A beautiful experience

Two weeks without writing... I nearly felt guilty and thought even more time had passed...! Now I have so much adrenalin moving through my veins that I have to write what happened 2day :)
A troupe of the tv sender ORF came to Merano to make some shoots of some prearrangements of the Merano Grape Festival. We went to the Promenade where the market is being prepared and filmed the beautiful stony giant grape made by the diligent workers of the department for Municipal authority streets and infrastrutures last year.Municipal plant nursery Merano and the gardeners showed us how they prepare the red and white carnations they fix on the eagle (the emblem of Merano). The eagle is in the domicile of the department for Municipal authority streets and infrastrutures, awaiting to be prepared for Sunday :)
Then we went to Marling, where Mr. and Mrs. Arquin welcomed us with homemade Strudel and coffee. The carriage is already in a advanced building phase, there were various men working on it, hammering the apples with nails on it. the Goidnerhof - absolutely perfect and everybody happy :) These are the kind of expereinces which make my stressy job worth it :)

Apples, apples, apples :)

On Tuesday I took my car and drove to Marling, a village on a hill just 5 minutes from Merano. I had a meeting with the president of the tourist office of the town, a very gentle man. During the last three years I called him to ask him if he would bring the carriage with the apple crown to the procession of the Grape Festival in Merano. This year I made him a surprise :) I asked him if he could dedicate me some of his time for a brief interview about the history of the carriage. As the carriage has been his baby during the last 15 years, he accepted with enthusiasm to make an interview with me. Also this carriage needs several days for its preparation. There must be at least three persons for three days to create it and you need one day to dismantle it. Over 500 kg apples and 14 kg nails!! Also this carriage has been created 1951 for the Landesmusikfest (the X-large version of the Merano Grape Festival) and Mr. Arquin could even find a picture of the carriage in 1951! I love history... :) After the Merano Grape Festival, the carriage is exposed in Marling for at least two weeks in the central place of the village.
I'm working hard for this event, but I think it's worth it. Every year it's a big emotion for me to see so many people coming to Merano and interacting for passion for music, for tradition, for nice food, for the beautiful things of life. And for me it's cool to have a role in all this too.

Sunny September

The days are finally getting fresher now. As nearly every year September is wonderfully sunny :) It happens to have rainy and windy nights, after those the day appears totally clean - washed by the pattering water - and colourful.
During the day you can still walk in your T-shirt under the sun and enjoy the bright green still dominating the landscape.
My favourite trail for walking and jogging is the beloved Tappeinerweg, you can reach it in 10 min. by walking and in a few steps you already watch over Merano and its valleys. An amazing gift of the Austrina doctor, botanist and anthropologist Franz Tappeiner, who made it possible to have so many Mediterranean plants cropped in Merano. Probably the only city in the alps with its own palm trees, cacti and cluster figs.
On Saturady I enjoyed a nice walk and watched the many flowers, grapes and apples growing in the sun... Cool :)