golegrand

beautiful south tyrol. it's time to bid farewell – to the places we became attached to, to the companions on life's journey, and to those majestic mountains which gave me time, peace, and quietude. i’ll miss them so much. as well as apfelstrudel . we have been living in this beautiful area for over 4 years now... and we had enough time to get to know the other side – that one of the pesticide-farmers (may-the-apples-grow-big-and-abundantly), of the construction sites, piste extensions, and ever-increasing hotel complexes, yes that face of environmental damage and sad mise-en-scène of the alps. it's really heartbreaking. south tyrol suffers from overtourism (call it human pollution ) including stupidity and tourism-related greed for money, as well as from a plague of hypocrisy and lobbying. because one thing really counts: the so-called (german) guests (term in use to avoid calling them tourists) and their pocketbook. during the corona-spring and over this lousy year ruled b...

a capricious summer is ending and we slowly bid farewell to south tyrol…  here a (probably last) bunch of south tyrolean vocab. a bissele = ein bisschen (a bit, a little) a stickele = ein stückchen (a little piece) ajournierung = aktualisierung (update) (from italian "aggiornamento, aggiornare") aui, oi = hinauf, hinunter (up, down) bärig = super, toll (terrific, great, fantastic…) breatl = brot, rundes flaches laib (round flat loaf) daitsch = deutsch (german) dörfl = dorf (village) freien = freuen (to be glad/delight/please/look forward) goggele = ei (egg) heint = heute (today) i = ich (i) ins = uns (us) (hoi, ins geats guat) inser (dörfl) = unser (dorf) mandl = kleiner mann (little man) mi = mich, mir (me) mier/mir = wir (we) oan = ein (a, one) oschpele = hoppla!, huch?! (oops! yikes!) schian = schön (beautiful) (a schians osterhasl ; brutal schian ; mei schian!) stuff sein = genervt sein (to be on edge/stressed out) zwoa = zwei (two) woach = weich (soft, squashy, tender) s...

since all this jinx hit us, i often forget what day it is. days follow each other and are alike. some of them are good, others are sorrowful, and my state of mind is yo-yoing between serenity and disillusion. i'm not sure to understand the true extent of the phenomenon… no pizza & tiramisu at restaurant anymore, home cooked fresh vegetable instead (tummy feels fine). social life happens at the grocery store only. i don't know what to do, so i spend the afternoons outdoor, always alone. so did i even during the weeks we were forbidden to go for a walk – because i’m convinced that an outdoor activity like walking is a great health benefit, physical and mental, to strengthen immune defence system. though, each time i went out and about on the deserted ways, there was this bad conscience that tortured me, this feeling of doing something wrong, even if in fact there was nothing wrong in doing that because observing the safety distances, wearing that stupid face mask , the...

honestly – that was inevitable, wasn't it? this collective burnout.  the "corona crisis" aka covid-19 pandemic is currently changing the world. the general quarantine with everything that it involves – our isolation, the slow pace, the empty hours – might be an opportunity to invent a new life… a beam of light in my darkest thoughts. tons of bad news every day, every now and then positive ones too. nature is recovering in the face of an almost total standstill. the water in the canals of venice, which has been suffering from mass tourism for years, is now cleaner than ever, with myriad of fish swimming around. also dolphins venture into the port of sardinia's capital, cagliari, where ships became something rare. in south tyrol too, the traffic restrictions and measures to contain the coronavirus lead to a significant air quality improvement. so, putting the situation in a positive light – less freedom, better environment… is this the point where the i...

and to think that i was hoping for a better 2020 than 2019 has been… bang! all wrong. january and february have been cold but dry and beautiful sunny. a delight. no need to carry out the umbrella – until the 2nd day of march that brought us the first genoa low. our first mountain adventure this year was a snowshoeing tour from zeppichl (1684 m) to passo sopranes (spronserjoch, 2581 m) in val di plan, alta val passiria (pfelderer tal im hinterpasseier). actually the same as we did in march 2018 , but this time on a beautiful winter day . 7 hours of amazing nature experience on 16,5 km. and then, on 22nd of feb, sars-cov-2 burst out in lombardy, northern italy. on march 9th, italy was declared protected area with the "io resto a casa" (i stay at home) decree which considerably limits travel and activities, allowing italians to leave their homes for "duly verified business imperatives" and "emergencies for health reasons" only – concretely, to ...

and here we are, another year flashed by, we already set off for our 4th year on the south side of the alps, and i should do like marmots do – oversleep the gloomy and cold winter days, i wouldn't miss a single bit of them. so for now, here a quick recollection of the year – entirely in line with the current taste that climate change knocks on every door… how it began is here , and as mentioned, march has been a beautiful spring month. though, april and may have been unstable and uncomfortable – unexpectedly dull, rainy, and windy, with temps under 20 ° in the valley and still snowfall in altitude. brr. south tyrol was caught in the clouds. early summer was right on time on the first day of june, bringing to (sun)light a rich and colourful nature – the late snow melt let abundant river waters sparkle and alpine meadows grow thick of wild flowers and grass. at the turn of the j-months a north european tour took us away from the mountains for 6 sunny family days in...

we've not been much snow-enthusiastic this early 2019, so the hike on the first day of the year  remains our single snow activity and we put the 3rd winter quickly behind us – this one didn't bother us too long and was rather windy and dry with lots of sunshine. until feb 1st – when it snowed tons of flakes all day and night, in merano 45 l/m2 , as much as per 2 months else. a state of exception. then snowfalls stopped and bright sunny weather was back. on feb 22nd temps went up to 21 °c, in the first week of march new grass and first flowers already appeared. spring begins officially today, it greens and blooms, it's beautiful . apart from that, it's international day of happiness too!