Bolzano, Italy

Leaving Lake Garda for Bolzano. Great views!

We made a stop to Trento along the way. This is about an hour's drive from Riva del Garda.

It was a small university town among the Dolomites clusters.

So cute...this vintage motorbike. About the right size for me! It's like the Italian version of those 'ah pek' bicycles in Singapore that are used to make deliveries to kopi tiams. Premium bananas anyone?

Hotel Four Points by Sheraton in Bolzano...yay!!

It was a long and ardous drive, which involved us getting very very lost in ulu Italy. I have ambivalent feelings towards GPS technology now. While it is usually quite reliable and convenient, it makes us leave our brains behind, give up good old maps and put our faith in this little black box, enslaved to its commands to "turn right" or "enter roundabout and then take 4th exit". Everytime it went "Recalculating", it put us in a frenzy to recitfy our mistake and made us upset that we have again, taken the wrong road. 

We don't know if the  route it chooses for us are what we would prefer. When we make a wrong turn, we don't know if the new route is going to be much much longer than the previous one. We don't even know that the Italian transport authorities have been so hard at work that they built new expressways while we downloaded the maps, which made our maps obsolete already. We are absolutely in the dark with this piece of wretch technology! 

Once, I was so incensed when during the drive, the VOICE insisted I was driving on "unpaved roads". I was on a spanking new autostrade but the GPS went mad and pronounced "recalculating" so many numerous times I almost lost it. When we finally spotted someone, I was elated! It's a.... HUMAN.... at long last!!!

When we reached the hotel, I just sprawled on the soft sheets to recover from the ordeal. But my 

driving woes weren't over. Here's some advice: if you're in Italy and see the autostrade road sign, always do a double-check before turning in. We happily paid the tolls thinking we were going to town. It turned out to be a 60km mistake to and fro. Add peak hour traffic, huge trucks, road works and double toll payment to that. I almost died.

An Old English Sheepdog. These are one of the cutest, blur-looking dogs around. One of the things I love about Europe is the fact that pets go where owners go. I might single-handedly boost the Singapore economy if Tiger were allowed to go shopping with me! haha!

Neptune is pretty popular in Europe. Frankfurt has a huge statue of him about ten times this size.

Hey look...I'm on TV!!! 

Ok, technically, I'm in TV. Ok ok, corny I know. This "TV" is actually a revamped speaker/ampifier in a quaint cafe.

Here's a 'man-eater'...The hubby is charmed with World Cup paraphernalia and decides these chips in the shape of soccer players clearly adds to the mood while catching Italy vs Uruguay.

That's all for now...next segment, Merano.

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.