golegrand

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...

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...

just for the records, here our hiking highlights of spring-summer 2018.  . one nice warm-up early june with 24 km from avelengo to the omini di pietra (stoanerne mandln, 2000 m) and back. . two weeks later, things got more serious with 17 km from falzeben to the piccolo ivigna (kleiner ifinger, 2552 m) and back. a steep and tough climb that brought me to the limits, getting the feeling that my legs would no longer have the strength to bring me up the last 100 meters and i really was about to give up. but i'm resolute, and it's lucky – at the top it's like on an island surrounded by a stunning scenery, just as a mountain movie and you're the actor in it. . first week-end of july we packed our backpacks for 3 days out in the alta val passiria (hinterpasseiertal) where we walked a total of 50 km. as usual we chose zeppichl near plan  as our base camp. first day we went from merano to moso  by bus and hiked from there to zeppichl (11,5 km). on day two w...

it was quiet here over the summer while i was busy with the move of golegrand.de on blogger, or with life offline. those who track us on the iCloud shared album or by checking the photo page are already in the picture, for the rest here comes a recap of the last months. the guns n' roses played in munich mid of june and we were there too – the olympic park was crowded by far much more folks than the merano population counts! slash ran the show while axl rose showcased a line of clothing. at the turning of june/july we spent some days in hamburg. fun time back with friends, as well as a 50th birthday on 7-1-17. for the rest however it was... too rainy. too cold. too noisy. too crowded. too rat race style. a scratchy throat got me after two days – something not seen since our move to merano. and there were no mountain around… so at the end, we've been more than happy to get in back home. summer in south tyrol is made of days and days of sun and heat. one day you may...

today's featured image: gum and palm trees – fav trees everywhere! day # 13 in perth, the first day a bit cloudy as i opened the curtains this morning. only scattered little clouds. as i'm writing these lines, they're all gone. in fact, perth is a particularly sunny city enjoying a mediterranean climate and an average of 8.8 hours of sunshine per day – since we arrived on january 1st, temperatures have stayed in the 30th, we get endless bright blue sky, and it's like in paradise. monday jan 5th was super hot with 44,4° c on record, a layer of clouds passed over in the late afternoon, next day was back at lower 36°. thanks the " fremantle doctor ", the cooling sea breeze, it's never really too hot. well. ok. except on those days over 40°. we're staying here in subiaco , a western suburb of perth, known colloquially as subi. our apartment is located close to rokeby road, the main street of subi, and coming from ottensen it's not really compli...

today's featured image: remarkable rocks, kangaroo island, sa. more than two weeks in australia, hamburg and europe are far away. geographically, and in mind. arriving on dec 19th 2014 in adelaide, we have spent the rest of the year there in south australia. the highlights so far: mainly warm sunny days, but chilly ones too, cold south west wind (here down under the equivalent of our north east wind), staying in blackwood in the adelaide hills (beautiful place to live, koalas in park and garden, songs of birds from another world), three days on kangaroo island with lots of wildlife (wallabies jumping around on the morning run way, but we've missed the penguins) and magnificient costal landscapes (admiral's arch and remarkable rocks at cape du couedic), dec 21st, the longest day of the year in the australian summer, barbecues with tasty food and nice drops from the region, beach walk between brighton and glenelg, kangaroo feeding at...

i love the region of the verdon in the french south alpes of the provence — the mountains, the canyon, the healthy air, the deep colors of the green forests and the blue sky. scents of wild growing thyme, rosemary and many flowers. colored butterflies and bugs… mid-august we had a perfect getaway with long hours of hiking and exploring new places of the country side, we walked something around 57 km in total in one week, not counting my daily running hour. sore feet. day one: sportive 14 km on „sentier blanc martel“, a canyon trail along the verdon river down from „la maline“ to „couloir samson“. day two: somehow „relaxing“ 13 km of up and down from the village la palud sur verdon to the village of rougon and back. day three: alpine 12 km up to the astronomical observatory on mont chiran from around 1,200 m to 1,900 m and back — challenging for legs and lungs (rarefied air up there!) but worth the detour, gorgeous view over the alps. day four: idler car-day with 300...

so we're back in old europe – we landed in hamburg on march 16th, big city, small cars, no palms, no sand, weird and cold. but, hey! spring arrived, days are longer, and today is a day to celebrate : we finally switched to dst and... it's sunny! chilly, but bright blue sky. yeahyeahyeahjumpingforjoy. here are some beach views and palms to look at.