The Collio Hills and More

Today was the first time I have ever been on a motorbike. I could tell that I was a little cautious, leaning with my driver slightly, feeling the wind blowing through my hair, giving a fresh breath of air in my helmet where I had to lift the protectant plastic when we stopped so I could breathe again. The view was magnificent. Nothing separated my view with the breathtaking landscape of The Collio Hills but the little plastic that covered my eyes to protect me from the massive amounts of air blowing at my face when I leaned over the shoulders of Iacopo, my wonderful Italian friend.  I could finally understand why my high school IB English teacher made us all read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values our senior year. I cannot only understand how the author describes being on a motorcycle, but also the “quality” of writing (for me the quality of writing about it). My experience today was something I can try to describe, but the words traveling through my brain on the 4 hours we traveled were lost every time I thought about how dangerous this was for me. I am not a person to take risks. I plan everything step by step, train ticket to hostel. For me, this was something I had to do while I was here and luckily I had an opportunity that was given to me.

Autumn is finally here. Burgundy, gold, oranges and a slight hint of brown with still many areas of dark greens filled the Collio hills. Vineyards raced for miles. Once again, all I could do was breath. The air was fresh. The sky was clear and all I could think about was how lucky I am.

We started our ride from Pieris and traveled through the town of Gorizia, in Friuli – Venezia Giulia, to ride through the Collio Hills. We took a back road called the street of wine “strada del vino.” The first place we stopped was in San Floriano Del Collio, where I was able to get off the bike the first time to stretch my legs and of course shoot the lovely wine country.

After traveling through the Collio Hills, I could only imagine what Tuscany will look like this coming weekend when I travel to Florence on Wednesday. In the afternoon we arrived in Grado, a small town off the coast of Italy. We walked through the old cobble stone streets named “Calle” which reminded me much of the labyrinth roads of Venice. This area in Grado that we explored is named “Grado Vecchia” which means old Grado. The seaside was spectacular. The soft blue covered the horizon making it difficult to see where the sea ended and the sky begin. It looked almost like a painting I have done last semester. The beach was empty and the pier had a few quiet footsteps occupying the space.

 

Once the blue became dark, and the streetlights appeared, we drove to a small town named San Martino d’Aquileia to partake in the Pumpkin Festival where an area of the town brought back the look of medieval times.  The smell of fire and food filled the crisp air of fall.

I had a brilliant Saturday.

To view more photos from my day please visit Hannah Swick Photography- Collio Hills

-Ciao