It's been almost two weeks since our return, and today we're editing and reviewing photos for the new photo gallery which will be added to the website next week.
This is tons of fun - we're seeing shots of ourselves perched atop rather dangerous-looking vineyard slopes and scenery that takes your breath away. We're also seeing the faces of our dear friends in the Cinque Terre, both those who worked with us on this project, and those who have become the subjects of the film.
As I laced up my shoes and set out this morning for a five mile run over this beautiful bridge not far from my house, I thought about whether I should pack my running shoes for our Italy shoot this time. I took my running shoes with me on our last trip to the Cinque Terre. While we were there the last time, I discovered a beautiful bridge I kept eyeing as a great potential running route. But between our very tight schedule and all the wine research (yes, I said research! We are doing a film on a traditional winemaking culture, remember?), I never did go for a run. And I didn’t have to. The residents of the Cinque Terre are all in fantastic shape. One local man joked with us about how everyone who lives there has “gambe grande,” or “great legs.”
Here’s why they all have such great legs:
I like my coffee to go. So does Krista.
Consuming coffee at work, while starting the workday, has become a ritual for many Americans, and so it is with us. We’ll each order a tall latte and carry it with us to the day’s location. By the time the real work begins, we’re done and probably ready for another.
Not so in the Cinque Terre.
“I have a tomorrow.”
Nearly ten years ago, I repeated that statement over and over again in my Italian class, an intensive crash course I’d signed up for after deciding to spend a month in Florence.
Domanda. Domenica. Domani.
Question. Sunday. Tomorrow.
For the life of me I couldn’t get the three straight, and even years later I find myself stopping to think before I ask a Sunday.
Sciacchetrà (pronounced shah/keh/TRAH; try it with biscotti)
We’ve often been asked (mostly by people not familiar with obscure, hard to get, Northern Italian, non-Tuscan wines): “Ummm, where does the name of your film come from?” Or, “What’s it called? Chaka Khan?”
This project has always been about passion, love of travel and culture, and wanting to know more about people who have been carving out life, community and heritage in one place for more than a thousand years.
The people of the Cinque Terre have defied an incredibly beautiful, yet extremely challenging terrain to both maintain and expand their way of life, establishing things that we, as Americans, can really learn from – and hopefully can apply to our own lives and communities. After all, our way of life has only been around for a few hundred years.
