Trento is a small city in a valley that runs through the Dolomites – there is only one last Italian train stop, Bolzano, before crossing into Austria on our trip to Mannheim and the Webers tomorrow.  We have spent three nights here attempting to escape the heat of the Lombardy plains. That plan didn’t work – the last few days have been in the high 30s, and it barely cools at night – for these locals, global warming is a particularly frightening threat.

Trento townsfolk depend heavily on tourism for their income: in winter, a range of snow sports bring in tourists, in summer, hiking and mountaineering figure highly. The changing climate and covid have caused some ski fields to close throughout the last few seasons, quite possibly for good, and hiking in the mountains is no fun when the temperature in summer is close to forty degrees. In addition, in recent years, many of the alpine Italian cities and towns have had quite devastating and deadly floods in spring because of the early melt.  Perhaps the Austrians don’t feel so bad about having to give away a huge chunk of land on this side of the Alps to Italy after WWI.

There is still an obvious, very strong, Germainic influence in this province – for example, in the architecture, the language, and the food. Approximately half a million people speak German as their first language in the Bolzano province. The churches tend to be less ornate than those further south, and there are far more protestant churches than we’ve encountered elswhere on this trip. Polenta and pasta are mixed in with German noodles and a variety of Swiss dishes at many restaurants,

Tomorrow, we will be in Viernheim, Germany, to spend some time with our friends, the Webers, before heading back to OZ. Stephan is a wonderful cook, and the family are generous hosts – always. I am already worried that exhaustion will set in well before we catch our plane to Singapore from Frankfurt. I know that the days will be planned with Germanic precision and activity-filled – from eight in the morning until lights-out after midnight each night. I am concerned that I will eat too much, laugh too much, and have too many visits from their family and friends in the couple days we have with them – and I can hardly wait!!

Farley