Day at the races

Ostermontag (Easter Monday) is a big holiday here, and J and I celebrated with a day at the ippodromo (race track). In Meran, Ostermontag is celebrated (quite appropriately, I think) with a major equestrian event: haflinger races. Haflinger horses (large ponies, really) originated just up the hill from Meran--we can see the mountain town of Hafling from our window. Haflingers are mountain horses--small, surefooted, sturdy, and safe. They also seem to love a parade and a good race. The festival started with haflingers parading around the altstadt (old part of Meran), with a couple of traditional marching bands and lots of people in traditional Sudtirolean dress.

We then walked (about a thousand miles) to the race track to see several "galloping" races of haflingers (i.e., no steeplechase, which is the usual style here). The best part was that the jockeys were mostly teenage girls and they looked as happy as I would have been at their age to ride like the wind in a horse race. I have to say that the ponies were faster than I expected!

Between the races were other traditional events, such as a haflinger dressage exhibition, traditional dancers, and three guys with very large whips (cracking them to music!).

As you can see in the last picture, the view from the ippdromo is incredible. See that little beige thing to the right of center? That's the big castle up the hill from us. Yes,the little guy and I walked a thousand miles to see a horse race, and it was worth it.

More horsey things next week--against my better judgment, we decided to go to Vienna (where I'm going to stand in line to get a ticket to see the Spanish Riding School's morning exercises).

Around and about

We've been staying pretty close to the castle since returning from Oxford. The tourist season in the Dorf (village) officially started on April 1, so we came back to open cafes, museums, hotels, and an enhanced bus schedule. We're also getting some rainy (and snowy, about 500 feet above us) weather. Every plot of land that isn't planted in grapes is planted in apples and pears, and the fruit trees are blooming up the mountainsides. J is a big fan of Nik's pear juice, so it's especially interesting to him to see the fruit trees in bloom.

Nik did a winetasting for the students recently, showcasing some very good wines from the castle's vineyard. The students are reading Amy Trubek's Taste of Place in their aesthetics class, and discussed the concept of "terroir" in winemaking.

It might be hard to fathom from these blog posts, but we also do a fair bit of work. We have some good student babysitting, and otherwise trade off work and play times. During some of our play times, J and I frequent the Sunshine Cafe up in the Dorf. For 2 euros, I get one of the best cappuccinos anywhere and a fantastic view. J gets 45 minutes of playground time and a "banane milch" (we just call it a smoothie). We have to take this place home with us. We've also been playing with other kids--we've met a local veterinarian who has two kids and a yard full of slides, toys, and rabbits. The five-year-old is slowly teaching me German, and I'm giving him an English vocabulary, at least about sandbox toys. They're way up above the village (up the mountain, really), but we've found a walking path which makes the trip much shorter and pleasant. Did I mention it's uphill? Vermont is going to seem so flat after this semester.

Market day

Friday is market day in Meran. Last week, we hiked down from the castle, did some shopping, had sushi for lunch, and admired the flowers in town. Meran bills itself as a "flower city" and it's true that everywhere you look there are attractive flower gardens and interesting trees (including many palm trees). It's an interesting mix of Mediterranean and alpine.

As usual, we opted for the bus back up the hill, and ended up back at "Ezra Pound Strasse" with a weekend's supply of fresh vegetables, olives, and cheeses. We don't have to buy wine in town--we get that from the vintner downstairs.

Fancy gardens and holiday tourists

We visited the Trautmannsdorf Botanische Garten over the weekend. It took two (packed) buses, but it's a short trip from the Dorf. This palace and garden was a favorite of "Sissi," Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who is depicted in sculpture in various places along the paths. We didn't go into the palace museum, but instead just enjoyed the miles of walking paths through extraordinary gardens. The tulips and other spring bulbs were especially pretty, and we also walked through a small maze (three times, with the intrepid three-year-old explorer in the lead (now that he's solved the Marlborough Maze, he thinks these things are a piece of cake, and this one was)), saw a 700-year-old olive tree, visited a children's interpretive garden, and had a delightful lunch at a terrace cafe (we haven't had a non-delightful lunch yet).

Since we had a little spring weather (rain sprinkles and some thunder), we didn't hike the higher trails to some lookouts and an aviary, so we'll have that to do next time. We'll go next time during the week, and not on a holiday weekend! The warm weather and holiday have reminded us that Meran and the Dorf are really tourist towns. People in fancy walking clothes are everywhere, including our own castle, now open as a museum.

More of the "bring home to VT" series

Here's a pub and a cafe for packing in my suitcase: The Anchor Inn (Summertown, Oxford) and the (allegedly) longest continually operated coffeehouse in Europe (Oxford).

(old) New College, and back to the Tirol

Our last day in Oxford included a little wander around New College (which is actually one of the oldest of the Oxford Colleges, founded in 1379), which was the venue for the Philosophy of Education conference, and includes some of the original town wall. Harry Potter fans might be interested in the fact that New College served as the location for some of the films. We also did some last minute pigeon hunting in Gloucester Green before boarding the bus for Gatwick.

We flew back to Innsbruck with what was perhaps the most spectacular landing I've ever experienced. It was smooth, but the descent and landing were quite fast due to very large mountains all around the airport. There was applause, which probably happens with most Innsbruck landings. Our friends here tell us that often planes are rerouted around Innsbruck, so we were lucky for a beautiful day. We had a great time in the UK, but are happy to be back in the Alps. The conductor on the Italian train down to our town from the Austrian border and Brenner Pass gave us a discount, apparently because he liked kids.

I wander (and wander, and wander) lonely as a cloud...

In Oxford, J and I decided we needed a trip into the countryside: for me, to see daffodils; for him to ride on top of a double decker bus. We accomplished both with a visit to Woodstock's Blenheim Palace, home to the Duke of Marlborough. Since we come from a castle in Italy, we kind of thought that the Duke would be there to meet us, but he didn't show up. We had a good time anyway, and since the weather had turned cold and cloudy, there weren't many people around the grounds. One of the benefits of Blenheim for little people is the pleasure gardens, which include a playground, a kid-friendly tea shop, a model village, and the Marlborough Maze. J and I decided to give it a try, and though it was harder than I thought, we solved it in about 20 minutes. I was going to turn around after 5, but couldn't find the way we had come! Interestingly, we heard other people in the maze, but never actually saw anyone. I think J found the whole enterprise a little creepy, and was happy to reach the center (and exit).