Friday, August 29, 2008

i am a traveller


i am a traveller
i resent being labeled as a tourist
but know that one cant always escape the label
for a foreigner is always seen in that light.

a tourist stays in fancy and pretentious hotels
they eat in prescribed restaurants
they visit cities churches museums and monuments
they talk loud drive bad and ignore the common man.

they often are focused on their own need
they isolate themselves from the heart of every place
the common man walking by on the street
while they rush off to take another picture somewhere else.

more than often they are pressed for time
running around to get the most out of their packaged deal
never relaxing or stopping never looking up
to salvage the simple moment now forever lost in time.

i consider myself a traveller
i am guided by the local time
i never feel pressed or rushed
but allow the time to pass like i allow the common man.

to walk the backstreets and to see the dirty corners
to smell the stench and to hear the noises
i stop to observe the kids playing in the park
to identify with the local childlikeness.

i enjoy staying in small villages with families and friends
to eat sleep and drink the way the locals do
even if it means staying up late for another drink or two
to listen to old fables and truths told by a mothers tongue.

i consider myself a traveller
for me it is important to understand and see
the origin of a person or product
to indulge and experience its true value and expression.

i need to feel the place and its people
to absorb the mountains and the hills
to smell the sea and listen to the crashing of the waves
and to see if it stirs the same rememberance in me.

travelling to me is not only a change of destination
its a change of thoughts dreams and desires
to dive into a pool of unknown delicacies and pleasures
without an expectation of what never will be.

i consider myself a traveller
because i stop to listen.
i consider myself a traveller
because i stop to look and see.

i consider myself a traveller
because i open myself to feel.

i consider myself a traveller
because i allow myself to be moved inside.

i carry with me a bag of tales and fables
i have an endless file of landscapes and sceneries
i gloat at the mere thought of every memory
as the experiences wah over me stirring my passion.

i consider myself a traveller
for i know there will never be an end
the vastness of every destination makes it impossible
but the journey is always worth the while.

I AM A TRAVELLER.






endless summer #53


bolgheri...home of italy's most famous wines.

gelatttttttttttttttooooooooooooooooo!

want some of mine?

a fitting end to another perfcet day...

endless summer #52


words can not describe the feeling when i stood there to take this picture...

the sunglasses were to hide the tears of joy......

jp's enjoying the moment...

you can burry me right here. right now. i am good to go.

la strada del vino...

endless summer #51


another tasting....

my size...

the flying dutchman...

chianti classico...

endless summer #50


these feet can go anywhere...

the chianti rooster...

serious tasting business...

now we are best mates with the rooster...

endless summer #49


our ferocious tuscan watch dog.....

toscana...

toscana...

toscana...

toscana...

endless summer #48


me walking down through the forest in the hills behind verona...

banfi....

the beauty of the tuscan nothing-ness....

late night backgammon under the tuscan stars outside our villa.

lazzzzzzzy days.

endless summer #47


romeo and juliet kisses on this bridge??? no ways...but who cares. this is valpolicella!

watch it. this is the home of AMARONE!

see...told you so!

freedom from european cities....we love the path "off the beaten track". we create our own destiny.

super contentment...in the middle of nowhere.

endless summer #46


i thought the olympics was in china?

next to every wineshop you need a pharmacy it seems?

partners in crime...

milanoooooooooooooo.....

silhouette of a man in thought....

endless summer #45


first italian muselet for the collection.

partner in crime #x.

main partner in crime....

another partner in crime # z.

just look over there...is it not fantastic?

endless summer #44


pro at work...

all one needs...a camera, a pencil, a journal and a good guide.

utmost concentration...see the frown?

one, two, three, ten, fourteen. here we tasted some extra-oridanry wines from the sommeliers private cellar. unbelievable stuff it was.

leave me aloone. cant you see i am working?

what about the wines?
what about the wines. well my philosophy has always been that to be able to appreciate the wine you have to understand its origin. this can however be applicable in other aspects of life too. this is one of the reasons why i have spent my time travelling around to see the places where the wines are made. where the grapes are grown. to see the orientation of the grapes towards the sun. the distance from the sea. the slope and inclination of the hills and mountains. they all carry an effect on the final product. and the best way to understand each wine you taste is to see it place of birth. i find immense pleasure to stand in the vineyard with the winemaker while he explains the influences of the area. to see the pride he takes in his work. i believe that true winemakers are some of the more passionate people you will find on earth. now add some italian spice to the mix and you have yourself a bomb of passion conversation and festivities. we went from the smallest and simplest producers to the most prestigious and expensive. including the top three wines in italy. i have to say the honour to have been able to taste these wines has been unmatched. to conclude. it is my passion. to taste the wines. but it is not just about the wines. its understanding what goes into it. the place. the people. the winemaker. his family. his history. it all blends together and give every wine a personality of its own. whether big or small. every wine has its own heartbeat.

endless summer #43


our tuscan villa....home for ten days of surreal living.

the view from my bedroom window...with the sun coming up over the hills on the left.

the old farm building on the other side of the courtyard.

first things first......coffffffeeeeeeeee and then the hair do for the day...

precious early morning reading...

home in toscana
i wrote this after arriving in san donato. our base in toscana...another day in what seems like paradise. after some days at lake garda we steared the little renault southwards direction toscana. have to say the days at our villa next to the lake was very satisfying. we got to taste the best of soave and valpolicella. not to mention the magical drive through the hills north of verona. after our stop at the enoteca and the eighteen wines we were well prepared. so finally we have arrived in toscana. this will be our base for the next ten days as we criss-cross the rolling hills of chianti, filled with its historic aura and beauty, rows and rows of vineyards, topped off with faded green colours of olive groves. the beauty takes your breath away. magical is a far-cry from the real beauty awe and reality of this place. everything seems to be in its perfect place. we went through our normal tourist centre routine of finding a place to stay. after the anguish and despair of half an hours wait, baking in the sun and eating my ice-cream in the town square miraculously there was still a farm that had a place open for us. so jp arrives with a stack of papers maps and hiking trails and wine producers in the area. ten days of wine. sun. self-catering. reading. walking. hiking. running. relaxing. absorbing and just being....under the tuscan sun. what a freakin life. we drive out of town direction west to find our small pad in the sun. its a agritourismo about five miles out of town. i have always had this vision of staying in a place on a hill. where you drive through the olive groves and vineyards on both sides to reach the house. big block stone cottage with sun beetles and crickets in concerto all day and night. a view that would make van gogh or modigliani wanna paint for centuries without end. i stand at my bedroom window starring across the un-ending hills that roll out to the valley below. wondering what i have done to deserve something as extra-ordinary as this. perhaps a question that will forever remain unanswered. tonight was my turn to cook. i made pasta rosso and my famous greek salad. accompanied by a bottle of vernaccia which is the local grape variety and ending with a illy espresso. we plan ponder and dream about the next couple of days. what it will bring and the experiences that awaits us. the night-mood sets in. the concerto outside has reached its climax as the beauty of our dreams await us...on our doorstep.