LIFE UNLEASHED

You’ve gotta love the Aussies! They sure are a social bunch. We were reminded at our very first caravan park in WA that it’s one of the things we truly love about Australia. We walked into the communal kitchen area and within 2 minutes were offered a beer, glass of wine and invited to sit down and tell the tallest tale we could. Luckily, if you have been following this blog, you’ll know we came armed to the teeth with stories.

Another great example of the social scene at caravan parks was the soup and burger night at a caravan park near Kalbarri National Park.  Everyone in the park gathers around a couple fire pits and chomps on fresh burgers and lovingly home made soup cooked up by the staff. By the end of the evening you know that Joe has 3 grandsons and has surfed his whole life. Or that Mary laughs like a Kukaburra after a few glasses of wine.

Most importantly you know that Aussies love to make new friends, old or young, foreign or local and they’ll welcome you with a few bevies, a friendly slap on the back and “Good-on Ya Mate” for good measure.

It was so easy being in Canada. Knowing our way around and how to acquire the that things we needed is a major comfort. Yet, it felt a bit strange being able to speak the language of the place we were in. There were strange customs we had to relearn like how to drive on the right side of the road and how to sit on a couch and be fed information from a glowing box that told us stories of world happenings.. There were strange foods that we hadn’t tasted (in years) like the Tim Horton’s coffee, Swiss Chalet Chicken, veal sandwiches and buffalo style chicken wings. We were so far removed that we weren’t sure who the Prime Minister currently was. We had heard it was Harper. We had heard it wasn’t Harper. We heard it might be Harper but maybe not tomorrow.

You would think all this would make us feel like foreigners in our own country…but…but…there is nothing like the feeling of love and belonging you get from seeing your friends and family. Having them welcome you back. Having them cook you a meal and pour you a drink. Having them treat you as if you had never been gone at all. You can move away, you can go travelling, but you can always go home again.

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We took a bit of a gamble booking into an American run Agritourismo in Italy.  Shouldn’t we pick a more authentic experience?  Shouldn’t someone’s mother be cooking for us? Well, as it turns out, the best food we had in Italy was made just like Mama used to make, provided your Mama is a 20 something chef named Jason from New York. 

First off the setting of there Agritourismo was perfect.  Surrounded by rolling hills their gorgeous estate was the perfect place to get away from the noise and hustle of the towns.  The classic old stone home  was so well cared for and had all the modern conveniences you could want and a beautiful and refreshing pool to relax by.  The couple running the place, Ashley and Jason, were the best hosts we had in all of Italy and were always on hand too recommend things to do and place to see.  The concern on Ashley’s face if she saw us finish our wine glass as she ran to fetch the bottle from the fridge was fantastic.

When it came  to dinner we didn’t really know what to expect other than they were big believers in the slow food movement which we have also always followed.  Slow food is basically the opposite of fast food where time and effort are put into to making things from scratch with the freshest possible ingredients.  It is alo the art of enjoying the meal and taking time to savour the flavours and your company rather than scarffing everything down so that you can sit blankly in front of the TV.  Jason took the idea of slow food to the extreme.  Many of the ingredients he had grown right in his own garden.  Others he had travelled the countryside to find local providers of.  We were in for a treat.

Jason too simple ingredients such as fresh zucchini and just by taking the time to shave it thin and season it with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper before finishing it with fantastic aged Parmigiana.  He did the same sort of thing in providing us with garden fresh lima beans and pecorino.  Jason surprised our taste buds with 30 year old aged balsamic vinegar which he described with something akin to love as he drizzled it over a light omelette.  In New York, Jason said, you can never spread pig fat on toast and have people eat it but in Italy he served us a pig fat that had been aged carefully in a marble box before spreading it thinly on crostini.  It was amazing.   As for the mains, serving me roast rabbit one day and then veal the next will make me one happy puppy.  How did he know two of my favourite things?

 

 

 

 If you plan to get out to Marche east of Tuscany you must go to La Tavola Marche.  It’s perfecto! (www.latavolamarche.com)

Upon entering a fast food restaurant I was immediately told:

“Madame. In Line please”. (All I was trying to do was read the menu before deciding where to eat)

You’d think I would learn but alas, in a moment of rebellious foolhardiness I approached a fruit stand and picked up a Pink Lady (apple) to buy:”

“No touch-a the fruit!”

The culmination of my troublemaker status came while we were picnicking in a park in the town of Frascat (near Rome)i. Our ignorance of the Italian language prevented us from reading the “Keep of the Grass” sign. Along waddled an old lady who started up in a pitch close to that of an ambulance siren. Now, as I mentioned we do not speak Italian but this is what we infer that she said

“Ma Ma Mia! Why you walk on the grass? This-a lawn, it’s-a been in ma family for sixteen generations. Why? Why you bend-a the blades? Why you hav-a to sit on it?!?! We post-a da sign. Still you bend-a the blades. Six-a-teen generations! Why? Wwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyy?”

So as you can see, L-I-S-A clearly spells trouble in Italy.

Note: We know this post is utterly offensive  (but we couldn’t resist) and for that we apologize wholeheartedly to our many Italian friends and in fact to the whole country of Italy. The Italian people have been wonderful hosts and always ready with a smile. Please take this with humou as at no point was anyone particularly mean to me.  A bit of scolding is nothing 2 or 3 gelati won’t fix J

 

 

 That’s what Tanzania’s children taught me.

Note: We also visited an orphanage built by SOS an international non-profit with a very successful model. Instead of a traditional dormitory based orphanage, SOS builds family units. Groups of 10 orphans are assigned a mother and are given a house in the SOS ‘village‘. They do their own cooking, cleaning and basically create a ‘family’ unit for as long as the child needs. Check out their website at: http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/children-charity.htm

 For us, Africa is one of our last frontiers.  We both had no idea what to expect.  I for one was filled with anxiety about it.  Would it be safe, clean, friendly?  As usual, my anxieties were completely wrong and with little merit.  Tanzania is incredible.  It is very clean, especially compared to northern India.  Tanzania has a very high education/literacy rate.  There are very few (if any) starving people as circa 1980’s pbs television.  The people are super friendly very relaxed.  Hakuna Matata is a lifestyle.  Everywhere you go people are welcoming you with calls of “Jambo jambo“.  Anyone in a rush has “pole pole” (slowly slowly) called out to them.   We could get used to this.

 

Our fist big adventure was a trip to the island Zanzibar, an island famous for trading in spices and notorious for being the last trading market for slaves.  As your ferry boat nears Zanzibar the waters become a beautiful azure blue and seem to highlight the old buildings of Stonetown.  Stonetown is a maze of narrow passages filled with tourist shops, coffee houses, churches, hostels and restaurants.  You could get lost for hours wandering the alleyways.  We were immediately taken by the artwork, sculptures an fabrics of Africa which seemed to speak to us much more clearly than those of India.  There were so many things we wanted to purchase that it was one of those times we regretted the limitations imposed by long term travel.We easily passed 5 days in Zanzibar visiting small villages, swimming in crystal clear waters and just enjoying the laid back life in Stone Town. 

“Karibu” - Welcome to Africa!