Because the summer was very dry in Istria, the grape-picking season has started a bit earlier than usual. Traditionally, it would start on Santa Eufemia in mid-September. But much of the picking around Motovun is far from traditional. Cars of all those working in the vineyards are parked alongside. The grapes are picked by hand, but the plastic crates filled with the magical fruit are collected by tractors and unloaded into open trucks. To allow for all these vehicles, the vines are planted farther apart than traditionally, and the roads between vineyards are wide enough for the tractors and trucks to maneuver with ease. A typical vineyard, which is about a hectare in size, takes a few days to pick. At any one time, up to a score of people are engaged in the effort. But it is not difficult to conjure in one’s mind these very hills a hundred years back. Around this time of the year, the vineyards would be crawling with people. There would be donkeys, horses, and oxen pulling carts of different sizes. From time to time, people working together would break into song. Tired but merry, they would dance at the end of the day. Swallowed by darkness, couples would fade into the woods surrounding the vineyards… Ah, to hell with conjuring!