A week in the life of Sebastian Ray

This week at Schloss Brunnenburg was filled with work and more school work.  This week was also when all are hard work was going to pay off.

 

Monday we harvested the rose grapes which consisted of the fungus grapes, excluding of course the vinegar filled grapes. The work was long, but it is certainly rewarding.  The most rewarding aspect of work day is always the fact that we students have both lunch and dinner prepared for us.

 

 

Tuesday we  had class followed by a delicious lunch.  After lunch we proceeded to relax at the croft. Amber made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup that night, it was no doubt worth the two euro.

 

 

Wednesday we had another fun filled day of class. Our class was again followed with a lovely lunch prepared for us again by Brigette. The rest of my day consisted of Saints and Heroes class with Dr. Sizzo and some much needed studying.

 

 

 

Thursday we harvested the Vernatsch which are some beautiful red wine grapes.  This work consisted of avoiding picking the bunches containing the fungi and of course the vinegar.  Yet again the best part of the day was eating both the lunch and dinner meals from the lovely Brigette.

 

 

Friday we took a group trip to the Vinschgau.  This is a valley near the border of Italy and Switzerland.  The Vinschgau actually pertains to the entire valley encompassing a number of different medieval, and pre-medieval towns.  After visiting some of the landmark churches we crossed the border into Switzerland.  Some of our group decided to purchase some Swiss chocolate, I however, being frugal, decided to save my money for another occasion.  The nicest part of the trip was visiting the neighboring Castle "Schloss Churburg".  I decided to get medieval and try on some of the armor we found in the armory.

 

 

 

Saturday I ventured out to Merano with the group to finalize my travels for fall break.  With that all situated it was time to relax.

 

Sunday was when all of our hard work picking chestnuts payed off.  Sunday was the Chestnut Festival.  There were chestnuts roasting on an open fire and music accompanying the festivities.

Our first snowfall in the mountains!  Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

 

Submitted by,

Sebastian Ray

Friends and Experiences

This week was a relaxing week for the group. We spent a lot of time catching up on things after last weeks trip to Florence. On Monday October first, we attended class in the morning where we took the first test in our new Education book titled "History and Social Foundations of American Education."
 This class has proven helpful in and outside of the classroom. When trying to relate to European students our age it was nice to have a solid understanding of what they do with most of their time. In the afternoon, Danny and myself who are both work studys on the farm harvested Chestnuts. This task involves walking down a steep hill to the chestnut grove and picking up the fallen husks which hold the chestnuts inside. Once you open the husks and remove the chestnut, you have to discard the husk off the side of a hill so it is not confused with the other husks that contain new nuts. This seems almost like a never ending job due to the constant falling of new husks. Once you get into the groove and embrace the ambiance of the grove this turns into a very enjoyable task. We are looking forward to the annual Chestnut Roasting festival which will take place this coming weekend up at Schloss Tirol.

On Tuesday the group had another workday filled with chestnut activities. The girls, Sebastian, and the Cates' went down to the grove to continue harvesting newly fallen chestnuts, while Danny and myself prepared the picked chestnuts for roasting. This process involved rinsing the chestnuts off with cold water in baskets, then dumping them into a large bucket filled with water. Once the nuts have been dumped into this large container, the good nuts will sink to the bottom and the bad ones will float to the top. The nuts that float to the top are either rotten or have some worms crawling around in them. After a good washing you dump the chestnuts onto a table to dry in the sun and then sort them. You have to meticulously go through all of the nuts one by one and sort them according to size. After all of the sorting is done, the chestnuts are ready to be roasted and sold to the people and tourists of Dorf Tirol. After a long day of work the group met together and feasted on some delicious soup and an elaborate cheese and meat spread with the family. All in all it was one of the best work days to date.

On Wednesday we attended morning classes with Professor Cates and DeRachewiltz and enjoyed a great lunch, as we do everyday here at Brunnenburg. Danny and myself spent more time picking up chestnuts after lunch then headed off to get ready for our afternoon class which was being held at Schloss Tirol. This particular class was very special because it was taught by our own Siegfried DeRachewiltz, who has spent over the past 20 years building this living museum literally up from the ground. The castle's construction was started in 1070 and continued its second building phase in 1138. The castle contains elaborate portals which are basically large doorways that exhibit engravings of religious symbols. Many of these have been preserved by moving them from other locations around Tirol. Some images on these portals include animals like the lion, eagle, dove, stag, gryphon, monkey, and a peacock. It was very insightful class filled with first hand experiences and tangible material that was presented and absorbed much deeper than any book could ever be interpreted. I would say the best part of the whole museum was having our professor, a Harvard scholar, explain to us what he is passionate about and spent his life working on.





