La Vita in Montagna—horses, folk festival and all the hippie people
6:00 PMNo, I have never worked with horses before, and I didn’t even know how to ride a horse. But this farm was in a beautiful area, and there w...
6:00 PM
No, I have never worked with horses before, and I didn’t even know how to ride a horse.
But this farm was in a beautiful area, and there was a folk music festival happening which I could probably help, and they also had vegetable garden. I thought those things would keep me very busy.
I was wrong.
In fact, I hardly worked at all for the whole week. I was enjoying myself, going for a hike, and meeting new people. Still I had a very memorable time there.
I arrived just a day before the festival started, so most things were taken care of, and people at the farm were busy organising things. I was glad I didn’t get there right in the middle of the festival. Another wwoofer did but we never saw her. It was crazy and she couldn’t find anyone to show her places, so she left the next day.
At first I met Fabian, the owner of the business, and his wwoofers who showed me around and got me a little bit more oriented. We slept in the attic of the stable, with a small window overlooking the beautiful mountains of Fanes national park. There was no shower or internet at the farm, but his parents owned a 4-star hotel in town, where we went there to take shower, use the internet and it good food everyday.
Yes, the food here was very delicious, even though it was often just pasta, lasagna, spaetzler or risotto, it was still incredible. All the saucy cheesy stuff. My favourite was probably the spinach spaetzler with cheesy tomato sauce, veggie lasagna with polenta, but the cabonara was also top notch.
Again, I was grateful for my German skills, which meant I could communicate with Peter the chef and that made him liked me (and willing to cook good food for us) a bit more.
The funny thing though, was that people in this area spoke 3 languages, Italian, German, and a special local language called Ladina. They had to learned them all in school, and so there were always three different names for a town, and signs were in three different languages, none of them in English.
Apart from the amazing view from our attic, the best thing about this place was probably meeting and spending time with people I met there.
There were a lot of hippy people, like extreme hippies which sometimes I found hard to understand, but they’re quite lovely. We shared some memorable time together around the fire. Also there were other wwoofers, Yan and Noga from Israel. Yan was a better English speaker so we could communicate more and we got on quite well. He told me about his countries and where he grew up in, a kibbutz called Harduf, which followed Waldorf’s philosophy.
Yes, that made me want to go to Israel even more.
No, I haven’t worked a lot here, I hiked a lot. Yes, the food was very good and I was a very spoiled wwoofer. Sometimes I felt bad not working a lot and being given all these things I should have worked for. But I’m sure I’ll give back one day, maybe to Fabian, maybe to someone else somewhere.
The kindness I received from people was overwhelming. When I told Fabian I had to leave the next day, the first thing he mentioned was his concern for Yan and how he would have to be by himself. He even gave me this holiday card which I could use on busses in South Tyrol.
All these people made me feel like I was home away from home, I was taken care of. It felt good to receive, and I’m sure one day I’ll be ready to give back as well.
But this farm was in a beautiful area, and there was a folk music festival happening which I could probably help, and they also had vegetable garden. I thought those things would keep me very busy.
I was wrong.
In fact, I hardly worked at all for the whole week. I was enjoying myself, going for a hike, and meeting new people. Still I had a very memorable time there.
At first I met Fabian, the owner of the business, and his wwoofers who showed me around and got me a little bit more oriented. We slept in the attic of the stable, with a small window overlooking the beautiful mountains of Fanes national park. There was no shower or internet at the farm, but his parents owned a 4-star hotel in town, where we went there to take shower, use the internet and it good food everyday.
Yes, the food here was very delicious, even though it was often just pasta, lasagna, spaetzler or risotto, it was still incredible. All the saucy cheesy stuff. My favourite was probably the spinach spaetzler with cheesy tomato sauce, veggie lasagna with polenta, but the cabonara was also top notch.
Again, I was grateful for my German skills, which meant I could communicate with Peter the chef and that made him liked me (and willing to cook good food for us) a bit more.
The funny thing though, was that people in this area spoke 3 languages, Italian, German, and a special local language called Ladina. They had to learned them all in school, and so there were always three different names for a town, and signs were in three different languages, none of them in English.
Apart from the amazing view from our attic, the best thing about this place was probably meeting and spending time with people I met there.
There were a lot of hippy people, like extreme hippies which sometimes I found hard to understand, but they’re quite lovely. We shared some memorable time together around the fire. Also there were other wwoofers, Yan and Noga from Israel. Yan was a better English speaker so we could communicate more and we got on quite well. He told me about his countries and where he grew up in, a kibbutz called Harduf, which followed Waldorf’s philosophy.
Yes, that made me want to go to Israel even more.
No, I haven’t worked a lot here, I hiked a lot. Yes, the food was very good and I was a very spoiled wwoofer. Sometimes I felt bad not working a lot and being given all these things I should have worked for. But I’m sure I’ll give back one day, maybe to Fabian, maybe to someone else somewhere.
The kindness I received from people was overwhelming. When I told Fabian I had to leave the next day, the first thing he mentioned was his concern for Yan and how he would have to be by himself. He even gave me this holiday card which I could use on busses in South Tyrol.
All these people made me feel like I was home away from home, I was taken care of. It felt good to receive, and I’m sure one day I’ll be ready to give back as well.
