adorable day!
swoooon picked me up from the train station this morning at 8am, as we had some work to do at the vineyard that we could not do yesterday due to thunderstorms. it has been raining cats and dogs here for the past week or two, totally sad, and i have lost any semblance of a tan and gone back to being "mozzarella". today, however, was stunning! 8am, as i waiting out in front of the train station i was sweating in the best way, sunglasses on, kind of awake and ready for some berry measurements. swoooon pulled up and didnt even say goodmorning, just popped open the passenger door and we rode in silence for the next 10 minutes, listening to morning talk radio news programs and glaring into the sun. pulled into a coffee shop and 15 minutes later we were both perky and ready for our day.
grape measurements went well, but lord is it boring work. swoooon cracked me up by saying, "you know, i'm a really nice person considering all the boring things i have to do. you'd expect me to be a complete asshole, actually". i started to laugh but yawned instead, my hand cramped from writing hundreds of tiny little numbers. anyway, all important work has brunt tasks; swooon says that being of latin descent he knows this better than anyone, and he's surprised i know how to keep up.
so we work for 2 hours maybe, and i'm about to die, but then we stumble into a little clearing a few rows over. about 7 men, ages ranging from 20-60, were lounging in the grass in the vineyard, having a picnic. they hollered to us, and swooon, in friulano, says "no, no, thanks" and then they start waving at me. swoooon turns to me and says, "want a glass of wine?" and from their hollars and insistance and the hot sun and the sudden appearance of cheese, i say, ok, fine. the men pour swooon and i a little glass, homemade by one of the guys, and they break me off a big chunk of fresh cheese, and we commence to laugh and talk under the hot 10am sun, all in friulano and broken italian and some cute english and it was just out of a book or something. the boys loved me, and asked me questions, which i did very well with, responded and all, and when they got too-too-friulano for me swooon would laugh and translate. after a bit the wine was gone and the cheese was gone and it was time to get back to work. we bid our adieus and i was grabbed and given an onslaught of kisses on both my cheeks by what formed into a line of sweaty, sunstarched friulian men, all vying for one more peck. i was all giggles and swooon was laughing histerically and trying to save me. when we escaped i said, "you know that little one...i'd let him take me to dinner if he wanted". so it's a date; swooons gonna set the whle thing up. too adorable, and so very italian. lots of berry work and hot sun more and i was ready to head back to cormons.
the grand opening extravaganza of the porchis pool is tonight and everyone is up in arms in excitement. if i havent explained, the wonderful, crazy, wine-drenched people here in cormons frequent a place called Porchis. it's a fantastic little haunt that serves .60 glasses of local wine, fresh ham of all varieties, and all the small town gossip and crazyness that you could ask for. the owners for some reason or another- i cant really comprehend why except for well, why not- have built a swimming pool right smack in the middle of the vineyard behing the bar. cabanas have been built, umbrellas laid out, a beach volleyball court installed. it's gonna be a madhouse. so tonight is the opening party, complete with roasted pig, polenta, and a variety of local foods. i told FL i'd meet him and his friends there around 8ish, right after i take a nice nap...