On Thursday the group attended our German, Education, and English class. The English class had the great pleasure of getting a lecture from Richard Seiburth who was Siegfried's room mate while attending Harvard. Richard Sieburth is a translator, essayist, editor, and literary scholar. He has gained widespread recognition for his numerous translations from both German and French literature, and received a number of awards and prizes for his work. He spent most of the class giving personal insight on Pounds Cantos. He spent a good amount of time painting a picture of what Pound was going through during the lengthy process of writing the Cantos. The subjects discussed bounced around from ancient history, modern history, WWI, WWII, federal banks, politics, love, and many other topics. I have to say on behalf of the group that this was one of the best and most educational hour blocks we have ever experienced in our collegiate history. As for the rest of the day we went to lunch then a few of the students continued to harvest the last of the chestnuts. That evening Danny, Sebastian, and myself went to the far side of Meran to a popular burger spot named Hoppum Poppum. This is an interesting attraction because they have imported old Airstream RV's from America, gutted them out, and made them into fully functional burger making machines. We stayed there for a while and brought the girls back some dinner at the castle. Danny and myself along with my friend Martin decided to go out after and quench our thirst at a local pub where we made a bunch of new friends who were excited to meet Americans. This was a great way to end a week filled with tests, field trips, and harvesting.

On Friday the group caught up on some sleep and worked on some homework. It was a very uneventful day but much needed. Saturday the boys and myself took the cable chairs down to the city of Meran after visiting my local burger lady Marion at the wurstelstand. We enjoyed a few beverages and watched some local farmers in a street fair. They had live music and dancing, as well as traditional treats and drinks. After walking around town and meeting up with some friends we decided to head back up to the castle. That evening we went out to the discos in Meran and Gargazon. These places are where most of the people our age frequent on the weekends, and we have made many good friends through these establishments. After a long night of music and fun we took a taxi home and caught up on some much needed rest.

On Sunday the group and myself did some reading and homework followed by our usual tea at 4 with Mary. I have become quite fond of tea time here at the castle. Its interesting how much you learn when your not in a classroom with a book, but when surrounded by friends and experiences. Mary brews up some of the best Earl Grey I have ever had, and of course stuffed me with all types of traditional cakes and cookies. After about three pieces of cake and seven cups of tea you really get the blood flowing... I often bring up our acoustic guitar and provide a musical ambiance for the occasion. During tea time we are often joined by family members, farm hands, and one of my favorite people at the castle Mario. Mario is fluent in many languages including Russian, German, French, Italian, and English to name a few. He is in charge of tourism and the up-keep of the agriculture museum here at the castle. Brunnenburg was his home when he was fifteen, and he is incredibly knowledgeable on many topics that have to do with the surrounding European areas. After tea time we all relaxed and prepared for the start of a new week and planning for our fall break.

                                                 Submitted by: Michael Lorenzo Iannuzzi

From the Fields to Florence

        Monday the 24^th was a day filled with classes, and not much else. That night the group had a movie night and watched Moonrise Kingdom in the croft. It was also Danny and Mike’s first day of work study.

        Tuesday was work day. This week, Nick had the girls preparing the Vernatsch vineyard up the hill by again removing the grapes spoiled by the vinegar flies and bees. The boys went with Jon, one of the farm hands, and planted chestnut trees.

 They said it was really tough work, as they were planting them on a steep slope riddled with rocks that they had to break through. After a hearty lunch, I went back with Ashley, Jon’s girlfriend, to pick more bad grapes from the vine. The rest of the group collected chestnuts. After dinner, the group retired to the croft and relaxed after a hard day.

        Wednesday morning was filled with class, and instructions on what to visit and do while in Florence. We received our extra money from Gloria and got instructions about the early train departure the next day from Tony. In class, after reading Canto XIII, which most of us declared to be our favorite so far; Mary strongly encouraged us to see Santa Croce, “If you do not go see this church, I will have to skin you!” She was only halfway serious.

