Arcadia Italy

By Lauren Sanderson, Accademia Italiana Florence / University of Vermont student

Every morning I walk out of my massive wooden doors onto the cobblestone streets of Borgo Degli Albizi and I better understand the meaning of “la dolce vita” or “the good life.” Stylish Italians are everywhere, shuffling to and fro with bags in hand for the market or a newspaper tucked under their arm to enjoy with their morning cornetto con caffé. I adore mornings in Florence. There is an energy, a liveliness, a feeling of happiness that bounces between the city walls, which I have yet to experience in any other place.

This country has immense passion and pride, and rightly so. It is home to some of the most simple, yet intensely delicious flavors, not to mention home to jaw dropping beauty and incredibly warm and gracious people.

Each experience I have had in Italy has made me fall deeply in love with this country.

Whether it be hiking through the charming towns of Cinque Terre, getting lost in the streets of Venice, biking through the Tuscan hills, or being wowed by the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, I cannot help but become intoxicated with Italy’s immensely rich and powerful history.

Most recently, a few friends and I traveled south to the lakeside town of Passignano sul Trasimeno to harvest olives with the Orsini family of Orsini Agriturismo. We were welcomed by an army of playful puppies to the farm that not only produces olive oil, but also wine. At the center of the farm an old 19th century home stands surrounded by olive groves, grape vines, and every animal you can think of. After our arrival we soon met Flavio, his wife, and their two daughters. They are a lovely family full of cheer and toothy grins. Upon introductions we quickly discovered that we would be navigating throughout the day with broken Italian as they did not speak English. Despite the language barrier, Flavio and his family were more than patient, funny, and kind when it came to understanding and helping us improve our grammatically incorrect Italian. Flavio wasted little time in describing and demonstrating the process of harvesting olives. They are either shaken from the trees using a vibrating rake powered by compressed air, or are simply picked by hand to be collected in the nets underneath. Once the fruit had fallen we gathered the nets and created one central pile before transferring the olives to a large sieve to sort out the branches and leaves. We repeated the shaking, collecting, and sifting before packing many full crates of olives into an old Land Rover to be transported back to the house.

After a morning of harvesting we had worked up quite the appetite and enjoyed a delicious, long Italian lunch with more than enough pasta, wine and olive oil to go around. We chatted, laughed, and digested before observing how their olives become olive oil. Seeing the entire process from the farm straight to our table was something I enjoyed most about my time with the Orsini family. From physically touching and collecting the olives to witnessing them being churned into a fragrant, green liquid made me appreciate and understand why something as simple as olive oil can taste so decadent.

It’s the passion and care, the years of history and knowledge that the Orsini family possesses which makes their product so good. I wish I could spend every week with the Orsini family, but even just one day allowed me to better understand and appreciate a part of Italian culture I was unfamiliar with before.

It’s authentic Italian experiences such as this that have introduced me to “la dolce vita” and I will always value and remember that when describing my time abroad.

Lauren Sanderson is studying with Accademia Italiana Florence.