I’ve traveled all over the world. When I was the wine buyer for a regional grocery chain, I accompanied my importer partners on visits to wineries and attended trade shows all over the world. My family still jokes about the dense itineraries for our family trips to Peru and England. When I began planning to take 14 Linfield students to Southern Italy to investigate the history of wine and modern viticulture in these volcanic regions, it seemed as though those trips would be adequate preparation. Then, Covid.
Every week it seemed there was a new form to complete, a complicated rule to untangle, and new hurdles to clear just to get the students into Italy. I’ve spent countless nights fretting about late PCR test results and missing forms.
Some of those fears came to pass. A positive Covid test. A late PCR result. A suitcase that missed the plane. But we made it to our hotel – which just happens to be directly across the street from Herculaneum, a Roman town that was devistated by the same pyroclastic flow as Pompeii.
Over the coming three weeks you’ll hear more about our exploration of wine, food, and history of Campania and Siciliy from the students’ perspective.
Toni
