communicate from the depth of his heart how much he appreciated our hospitality, friendship, and openness. I also learned that he is an artist!! I was able to show him my daughter's Instagram account with her accumulation of years of paintings and other creations, which he and Madame thoroughly enjoyed scrolling through. He was also duly impressed by Amber's painting of Jesus that hangs in our living room.
They are from a tiny town in France, I can't remember the name of it now, but it's somewhat close to Lyon. When I looked it up on the map while they were visiting, I remember being excited because they also live somewhat close to a city that I really want to visit - and it's pinned on my Google Maps: Annecy, France. Feel free to look it up. It's looks so cute and charming!!
If I had the wherewithall to run a Bed & Breakfast, I would seriously do it. I just love meeting people from around the world and learning about their lives and their cultures.
It's been so incredibly busy lately, which is why my blog posts are not so much "weekly" anymore. I'm lucky to crank one out every 10 days, if I push myself to do so. I guess I've been playing harder than usual, but my responsibilities have also increased since I was asked to serve as Relief Society president. I am regularly shocked by how many people I've texted and reached out to during the course of one day! But it's all well and good, right? We are supposed to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause", and that's what I'm right smack in the middle of. XOXO
Next Blog Post:
An epic hike to the 52 Tunnels
A much needed Terme Spa afterwards
And a drive over to Brescia to see a new missionary from my neighborhood back home
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