Hafling & Merano

Here in Halfing, 10 minutes off Merano. It's on the way up to Merano 2000, a ski resort.

Here's a pretty but forlorn church atop a hill...definitely closer to God. It would be hard to bring friends though. And anyway the hall could probably take only 30 people at the most. (We peeked). 

We're right next to the stables in this pic. And it's freezing. Look at the clouds swirling about us. I really miss all the fresh air.

Doing a Marilyn Monroe right outside the church doors.

That's the hotel-restaurant called Balthof Sulfner (at least whatever I could make out of the Gothic font) in the background.

Pretty flowers everywhere in the hotel's garden. There were quite a lot of bees polinating. I almost sucked in one trying to smell the roses! Aack!

The hotel comes with a small playground for the little ones, and a small rabbit compound.

This little lop-eared rabbit is adorable. They live in a converted horse stable. Lots of space to play and burrow. Now, how you you eat rabbit meat in the face of this little bunny?

Car model?

Here's another shed with rabbits in them. The big white one was really violent when it came to fresh grass. I was causing a bunny stampede of sorts.

This little gal came to join the fun. Look, she's wearing 4 layers of clothes. I almost feel scantily clad. Haha!

Little Torro is just 2 weeks old. I hope he's spared the slaughter house. :(

Believe it or not, I have never been so close to cows before. So I decided to get up close and personal...

...too close for comfort perhaps. Okay...I didn't actually get kissed here. They're too smelly!

Here at Merano 2000...where I get to see tulips still planted in the soil. Usually when I see them, they're just part of the bouquet, ok?

Planning to come back during winter for some skiing already.

We went to Merano on the way back. We were supposed to horse ride but it had poured.

Why can't we have these cute little bushes on the pavements in Singapore?

It was very tempting to bulldoze my way through all these pastries and chocs. I was real good. Only one ice-cream today.

At the Duomo

The BMW C1. Would love to have this, except that it's a single-seater and it doesn't come cheap.

 The pope?

Hydrangeas, my favourite flowers growing everywhere!

This shop window reminded me of my westie at home staying with my friends.

More shop windows. 

Up next, the loveliest place in Italy...VENICE!

Activities in Italy

Here's me getting ready for something really exciting...PARAGLIDING! The jump lasts about 20 min and costs Euro80. It's worth every cent. We were squeezed in the backseat of a tiny 4-wheel drive with 3 other instructors and plenty of gear. The winding and narrow gravel/dirt tracks up the mountain was an experience in itself. It was bumpy and temperatures fluctuated depending on whether we were in the shade or the sun. Anyway, the ride made me a little queasy already.

Then we had to hike for 10 minutes up a steep slope. Hee, I didn't have to carry anything except myself. The instructors took care of everything but the hubby took a load off them because Simoine was huffing under the 25kg load already.

We were supposed to run down this slope.

Waiting for the instructors/pilots Alessio and Simione to spread their wings. The other guy was around as a safety marshall I think. He only jumped later. Wasn't exactly sure what his role was. Maybe he would rescue us if we got stuck on a tree?

Anyway after being strapped up, I was supposed to run as fast as I possible could (which is very slow) the moment there was a breeze. My take-off was smooth. The moment Alessio said "RUN!", I took a few steps and then realized I couldn't touch the ground for a few seconds. Then I hit the ground, took two more steps and there....I was FLYING! 

[Hmmm, I wonder if I looked ridiculous air-jogging for a few secs.]

Here are aerial views while I was flying. It was pretty cold up there even with the strong sunlight.

A bad shot of Alessio, who was behind me. He kept flying higher and higher, in circles and it was difficult to use my camera. I was also slightly nervous at first. I kept thinking if we would make a sudden dip when there was no wind. Anyway, my worries were unfounded. It was smooth and relaxing, and I could sit down securely.

Alessio has been doing this for 5 years now. It was a hobby that became a full-time job. How lucky! 

Here's me looking really disheveled and ugly in a helmet. I had to admit all the circling and photography made my tummy churn a bit so I was a bit woozy here.

If you're in Riva del Garda, look out for these guys. A jump over the Garda lake costs Euro100 and lasts 30minutes, but you have to get a cable car up yourself.

And now for my favourite animals...

Nah, not this smelly pet pig. He's just calefare in the horses' stables.

Horseback riding! Here's Babsi who's a Halfling breed. She's 15 and had 6 kids already.

This 17-year old teenager works here during the summer holidays and takes tourists like us on rides.

The weather wasn't great. Yesterday when we were here, it poured so heavily that France flooded. Today, we embarked on our 2-hour ride in a slight drizzle. The temperature was about 12 degrees, in summer!! I was ill-prepared in the suitcase department. Thank God for my waterproof Gas jacket. Vroom vroom!

Along the journey, I found out the reason that 90% of the horses we saw were female. It's for the sick reason that the males are all killed for food and hide. How sickeningly AWFUL! How can people eat horses? They're companion animals, like cats and dogs! The few stallions that remain are for the breeding purposes. The French and Germans are mostly guilty of this horrible deed.

This place we went to was in Hafling, off Merano, which is north of Bolzano. Merano is a spa destination and these parts of Italy have German-speaking locals, which explains why my horse 'speaks' German. 

Horseback-riding is relatively affordable. Works out to be about Euro12 to 15 per hour only! If you book the whole day, it will cost Euro100. Much cheaper than Malaysia!

This is Gitti, my favourite among the 20 plus horses there. She is so manja! When I went from stable to stable to say hello, she was the only one who came to me straight away for some serious petting. She allowed me to stroke her muzzle right away and even licked my hands. I felt fully secure putting my hands past the grilles and walking right in to hug her. We sneaked in some carrots for her, but the other horses sensed it and soon the whole stable was filled with neighing and braying. Wah, very stress lah!

Incidentally, Gitti is for sale at Euro3000. I want!!!

These pictures were from another ranch further uphill. They have a mini farm of goats, ilamas and Shetland ponies.

The white horse seems interested in my leather belt, just like Gitti. What is it with them?

Finally here's what we do at night...a soak in the jacuzzi, in mineral water. Nice and warm 38 Celsius before bedtime.