My hibernation... abroad!

It's amazing how fast time passes...!
Shame on me, hibernating like that for over two months...!
Well, there are good reasons for not being online during the last time :) I had the awesome chance to enjoy some free time abroad, where I could recharge my batteries with new cultures, languages, colours, food, architecture... I love travelling!!!

While I took my dreamy parentheses around Europe, Merano kept drinking wine, playing music and celebrating Christmas with many other enthusiasts :)
November was the time for the world's best wines in the Kurhaus with the WineFestival, a long red carpet welcomed the visitors on the Freiheitsstrasse and many precious wines were awaiting them in the inside.

As soon as the gastronomic tent of the MIWF was removed, diligent men started mounting the little wooden houses of the Christmas Market. This year the weather was gentle, it snew 3-4 times, the mountains are still covered by a white blanket :) What I can't stop watching during the Christmas Market, are the black sheep staying in a small cot on the Thermenplatz: mummy, daddy and their children, they are just soooo cute! People go mad for them!

In December I was particularly diligent and Christmas-minded :) I made a lot of Christmas biscuits! It's a nice South Tyrolean tradition I love! South Tyrolean women start baking biscuits various weeks before Christmas (the more they are kept in the box, the better they get) and give them as a gift to those people who deserve them ;)
I still have a small number of them, which I gelously conserve in my last, smallest box...

Thanks to the big effort of the Tourist Authority, the New Year was celebrated with music and fireworks and my city colourfully started its 2010!

Since last Friday the days have become sunnier and brighter, my narcissi are miraculously coming up from their dried little bulbs... Wow...
I'll talk to you soon again, my winter sleep has finished :)

Busy, dreamy summer nights in Merano

Every year the whole thing starts the third week of July. Five long Tuesdays and twice as many summer nights take place in the heart of the town. I had the fortune to live some of them after my holiday abroad. I went to the long Tuesday last week, enjoyed a gorgeous fish meal on piazza della Rena and watched beautiful models dressed with autumnal, South Tyrolean, night garments and pretty lingerie. A dreamy night with a beautiful bottle of Lagrein for my mum and me. Life can just be so simply amazing! Yesterday we went to the last Long Tuesday, which was dedicated to theatre and did some shopping because we thought we would get some tickets of the shopping lottery "buy & win" and... guess what? We got into the only shop not participating at the initiative! Gosh!

Anyway... nearly every night the tourist office of Merano also organised a different concert, from jazz wiht the Zato so sings 4et, to Latin American music to Abba. Tonight it was the turn of the "Rivali", performing beautiful blues, soul and funky music, taking you back in time, as well as energic and funny songs by Sugar. Friday evening will conclude the series with a concert dedicated to the 80ies. In the night the air is wonderful, the heat disappears and a nice breeze takes its place. Merano is packed with enthusiastic people enjoying the last summer nights of this year.

Serenely losing my way in the labyrinth garden Kränzel

Wednesday I had the chance to visit the fascinating labyrinth garden Kränzel in Tscherms, a few minutes by car from Merano. After an exquisite glass of Cabernet-Lagrein and some lovefully prepared appetisers, the rain stopped and we could make our way barfoot into the fresh garden.

We went through some small labyrinths decorated with amazing artworks and reached the horizontal labyrinth - which origin goes back to the ancient Greek culture - representing the personal development of people, making their way to the center of it. There we could experience a deep meditation moment.
In the small lake next to it we could hear the toads quacking - some people love them, some do really not, it's funny...!
Then we proceeded to the 30 m long tasting table, the only unsailable artwork in the whole garden.
A bit of emotion mixed to fear cought me as I entered alone in the last, big labyrinth. I decided it to be a moment for me only, in order to live an intense experience with myself. A nice guide told me some details of the project, then she met another girl and I continued alone. As I finally got out of the labyrinth I could reach the others up the grassy amphitheatre, from where I could see what I passed through.
Two hours passed in a blink, some very well invested time indeed :)