Bonjour - Ciao - Szia Sonoma!
In the summer of 2022, Hello Sonoma! visited three of Sonoma’s Sister Cities in France, Italy and Hungary, showing that:
Everyone has a story and every story is interesting if you ask the right questions.
Over the course of the summer, the show highlighted stories from winemakers and olive oil experts to historians and mayors.
Below you’ll find the result of these conversations and the sister cities they showcase, including some frequently asked questions about the project.
The first episode below sets up the premise for this idea and the journey it took to get there.
Chambolle-Musigny, France
Some of the wonderful people of Chambolle-Musigny, and the beautiful view of their village.
The village of Chambolle-Musigny has been a sister city of Sonoma since 1959, and this visit to speak with Chambolle's citizens highlighted the strength of those long-time connections.
The village, population 300, lies in the heart of Burgundy’s wine growing region, the home of grand crus known throughout France and perhaps the world. Dijon, just to the north, is the closest city. Nuits-St.-Georges, is considered the closest big town with 6,000 inhabitants.
For France this is not unusual, but despite its relatively small, rural population, “Ici c’est le centre du monde,” was one of my host’s refrains. Here is the center of the world. They were proud of where they live.
In this episode, I got the chance to speak with three statesmen of the sister city organization: Lucien (former president of the sister city organization for 25 years), Regis (former teacher and mayor of Chambolle), and Henri (local viticulturist), who sat with me for brief interviews, as did Henri’s granddaughter Pauline who is helping take over the family business.
They each told me more about their stories, about what it was like growing up in this town – even what it was like to find love here.
I hope you’ll enjoy this episode, one which attempts to tell some of the stories of this exchange, to rekindle the spark of friendship between our cities, and to pay tribute to some of the people who helped make it unforgettable.
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Learn more about Sonoma's Sister Cities Here.
Chambolle-Musigny Wikipedia Page.
Thank you to Sharing Skies for the music in this episode!
Thank you to all those who spoke to me and thank you, as always, for tuning in.
Greve-In-Chianti, Italy
Citizens of Greve-in-Chianti, many of whom have visited Sonoma!
Greve-In-Chianti is has been Sonoma's Sister City since 1983, and over the years various Sonoma students, adults, and groups have visited to learn more about wine-making, to practice their Italian, and to see what this beautiful city has to offer.
During my three days there, I had the chance to speak with Alessandra (from the office that promotes the Chianti territory), Stefano (from the renowned Falorni family of locally-grown but internationally known butchers), Giulio (the vice-mayor and former representative at the European Union), Gianni (a former banker turned local artist), Sauro (A family restaurant owner), Giovanni (a Julliard-educated opera singer), Barbara (an AirBNB owner and world traveler), and Sofia (an olive oil producer and vendor in downtown Greve).
In this episode, we talk about their experiences and the unique perspectives they bring to Greve. For some of them, they even share their fond memories of visits to Sonoma!
It was such a pleasure seeing the ways in which this sister city relationship can manifest itself into true cross-atlantic friendships. Here's to many more years of sister cities!
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Thank you to Sharing Skies for the music in this episode!
Tokaj, Hungary
Some of the marvelous people of Tokaj!
Deep in the mountains of Tokaj there is a special room called “The Treasure” – a glimmering shelf of golden sweet wine known as Aszú once only enjoyed by European royals. What makes this “Treasure” of Tokaj so valuable is not only the wine, but the stories sitting on the shelves.
The bottles kept in this 500-year-old cellar have been bought especially by parents for their newborn children, only to be brought out on a special occasion in their adulthood.
In Sonoma’s Sister City of Tokaj, I stumbled upon a treasure of my own, a trove of stories from people throughout the city.
Thanks to Otilia (Oti) Mayer and Hajni Pracser, my hosts who head the Sister City organization there, I was lucky enough to meet and speak with so many exciting people that I had to make two episodes with interviews from people in Tokaj.
In this episode, we talk to Oti (a local English teacher) and a few of her students (Benedic, Julcsi and Sara) , inn-keepers (Tomas), historians (Janos), cultural ministers (Garbor), wine makers (Hajni and Peter), and even the present (George) and former mayor (also Janos), all of whom have many stories to tell – so many, in fact, that there are two episodes! Both of them are below.
Through each conversation, we learn a little bit more about this unique town and about the bonds of friendship between our two communities.
The previous episode set the scene for our journey to Tokaj with perspectives from various people of all ages and occupations.
In this episode, we speak first with Hajni Prácser about the history of our Hungarian sister city, and her role in it, her thoughts on wine-tasting, and the chances of meeting your husband while on an exchange journey in Sonoma.
Then, we talk to with Kathryn Arontsohn, who moved to Tokaj after her own exchange journey from Sonoma and has since fallen in love with the wines, vineyards, and people of the region.
