Our First WorkAway: Apricale, Italy
Branches, Boulders, Bugs and Beauty.
Thankfully, there were open arms waving us down to them, oh the relief! Relief. Something you feel when everything seems to have worked out okay, and you feel that the problem is resolved. Relief was the wrong feeling. Little did we know, the hosts were quiet serious about the 20 minute path that needed to be walked to their house. So, packs on our backs, we headed down the gravelly trail all the way to the bottom of two hills to cross over a small, old bridge with a running river underneath. Then, no longer to our surprise, huffing and puffing we had to head straight back up for the last leg to reach their home. By time we arrived at La Casa Rosa, we were exhausted and not wanting to walk that again, but we did it many more times during our stay. And soon, we began to enjoy the walk (without the packs) and we’d even time ourselves, feelin’ the burn in those glutes! 
Walking up to La Casa Rosa is beautiful. It’s an interesting peach color, and there are many gardens. When you walk through the gates you will see the dining table set outside, right near the kitchen, and further down you can see the outdoor sink for washing, the outdoor shower, and the modern out house. It is truly unique. 
We were welcomed with our first of many amazing dinners. The best Italian food we’ve ever had. All vegetables and herbs fresh from the garden, fueling us for days of hard work.
Our first night was a full table, we were joined by our hosts and three other Workawayers. Two from England, traveling before the school year began, and one from Ireland, on break from medical school. It was a joy to have people our age to split the work with and enjoy great conversation. As we settled into our tent, full from a delicious dinner, we prepared ourselves for work the next day.
The work is relaxed but difficult. We worked on two projects during our time in Apricale. La Casa Rosa had many terraced garden, which, over many many years went into disrepair. Our hosts are working to restore them to their original beauty. Our first project was preparation work. Pulling the brush, bramble and branches which overgrew one of the terraces. Cutting brush and avoiding the spikes of the bramble bushes was a challenge under the Italian sun. The schedule is fair, work began at 8:30, then we had a break from 11:00-11:30; then we were done with work at 1pm. We had the rest of the day free for our choosing. Usually, we would walk down to the river and go for a swim with our clothes on, free clothes wash- wohoo! Or we would go for a walk down the hill path, then up the hill path, to the village of Apricale, we would grab a drink or just walk around the small, windy, cobble-stoned paths. Other times, we would just pull out some chairs, relax and enjoy the view of the village from our own little oasis- La Casa Rosa.
Our second project was the “fun” part. Building the terraced wall. We were still involved in the preparation stage of clearing the earth to create a 90-degree angle. Erosion washed away some of the edge, so we used pickaxes to true-up the ridge and ready it for Giuliano the “rock whisperer.” Giuliano was hired by our hosts to construct the new wall and was an expert mason and was visionary with the rock wall.
Both projects were very satisfying to see progress as the days went by. By the time we left, the terrace garden, which was totally overgrown, was ready to begin construction. The terrace wall, where we created the 90-degree angle, was nearly half done. We went to bed tired, but it was great to see your work actually went to something. 
On our days off, we joined the three other workaways going into Menton, France to swim in the turquoise water of Cote d'Azur. Josh, the workwawayer from Ireland, wanted to go into Monaco to see how the richest/best tax-dodgers of the 1/10 of 1% live. It was only a 10 minute train ride, so we joined him. Wow, the reputation is well deserved. It is a tiny country, smaller than Madison, with A BUNCH of rich people there. 100’ super-yachts with swimming pools, super elaborate casinos on the coast and Michelin restaurants that cost $350+/plate. We saw about 20 Rolls Royces, 15 Lamborghinis and 5 Ferraris--just parked in front of a hotel. One Bentley had California plates. (Our hosts later told us, many super-yachts have space for cars to drive underneath--to avoid the hassle of hiring a chauffered car, or gasp, renting a car). It was a neat afternoon, but also sad to see all the excess and waste on clothes, cars and food that could do so much good elsewhere. We vouched if we were ever that rich, we would stop at a "just" a nice BMW or Mercedes ;) No 100-foot yachts for us. Back to Apricale we went, we definitely didn’t blend in like locals in Monaco! 
On another evening off we went to a traveling theatrical performance in Apricale. It was about the adventures of Marco Polo and other historical pioneers. It was quite the performance! What made it unique to us was that everyone started in the square together, but then they divided the audience up into sections and each section would go to a different scene throughout the town, then walk to the next, and the next scene. It gave us the opportunity to see the beautiful little village at night and to walk to some new places we hadn’t been yet. The only downfall was, well, our Italian language is a bit rusty ;) making it difficult to understand a few parts in the performances.
We could not have had better hosts for our first Workaway. Stefano works as an event planner for large companies. He was unfortunately quite busy planning a large event for FCA (Fiat, Chrysler Automobiles) and spent two days traveling to Germany for that. But he still spent many dinners with us sharing stories of his travels and telling the story of how he and Nelly came to own La Casa Rosa. Nelly also had a full schedule, working on her Ph.D, focusing on history preservation and how cultures share history between generations.
La Casa Rosa is their home for the summer, moving back to Milan during the winter--it snows in Apricale! We learned that buying rural property in Europe is quite difficult. The purchase of La Casa Rosa took over one year, taking many visits to the small town offices during very limited hours. Nelly and Stefano had to prove they they were dedicated to owning the home and they had to prove they would not tear down the history and build a road.
Their home is a perfect place to get back to nature and remember that we are all a part of the ecosystem--not above it. Nelly and Stefano are about 25% finished with the terraced gardens. They plan to do about one or two per year, not a grueling pace, but perfect to enjoy the summer and make small dents on projects as they go.
We enjoyed hearing about and experiencing their way of life. One thing Stefano stressed to us was to always live below your means. Something we definitely took to heart. We would like to do a shout out to Stefano and Nelly- THANK YOU!!! 
On another one of our days off, we took a bus to Rochetta Nervina, see map for location,(https://goo.gl/maps/m8guJ3ye8vK2) for a hike and swim in a glacier-fed stream. Of course, the forecast for that day somehow called for temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit, direct sun and then rain--great hiking weather! ;) We enjoyed the hike, got a little lost, ended up almost in France, but finally we reached the river. We jumped in the blue water, and devoured our packed lunch. Glad we did it, even if we were tired and hot before the lake jump!
Before we knew it our 10 days in Apricale were finished and we were on to our next adventure. Nice, France--The French Riviera! :)
More to come, Ryan and Linds
This is... amazing. I love how detailed you are with your experiences. I truly felt like I was right there with you!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like the experience of a lifetime..and your hosts and co-workers seem like the nicest people. What a great choice.
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