It is February and the sun is shining on my face. It is warm outside, very warm. In the mornings I wake up of the sound of hundreds of birds and when I look out of the window I can see these exotic looking colourful birds flying around in the garden. In that same garden some beautiful plants are working hard to cope with the heat of the sun and to produce the most delicious produce for our daily meals.
That’s right, that doesn’t sound like the view that I would have from the apartment in our cute little hilltop town in Piemonte, Italy. Because there I would see the neighbours looking out of their window as soon as they noticed that there was life in our apartment (curious Italians!). The songs of exotic Australian birds have replaced the sounds of the church bells in La Morra. With mixed feelings and a bit of pain in our hearts the Drover and I have said goodbye to our lovely Italian friends and to the great Italian wine producers in ‘our’ town. It was time for a new adventure, and that adventure has started a few weeks ago here in Adelaide, South Australia.
The Dutch Cheesegirl is no longer living in her hilltop town surrounded by vineyards with just over a thousand inhabitants, of whom most are elderly people. No, the big move brought her to the big city of Adelaide, with a population of 1,2 million. That is a bit of a change. But you know what? The change is actually not as big as you would think. Now I understand that this statement might need a bit of explanation from my side…
What La Morra and Adelaide have in common is that both places are surrounded by vineyards. Of course the distances are very different, with close to an hours drive to get to the first wineries on the North, East or South site of the city, but the extensive amount of vineyards are definitely here. Take a trip to the North and you will end up in the Barossa Valley for some big shiraz wines, or a good glass of Riesling in the Eden or Clare Valley. Drive to the East and you can go from cellar door to cellar door to learn about the wines produced in the Adelaide Hills. McLaren Vale is one of the many wine areas on the south side of the city, where you could also visit a ‘brewery door’. These are only a view examples of the grape growing areas in South Australia, that also seem to have much more to offer than ‘just’ grapes and wines.
Another thing that I find intriguing about Adelaide is that the city gives you the feeling of being in a small town. Not exactly La Morra, but also definitely not the feeling that you would expect from a million-people-city. I guess what plays a major role in experiencing this town feeling, is the fact that there is so much space. SPACE, with capital letters, because the space that I feel here, is of the type that I have not felt in any other place than an area in the middle of nowhere on the boarder of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Adelaide is a big and spacious city with suburbs reaching 20 kilometres from the coast on the West to the hills in the East and about 100 kilometres from the far North to the most Southern suburbs.
The only place where you actually feel you are in a big city is when you walk through the Central Business District, called CBD by the locals, where most companies and banks have their offices and where various shops and restaurants are located. Here you can find multi-storey office and university buildings, but most of the architecture is focused on not standing out too much. After close of business the CBD dies out a bit, when most people have left for home in the suburbs to have a barbie (bbq) with their families, and only the streets full of restaurants and cafes still bursting with life.
In the suburbs houses usually only have ground level, with an exception now and then of a house with two floors. Streets are wide and empty, and everywhere you look you will see parks and trees and well maintained grass lawns. In the suburbs you feel like you are in a little town, where people know each other, visit each other at beer o’clock for a drink or two, where strangers in the park all greet each other and where there is a strong sense of community. Or is that just me imagining?
Ok, I have to admit, La Morra and Adelaide are not really two places that you can compare. I will never again wake up of the church bells that indicate the start of a new working day at 7 o’clock, every morning again. I will never again walk five steps to the end of my little street to drink the best possible caffè, cappuccino or aperitivo in the local bar. I will never again be able to go out for a five or six course dinner for only 30 euros per person, including water and bread. I will never again ride the bike for just ten minutes, to drink a glass of Moscato d’Asti of the last vendemmia with the lovely family of G.D. Vajra winemakers… Oh Italy, my lovely Italy, you are so beautiful! Sei così bella!
But, I will get to wake up every morning of the songs of these beautiful exotic birds that bring a smile on my face. I will have the chance to try every bar or café that locals recommend until I find the best Italian coffee in Adelaide (while in the meantime my Drover is mastering espresso making on the home espresso machine), thanks to the great amount of Italian immigrants in Australia. I will have the possibility to explore Australian wines and wine areas by going on day or weekend trips to the Hills, Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale and find out for my self what the differences are in Old World and New World wines. And, although it does cost a lot, lot more to go out for dinner, I will have the possibility to try food from every possible corner of the world, while I have moved to a great immigration nation.
It is a new year full of new possibilities, adventures, dreams and experiences. It is time to meet, explore and discover other people, different places and great products.
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