Florence is a beautiful city with lots of art, yummy food and friendly people! People here have many traditions that bring them together. Traditions are special things that people do or celebrate together over and over again. One tradition is the olive and grape harvest that happens every fall. The harvest is when people pick the olives and grapes from the vineyards (farms) near Florence.
I learned about the olive and grape harvest! In Italian, it is called "la vendemmia e la raccolta delle olive" ("the grape harvest and the olive harvest"). Each fall, families and farmers work together to harvest, or pick, the grapes and olives. Sometimes friends and visitors help too! When all of the picking is done, everyone eats a big meal together. They enjoy fresh foods and drinks, like new grape juice and bread with olive oil on top. Sometimes, when there is a lot of juice left over, it is left to sit in containers under the ground for many years so that it tastes better in the future.
I got to try some of the olive oil that a big vineyard sells! I also tried some appetizers that Italians like to eat with it. (Appetizers are small dishes of food eaten at the start of a meal.) The olive oil and other foods were super tasty!
