"You mean I'm in...Austria?!" and Other Exciting Tales

Friday started as a lovely, clear day. I bought some fruit and delicious pasteries with the remainder of my francs, and ate breakfast watching the clouds go by. Then it was time to catch the first of my 6 (yes, really) trains to Ponte Gardena. On the way to Interlaken, I sat next to a very nice elderly British chap, who lamented his wife wasn't with to meet me. He gave me some good Italy pointers. I stepped onto the balcony at Interlaken and literally ran smack into Taylor! He was heading to Milano. I would've been on the same train, but I was routed a different way, being promised it was shorter. At least Taylor and I had one leg together. Reciprocal couch surfs will be arranged soon.

So, I continued on through my next several trains. On the train from Zurich to Innsbruck, I realized my ticket stopped there. Where the hell is Innsbruck, anyway? I started to panic a little, since I only had 6 minutes to make my transfer - not enough time to buy a ticket. Feeling crafty, I went to the dining car and asked if there was someone I could talk to. They directed me to a very helpful conductor. Apparently you can buy tickets on the train. Apparently, they also give you a €3 discount if you're an obviously lost American who has to have the other conductor called because she doesn't understand what you're telling her. So, I was sold a ticket to the border station, Brennero, still not fully understanding how I was supposed to catch the right train. It wasn't until 4 of the 6 minutes on my transfer had gone by that I realized that 1) I was in Austria and 2) they sold me a ticket for the correct train, but only for part of the journey. I'd have to buy the other half of the passage onboard. Ay.

So, you can understand when I stepped onto the platform in Ponte Gardena and saw Eleonora's smiling face, I'd never been so happy to see someone in my life. This woman truly is an angel - we had a phenomenal weekend together. We first headed back to her place to drop off my things. She took up the role of tour guide effortlessly, taking me for a nice stroll and telling me about the history of the area. In Val Gardena (the name of a valley nestled in the Dolomites made up of several small towns), they speak Ladino and are more culturally Austrian than Italian, as the area has only been Italian territory since the first World War. Once we worked up an appetite, we headed to a restaurant and got some pizza (the real kind). A few bites in, we realized the window over her bed was wide open, and I again attempted to outrun a rainstorm. Only, this time the rain was coming down in sheets with crazy gusts of wind. I felt like I was in a hurricane. Luckily, the bed made it through with only minor injuries, and we finished our dinner chatting about families, dreams, goals, jobs and the like. It was a perfect evening.

On Saturday Ele's friend Egon took us on a 10 hour hike around a mountain. Yes, we literally walked in a big circle around a mountain. Egon is a guida alpina by profession. The route he chose was stunning. There were 360 degree views of mountains and green valleys, and several times we passed over patches of snow. Ele says that's even rare for here, but it made my day to have my picture taken on a patch of snow. After a macchiato at a rifugio where I played fetch with a Dobermann and a few hours of hiking, my bladder got the best of me. I was glad for my training in Kenya, where I learned not to get the peepee all over me or let the moon hit your eye like a big pizza pie. There aren't many places to be discreet on a big, open mountainside. Then it was time for lunch. Ele packed us a delicious spread with speck sandwiches, bread and nutella, and fruit. Speck is made of pork, and I, being the political person I am, had to explain why I don't eat pork in the U.S. and how good it is to see the animals raised here the way they were supposed to be. Speaking of, after lunch we ran into a herd of sheep and a herd of cows. I got to pet a number of them, and ended up with some pretty classic pictures after one of the cows insisted on licking my face. Later in the day, we were having a short rest when Egon pointed out a young marmot hanging out on a rock below us. I want one. On the last legs of the day, we had run out of water and were running out of steam. No problem for a guida alpina. He brought us over to a rock outcropping, where meltwater was being filtered by the rock. We drank it straight from the source, and it was invigorating and delicious. Of course, we had to wait for the trickle to fill the bottle, and happened upon a large stream about 5 minutes later, but whaddaya do? To wrap up the evening, Ele cooked me a delicious dinner of pasta with red sauce and lemon chicken.

On Sunday morning, Ele and I made brioche filled with apricot jam, nutella or cinnamon sugar, wached down with Italian press coffee. Can I keep her? We packed up for a short hike, and took the ski lift up to the top of the mountain. A bit scary looking straight down from the top, but I am assured they are safe. We had a nice walk, and stopped to lie down a bit in an open field. A 2-year old male red deer wandered over by us. He was very intrigued, coming over to sniff, running off a few steps and repeating the process over and over for about 5 minutes. Ele got an incredible videotape of it. Then we were off to the restaurant from Friday, to test our luck at the kitchen not being closed and a rainstorm not truncating the evening. This time we were able to order canederli, which are little balls made of speck, bread and either mushrooms, cheese or spinach. This regional food was absolutely delicious. Then we had the chocolate version and some creme brulee. It's a good thing I don't eat like this all the time. Sadly, it was time for Ele to bring me to the train station. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare (the fun thing about running late is you get to hear all of the Italian road rage trash talking). I got a bit choked up watching her as the train left the station. She is a very, very dear person, and I am so happy to have connected with her. I look forward to seeing her again, hopefully sooner than later!

Now, I'm in Roma safe and sound, with more train madness on the way. But that's another story for another time. Ciao!