The springomether | a week after :)

Here it is, the actual state of my personal springomether :)
Maybe its bulbs are like people, they let their most energic side pop out of them with different rhythms... -48 days to our most beautiful season :)

The springomether

Last year my aunt Doris gave me a small vase of beautiful narcissi. I cut them as they drooped and let the bulbs in the balcony.
Two weeks ago some green spots magically appeared from them :)
Now I'm following their growth and will keep track of it, it will be my personal springomether :)
This is its stage today!
Happy spring-countdown to everybody!

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 :)

Autumnal Sunday in Merano

After the intense Grape Festival time, I finally had a week-end for myself to spend as I wish! My walk today gave me the chance to let me enwrap by the gorgeous autumnal colours in Merano... Absolutely fantastic :)
The images don't need any comment... See them :)

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 :)

Summer is back again :)

As I went lunch break yesterday, I couldn't believe at what I was seeing and feeling! The sun was shining bright in the sky and I could feel 30 degrees on my skin! We are at the end of September and it's still summer :) Cool :) So I went to the gym and decided that I couldn't stay indoors. I went jogging :)
I made my usual route, from the winter Promenade to the Gilf and up to the Tappeiner. I couldn't believe I had to shorten my trip because it was too hot...! I felt lucky :)

The castle on the hill is the Zenoburg.

Bio, etc.

Last Friday I got my fortnightly Biokistl. The Biokistl is a nice service which settled in South Tyrol some years ago. You sign in by Internet, choose the size of the "Kistl" (chest) you need and the things you absolutely don't want and those you could live at :) Then, they bring you the "Kistl" at home early in the morning, so that you're able to store them, before going to work. Of course also Merano is provided with this service. As I wasn't really a big fan of vegs and fruits, but I knew they are healthy, I found this solution to get accostumed to having some vegs in my fridge :).
Last Friday in my "Kist" I found some plums... I love them dry, but I can't stand them fresh... What was I supposed to do? I looked at my "So kocht Suedtirol" (that's how South Tyrol cooks) recipes book in search for inspiration and found a cool recipe for a cake and just baked it :) Let's see how my friends will like it! :)