        That afternoon, most of us read for Sizzo’s class and hung our fresh laundry out to dry in the croft because it was sprinkling outside. The work-studies had the pleasure of cleaning the chicken coop and harvesting more chestnuts, needless to say they enjoyed every second of it. After our night class, the group decided to go out for dinner before we cleaned the croft to prepare for our departure.
The walk to the pizzeria had an amazing view after the storm and it turned out to be a great dinner.

        Thursday was the beginning of our trip for Florence. We had an early car ride to the train station (5:15) and were able to find the right platform and train number without too much trouble. Then we rode the train from Meran to Bolzano, and switched trains in order to go all the way to Florence.

        We arrived at Florence around 12pm and then walked to our hostel, Plus Florence, which took us about 45 minutes. After we paid for the rooms, and put our luggage in the storage room, because check in was at 3pm, we walked around the city while Tony and Gloria checked into their hotel. On our walk, we arrived at Piazza della Repubblica to find a stage set up for later on that night when Iggy and the Three Stooges would be playing. We also found an interesting second hand store, Melrose Vintage Store, which sold some great things. Then we found our way back to the hostel where we moved into our rooms, took naps, showered, and got ready to go out for the night.

        We started out the night by eating in the hostel’s restaurant, and then went out to explore the streets of Florence. We stopped at any place that struck our fancy, and went down many small streets and stopped at a lot of small shops and restaurants. Our first big destination was the Iggy and the Three Stooges concert.

   The free concert was packed with people and we held hands to avoid being separated as we push through the crowd. We stayed for about an hour and got to hear some great songs. After the concert, we walked around the Duomo and marveled at the architecture of the church. After this, we went to the club Twice, which was filled with tourists and locals alike. We only stayed for a little while because of the group trip which was planned for the morning.

        Friday, we had an early wake up call at 8 for our group trip to the Accademia. Unfortunately when we got there, we learned that the public workers were on strike, so it was closed for the day. So instead, we used our money to climb to the top of Brunnelechi’s dome, which is part of the Santa Maria Cathedral.

        After the amazing view from the top (436 steps) and seeing the spectacular frescoed ceiling, which we stood and studied for about 30 minutes, we decided to eat lunch. We went to the Oil Shoppe, it was a great place with unique sandwiches and everyone really enjoyed their sandwich. After lunch, we walked around the mercantile area and saw the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge with all of the jewelry shops.

        That night, the group split up men and women and had fun walking the streets and talking to the locals in broken Italian and English. The boys stopped by a small church and enjoyed a live organ performance, while the girls stopped in different squares and observed the locals in action. Both groups went to a club and stayed for a little while before going back to the hostel to get some rest.

        Saturday was our day to explore by ourselves. Sebastian, Mike, Danny, and Megan all explored the streets of Florence while Amber and I accompanied the Cates and went to both the Accademia Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery. Both of the Galleries were free because of European Heritage Days, and the only drawback was waiting almost three hours in line at both places.

        The Accademia Gallery http://193.42.139.9/english/musei/accademia/ is home to Michelangleo’s the Prisoners, St. Matthew, and of course David. All of these works were breathtaking to see in person, especially David. There are also many religious paintings, a large collection of sculptures in plaster by Bartolini and Pampaloni, and even a collection of old musical instruments, which were very interesting. There even was a "Joke David" when you exited the Accademia, and you were allowed to take pictures there, unlike the rest of the real exhibits.

       The Uffizi Gallery www.uffizi.com was huge. There are 45 rooms, all filled with splendid artwork. The list of paintings that took my breath away is too long to add here, but it truly was a wonderful experience. In both museums there were plenty of tour guides to eavesdrop on, so it is easy to learn some pretty interesting things about the art if you listen. 

        When Amber and I finally returned back to the hostel it was 7:30pm, and we were exhausted because we had left for the Accademia at 8:30 that morning. We were lucky enough to catch the rest of the group in the room and were able to hear about their exciting day. They had found many shops and even returned to the Melrose Vintage Store in order to purchase a few deals they had seen there.

        After a quick nap, the group, besides Amber, decided to go out and try to find the club that a local had told us about. It is called Tabasco, and is located in the crypt of Saint Cecilia, its cavernous interior is filled with a combination of antique statues, frescoed ceilings, and a fully functioning well from medieval times. Tabasco’s antiquities collide with modern accents to create a unique vibe and everyone who went loved it.

        Sunday was a day of travel, with two trains and a bus back to Dorf Tirol. We arrived back at the croft around 3pm and napped or unpacked for the remainder of the night.

 

Submitted by: Ramsey Vogt