Where better to meet with a sommelier and wine tour leader than a cafe, in a lovely Italian piazza, enjoying a glass or two of the good stuff? We were fortunate to meet with Simona just one day after her 40th birthday and we toasted her milestone and chatted about life in Northern Italy and working in one of the country’s most important industries.
Where better to meet with a sommelier and wine tour leader than a cafe, in a lovely Italian piazza, enjoying a glass or two of the good stuff? We were fortunate to meet with Simona just one day after her 40th birthday and we toasted her milestone and chatted about life in Northern Italy and working in one of the country’s most important industries.
“I ended up a sommelier by chance actually…My school career was totally different!” Born and raised in Brescia, Simona went to Trieste for university where she earned a degree in International Studies. “After school I actually was working in Environmental and Waste Management industries!” Her boyfriend at the time was studying to be a winemaker and was loving it. “He finished his studies and was offered an interesting job close to Naples. I wasn’t in love with my current job so I decided to go too. However, once I got there I couldn’t find anything I liked or fit my studies. The winery he was working at said ‘why don’t you work here?’ – I didn’t know anything about wine other than that I liked it!”
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We talk a little more about family and children, a big topic in Italy:
The issue of not having children is a sensitive topic for Simona and amongst her friends. “I have some friends around my same age, some a little younger, some older, almost 50 years old. Everyone has a different idea about children. For some, you can’t be a real woman if you don’t have children. Personally, I totally disagree…I’m not saying they are wrong, that’s just my own opinion. No one ever asks a 40 or 50 year old man here why they don’t have children or if they regret it. Why is it so with women? You have intense social pressure if you don’t have a child.” According to Simona, the follow up she gets from people all the time is that she doesn’t have children because her boyfriend doesn’t want any. “You feel like they are saying it was someone else’s choice you have to accept – you can really feel it here.”
Africa