A trip away...a day in Trento and Bolzano

This week we went to the South Tyrol for a few days...

The South Tyrol was part of the Austro-Hungarian County of Tyrol until 1918 when it was annexed by Italy following World War I.

This recent history means that the culture and language of the South Tyrol is largely German. We felt comfortable in this environment as we had lived in Switzerland for a few years.

On the way to Bolzano, we stopped at Trento for lunch where we admired its especially beautiful piazza and church.

Once at Bolzano, we checked into our apartment before going for a walk through the old town.

Bolzano is a cyclist-friendly city and the entire town is full of bikes. Traffic in the old town is limited to pedestrians and cyclists which makes it possible to imagine what it might have been like when it was built. Outside the old town there are extensive walking/cycling tracks along two rivers. These routes are shaded by big old trees and make for comfortable walking in summer.

In the old town we walked under arched colonnades where trading used to take place in the 9th century. We visited the Franciscan monastery, where we walked through the original cloisters built in the first half of the 14th century and viewed frescoes from the 17th century. The monastery still operates and brown-cloaked monks can often be seen walking through town. Just outside the old town we found Mareccio Castle, a pretty 14th century castle surrounded by grapevines, and a little further out we found Runkelstein Castle, a spectacular construction which was built in the 13th century. This castle contains the best examples of secular frescoes in the world which provide a wonderful insight into the people, lifestyle and fashions of the time.

It was wonderful to experience a change in culture...to look again at pretty and perfect houses, neat and well organised farms, smell the mountains and eat deep dark strong Germanic bread.

Above: Trento

Above: Trento

Above: Mareccio Castle in Bolzano

Above: Franciscan monastery in Bolzano

Above: The German bread that we brought home with us

 

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Walking amongst the vines at Strevi

We have just survived a five-day heatwave in which temperatures hovered between 38 and 40 degrees!

So what did we choose to do on one of these days?

We chose to wander amidst the vineyards during the hottest hours to experience a roving lunch at 6 different wineries!

The flow of the walk required us to backtrack in order to eat our meal in the proper order (antipasti, insalata, primi, secondi, dolce, formaggio).

However, with the heat already rising off the earth before we set off, we quickly decided there was nothing wrong with having primi first and moving on to dessert immediately!

The meal consisted of farinata, followed by bunet/pastry/biscuit/cake, then chicken salad and ravioli, ending with antipasti and cheeses.

At the winery providing the farinata, the owners were carrying large branches of cherry trees around their guests. These branches were heavily laden with the most perfectly formed and sweet cherries. We thought this a very authentic but rather drastic way of distributing cherries. When we asked about the longevity of the poor tree that must surely lose all of its limbs over the course of the day, the owners explained that they cannot afford to pick the cherries this year so they will fall and waste anyway.

At the winery offering the ravioli, we sat under polythene covers erected to protect us from the sun. Unfortunately, these amplified the heat so drastically that we ate the delicious ravioli as quickly as we could and took our red faces and dripping bodies into their cantina to cool down enough to walk to the next winery.

At the winery providing the cheeses, we were entertained with live music and a light breeze. These pleasant distractions ensured that we left the event with nothing but happy thoughts despite the discomfort of the weather.

We returned to our cars with nothing on our minds other than immediate air-conditioning...and cold showers back at home.

 

 

 

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Topiary success!

I thought I'd better update you on my continuing attempts at topiary (refer post on 27 August 2014 called "There is hope yet")...

When we arrived here, the box tree in our front garden could best be described as a "Blob". I have since been developing the garden into one that contains colour, aroma and shape.

Unfortunately, The Blob remained a blight on my landscape.

Until recently.

During winter, I took to it with the clippers and over subsequent months I have been chopping a branch off here and a twig or two off there.

It has now emerged as something that enables airflow around the front of the house but also complements the plants in the courtyard...

 

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How can we trust each other when there are wild strawberries around!?

With the rain we received in early spring and an incredibly hot late spring, the jungle is claiming our driveway.

Over recent weeks, we've been observing invasive vines growing slowly thicker and heavier and weighing down the trees that line the driveway.

This week they started to hamper our ability to get the car through so something had to be done.

We are currently experiencing a heat wave and temperatures are hovering around the 38-40 degree mark. Since we can't be outside after 10am in this heat, we gathered our various garden tools and set off down the road to tackle the jungle before breakfast.

Several hours later, with breakfast long forgotten, our legs cut to pieces by blackberry bushes and sweat stinging our eyes, the vines had been clipped, cut and wrestled out of the tree tops.

Unfortunately they were still scattered all over the driveway and in the rising heat, we could barely summon the energy to rake up the mess and push it off the road. But somehow we persevered, eventually casting aside the rake to scrabble around on the ground and gather armfuls of dying weed instead.

On the way home we made a startling discovery: an extensive wild strawberry patch growing along the side of the road!

This created a renewed energy as we carefully picked two handfuls of these soft sweet organic treasures to take back home for a well-earned breakfast...

 

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The changing of the guard (oops! I mean tyres...)

Italy is very specific about when vehicles must have winter/snow tyres (or chains in the vehicle) and when owners are permitted to change them back to summer tyres.

Winter/snow tyres must be on by 15 October and summer tyres can be on any time after 15 April.

Why have different tyres anyway? Why not just use winter ones all year round?

As an ignorant Australian, I asked this same question a few years ago...

Apparently winter tyres make your car less fuel efficient so it pays to put your summer tyres on as soon as you can.

Since we spent April in Australia, we must be the only people in Italy who changed their tyres in late May!

 

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A day at the beautiful Italian lakes...

With the weather promising warm sunshine and blue sky mid-week, we took off to Stresa on Lago Maggiore!