We talk with her about what makes these underground cellars so special, about tough career decisions, and about the challenge of defining where you're from.
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Learn more about Sonoma's Sister Cities Here.
Thank you to Sharing Skies for the music in this episode!
Thank you to all those who spoke to me and thank you, as always, for tuning in.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Yes! As a matter of fact, Sonoma Sister Cities Association (SSCA) has relationships with 7 cities around the world. All of them are listed here (and their country flags are above), and Francisco visited those which are in bold: Patzcuaro, Mexico; Chambolle-Musigny, France; Greve In Chianti, Italy; Kaniv, Ukraine; Tokaj, Hungary; Aswan, Egypt; Penglai, China
Sister Cities International began as an initiative put forth by president Eisenhower with the intention of creating powerful citizen-to-citizen bonds between people from all over the world.
SSCA cultivates these relationships by developing “citizen diplomats – ordinary citizens who, as a group of volunteers, pursue municipal, business, trade, educational, humanitarian, social and cultural exchanges with our sister cities.”
If you’d like to learn more about the organization or get involved, click here.
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The goal of Hello Sonoma! is to help us view our neighbors with curiosity and compassion. At the same time, leaving home can often give deeper appreciation for what makes home so special and Sonoma is no exception.
By connecting people through storytelling, Hello Sonoma! aims to build cross-cultural bridges and friendships across the globe while highlighting that interesting people are everywhere, you just need to ask the right questions.
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Over the past year, Francisco has joined the boards of three local organizations that play various, important roles in our community: Sonoma Sister Cities Association, Rotary Club of Sonoma Springs, and, of course, KSVY Radio and TV.
These relationships helped him find people to stay with and interview in each of the sister cities while on his travels, traveling by train between them.
Hello Sonoma! started as a way to showcase just how special our Sonoma citizens are – and with over 50 local episodes it has! But this trip offers a unique opportunity to highlight international stories with deep connections to Sonoma while showcasing the incredible organizations that do such great work in our valley.
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More than I could write here.
Hello Sonoma’s mission from the beginning has been to show that everyone has a story, and that every story is interesting if you ask the right questions.
By visiting three of Sonoma’s sister cities, the idea was to see if this principle which we’ve applied to winemakers, thespians, journalists and more in Sonoma, would apply to strangers around the world.
After 8 weeks and 8 episodes, I think the answer is resoundingly yes.
We’ve heard from English teachers, viticulturists, historians, mayors, students, butchers, artists, travelers, and so much more, from our sister cities and beyond.
Every one has a story that teaches us about them, but also, I think, about ourselves.
There is so much I personally learned from this experience. I have learned to deeply appreciate the kindness of strangers, the importance of opening yourself to others, and the wisdom we can gain by stepping into someone else's shoes.
Hello Sonoma! has also undoubtedly benefited from these new perspectives and from testing the limits of what the show can and can't do and what it should and shouldn't be.
Each interview taught me something different, whether that be how to record sound in various environments, ask questions, listen, edit interviews and voiceovers on the move, and so much more.
But most importantly, I learned that leaving this beautiful community, I have come to appreciate even more just how special Sonoma is.
Click on the logos below to follow the project on Instagram and Facebook.
3 of Sonoma’s Sister Cities
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Chambolle-Musigny - France
Our sister city relationship was formed in 1959, making Chamson the oldest of the sister cities for Sonoma. Over the years, Chamson has supported student exchanges and educational programs that promote appreciation of our cultural details.
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Greve in Chianti - Italy
Greve in Chianti is a town in the province of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. It is located about 19 miles south of Florence to just north of Siena. Like Sonoma, Greve in Chianti has a main piazza and is surrounded by a variety of agricultural activities, most notably the growing of grapes that go into Chianti and “Super Tuscan” wines. Olive oil production is another staple of the local economy.
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Tokaj - Hungary
There are many similarities between Sonoma and Tokaj, including the existence of volcanic and clay soil, and mild climate. Both are major tourist destinations. With many Hungarians living in Sonoma and the Bay Area, as well as throughout California, it is only fitting that these two wine industry towns be joined in friendship and citizen diplomacy.
Community Partners
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KSVY Sonoma Radio
Hello Sonoma! airs first on KSVY every Tuesday at 4pm.
Francisco is also on the board of directors.
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Sonoma Sister Cities Association
Sonoma Sister Cities Association is facilitating many of the connections for housing and interviews.
Francisco is also a board member at large.
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Rotary club of Sonoma Springs
The newest of Sonoma’s Rotary Clubs, Hello Sonoma! will act as an ambassador of Sonoma at various Rotary clubs along the way.
Francisco is also on the board, heading the club’s communications.