Why, yes, I always go to wine festivals for the cheese.

So I was sitting in class today eating a sandwich and throwing spitballs at the kid in front of me, when I suddenly realized that HOLY CRAP, I haven't updated my blog in 7 days!!  Naturally, I excused myself from the lesson and came back to give you my undivided attention.  And by 'undivided', I mean that I made another sandwich and watched Bad Girls Club Miami.

This past Saturday, me and a bunch of classmates took a train to Marino for the Sagra dell' Uva, also known as the Festival of Grape.  As you might guess, it was a wine festival, and it was awesome.  The ride was about 45 minutes from the station in Rome, but that seemed a lot longer since we didn't have seats (note: crowded-ness is a theme I will use throughout this story).  Nevertheless, it was beautiful riding through the countryside and passing through a bunch of large fields and small towns.

Once we reached the station in Marino, real life came to a halt for about 4 hours.  At this time, it is imperative you know that most of Rome came with us on that train to the Festival of Grape, hence our seatless situation.  Anyway, everyone on the train just got off and started climbing over this wall at the station to begin the scale up to the festival (that's right, the festival was on hill.  A large hill.)  I decided to walk through the entrance next the wall. 

The stone stairs on the side of the hill were kind of unexpected.  Actually, everything was, but those stairs especially.  They just kept going and going, and then they would turn suddenly and you would think you were there, but it was just more stairs.  And these stairs narrowed off and led straight into the city of Marino, which was GORGEOUS.  It was such a medieval town, with really narrow cobblestone streets and alleys, buildings with old shutters overlooking them, and a view that would kill.  Seriously, we were way up there- one wrong step and you'd end up back at the train station. 

And as cute as this city would have been under normal everyday circumstances, it was beyond adorable with all the decorations and festivities for the Festival of Grape (I really like calling it that, in case you didn't notice).  Families were lined up on the sides of the streets and selling sandwiches from pigs they had roasted and pastries infused with grape juice... and the mozzarella... OH THE MOZZARELLA.  We walked past one family that was selling mozzarella and artichoke panini, and a cute Italian boy gave us some generous samples of the mozzarella they used.  In no uncertain terms, that was the BEST cheese I have ever tasted in my entire life.  I'm not even joking- I've had mozzarella here since that day and it actually tastes bland in comparison.  It's conceivable that I have actually ruined cheese for myself by having tried it.  Sorry... I could legitimately talk about this all day, but I should probably tell you about the rest of the WINE festival...

Needless to say, a lot of wine was also sold.  As was candy, jewelry, olive oil, and a bunch of other odds and ends.  We kind of wandered around all the booths for a bit, while also sampling a ton of food, and then slowly progressed towards were the fountain was.  Oh, have I not yet mentioned that during the Festival of Grape, they put WINE in the FOUNTAIN?  Well they do.  And we were on our way to see it but then a surprise parade of people dressed up in royal costumes came down the street.  It was kind of unexpected, but really cool!  The costumes were really diverse and colorful, and I guess a bunch of people in town volunteer to dress up and participate.  And those that want to participate without dressing up just sign up there kids.

After this slight, but awesome setback, we continued to march through the MOBS of people towards the fountain.  And the closer we got, the more crowded and dense it became.  In the end, I came really close to the fountain, which from what I could see was covered in grapes, but didn't personally get to see the wine in it.  That is because, at this time, I could no longer move.  I was literally surrounded by people.  And Italian music was blaring all around and a bunch of Italians were dancing and merriment in general abounded. 

It was at this exact moment that I decided to leave.  So we slowly made our way back and talked to some random Italians on the way.  But before we went back down the stairs to the train, we all stopped for awhile to catch the view from the huge terrace they had near the entrance.  The sun was setting, and the terrace had a beautiful view of the valley below.  It was absolutely incredible.

And then we descended the stairs to wait for our train.  A train which was, in fact, not scheduled to arrive for another 45 minutes.  You see, as I said before, Marino was completely packed with people, and it's not all that large of a city to begin with.  You might also recall how I mentioned earlier that a lot of Rome came to the festival as well.  So we went down early, not to get seats, but to just get on.  And this is were anarchy ensued.  Hundreds of people were just lined up along side the tracks and crossing back and forth over them while talking to people and waiting for the train.  And when the train finally got there... all hell broke loose.  As crowded as it was by the fountain, people were pushed so close up against each other trying to get on the train that it was like we were all just one thing.  What ended up happening was that two people got on the train, and started pulling their friends and other people out of the crowd to safety.  I was not one of those two people, nor was I there friend.  For a second or two, I actually thought I was literally going to be crushed to death, but somehow I got a hand on the door and pulled myself up.  Needless to say, I didn't get a seat back either.

The most striking part about all of this is that, even though it was a completely chaotic and terrifying experience getting on the train to go back Rome, the festival was so incredibly amazing, beautiful, and unlike anything I have ever seen or known that I have no doubt in my mind that it was totally worth it.  I'm fairly certain that the Festival of Grape, in its entirety was single-handedly the most beautiful and terrifying thing I have ever been a part of.

Beginning the climb.

Ending the climb.  I assure you, it was not that short.

The street in Marino where all the action happened.

An alley in Marino where all the wine action happened.

Grape donuts and roasted pork- my favorite combination.

I actually didn't do anything over here.  I just thought these were cool.

I liked the balloon?

Surprise parade.  Also, this is the stand where the CHEESE was <3

It doesn't seem so bad until you realize that you all have to take the same train.

I'm a sucker for hot air balloons.

The fountain!

The epic view from the terrace.

People waiting for their deaths.  I MEAN train.

And that was Saturday... I was going to follow that up by telling you about my day today, which consisted of stumbling upon an entirely wooden toy and clock shop and establishing friendship with an adorable old Italian man who saved my sweater for me after I forgot it at his sandwich shop (a sandwich shop I happen to be a frequenter of), but this all seems kind of lame in comparison... Fortunately, I am heading to Pompeii tomorrow so I should probably have some more excellent adventure stories for you when I return.  Can you say, VOLCANO DAY???