The day was as beautiful as it promised...and we even saw the Giro d'Italia, which tracked right through the centre of Stresa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My roses blooming on a stormy day

I cant resist sharing the view of my roses on a stormy morning...

 

 

 

 

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We are seeing the light again!

I feel human again.

We have electricity!

After a week of darkness in our lounge and a non-functioning kitchen (which required me to roast our vegetables in an electric frypan in the dining room), Stu identified the problem that has been causing the overload switch to trip out.

He found an electrical box with wires in it buried outside our lounge!

Yes, wonders never cease. After 5 years, we are still learning new things about our house.

The environment in the box was humid and the wires were wet.

Stu moved them around a bit and to lift them up (with the power off, of course!), then left the lid off to allow this week's wind to dry it out as much as possible before we make a more water-proof solution.

 

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Seeing the happy or the sad...

Stu and I were talking the other day about The Past.

When Stu looks at old photos of someone or something from his past he is happy. He thinks fondly of the people, remembers what great times they were and looks forward to the same memories being created in the future.

When I look at old photos I am sad. I wallow in a big hole of contemplation. I remember how valuable a person was to me, how things have changed and how fast time has passed by. I decide that everything in the future will be "lost" in the same way.

For consideration...

 

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It's not easy...but it's beautiful...

Our electricity to the kitchen and lounge has died (!?).

It may be ants in the electrical box or it may be something far more sinister...we have yet to investigate.

For now, we have a giant extension cord running around the lower floor which has to be moved every time we want to cook or watch television!

It's not easy living in an old stone house in Italy...

...but my "wall of roses" is worth every bit of it!

 

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Our fienile is used for the first time

We spent this week "moving into" our new/old fienile.

First, Stu erected our outdoor table and chairs. This was a special event in itself because we've had the setting for about 10 years but have resisted setting it up under our pergola because we wanted something that would feel "new" in the fienile when it was eventually finished. After the setting was in place, Stu moved the BBQ into a corner which has a view over the vegetable garden. He also fitted a rather posh stainless steel bar to the wall from which he has hung his cooking utensils!

While Stu did these tasks, I gathered some of the antique farm items that we'd found around the place when we first purchased the property. These included a hand crafted wooden rake, a handmade wooden bed warmer, a wooden pizza paddle, and a wooden structure that we can't exactly recognise but that could be a cattle yoke or something associated with a pig trough (!?).

I also found an old candelabra which has points for 6 candles. We will hang this off an old chain over the central beam.

Then I donned my decorators hat and got arty with the little nook in the rear stone wall. I wandered around the house looking for anything that might suit this special little spot that our muratore had created for us. I found my collection of 4 copper items (including a milk can, a kettle, a cake mould and a small cup), 6 green bottles (complete with a decent covering of dust!), an old wine bottle washer, a green glass vase and 2 ivy potplants.

To add just a little more style, we added a small round glass table, a large wooden table and a cane basket, along with a large cane chair with soft cushions that will be a favoured destination for siestas!

With our fienile now "dressed" and crying out for people to enjoy it, we had our first BBQ last night and have organised a party for 35 friends in a couple of weeks time!

 

 

 

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Just in time for my roses!

Those of you who know me will know that I'm rose-obsessed.

Over the last few weeks I've been worried that my 15 climbers and bushes would bloom before I returned to Italy.

Whilst in Australia, I emailed my friends regularly with demands for "The Status of the Roses".

Every response threatened progress:

- "They have green shoots" or

- "The buds are just forming" or

- "The flowers will be blooming within days" or

- "Here's a photo of my first rose"

This last response, received when I was 16,000 kilometres away, sent me into waves of panic: Would I make it home in time!?

It seems I did...

My most advanced climber has been flowering profusely over the last few days and the first of my bush roses bloomed today.

 

 

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Found: gooseberries

To Stu's immense relief, today we found his 6 little gooseberry bushes buried amidst our jungle!

A few little fruit are already hanging off them so he has put borders around the plants to protect them.

I am so excited at the thought of gooseberry pie...but it remains to be seen if the fruit actually makes it into the kitchen!

Gooseberries are a bit like peas when it comes to Stu's ability to wait until they're cooked...

 

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Our garden is a jungle

After being in Australia for 5 weeks, we returned a few days ago to a veritable jungle in our little valley.

Spring has brought rain and heat, a combination that encourages phenomenal growth here.

I managed to weed half the garden today and will do the other half tomorrow. Stu has been busy with the lawn mower and whipper snipper (translation: "weed wacker" for our American friends or "strimmer" for our English friends).

We are keen to get it under control and beautiful again so that we can sit in our new/old fienile and enjoy it!

Above: My pergola garden where the plants are lost amongst the weeds

Above: The first of many wheelbarrows full of weeds

Above: We won't mow our paddocks yet; we'll let the bees and butterflies frollick amongst the wild flowers a bit longer!

 

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Casting off in "Castaway"

We have just spent 5 weeks in Australia (hence the recent lack of posts...)

While we were there we took possession of our "home away from home", a Toyota Coaster bus which we have had converted into a mobile home.

We engaged a small company in Brisbane (Motorhome Conversions) to import the bus from Japan and fit it out as a motorhome for us. It has a kitchen, lounge/dining, bathroom and bedroom and Is surprisingly spacious and very comfortable.

We named our little bus "Castaway" and drove it 1500km from Toowoomba to Rockhampton and back for its first little spin.

All went well and it was lovely having our own space.

Castaway is now in storage until our next visit...

Above: Our first bush camp

Above: Washing the bus before putting it into storage

Above: Farewelling the bus at the storage shed

 

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