We just crossed into Germany from Austria and were immediately stopped by three attractive German police for passport control. They pulled a young man off the bus, talked to him, checked his luggage, and let us go.
Like most bus rides, I am lost in thought as the green and yellow-flowered fields pass by.
I can't believe its the middle of May already. My month of workaway in Italy is over already.
It has been incredible, and to say it flew by would be an understatement.
(Sophie joined me for a week. She is from Minnesota and awesoomee! My last day was spent exploring the town with her and making her climb the mountain to see the cows with me. You rock Sophie!)
I had arrived on a cloudy day to be welcomed into a South Tyrolian family's home, nestled amongst the most beautiful mountians surrounded by breathtaking rivers and pine forests.
The first two weeks the weather was comparabale to Wisconsins March. Snow one day. Rain the next. Three nice days. Seven below freezing with sleet. Despite the weather and therefore spending most of my time inside by a fireplace with my coffee in a cow mug, it was a fantastic time.
My job was pretty simple most days. The morning was free pretty much free, occasionally working with their horses or cleaning, then I would make lunch for the kids and mom when they got home from school (they only go until 1:00pm) then spend the afternoon watching Franzi, the precious, spunky, opinionated three year old.
The first week Hubi (dad) took me to see two dairy farms in the area. South Tyrol is such a cool place with really unique culture. One of my favorites is how the barns are often structured - they are often attached to the house! Separated only by two doors and a mud room, I can't believe how clean the house is despite being feet away from cows.
I of course would love this...
I love how every dairy farm I visit in the world is so similar but different. They all have machines and stalls or parlor and a milk house with cooling equipment and a tank. Unlike the states though, all this milk is sold locally and bought locally. They have tiny tanks and daily roll it out to the road where it is picked up. No milk trucks here!
The larger farm that we visited had a parlor and a barn full of swiss, holsteins, red and whites, and jerseys.
They had a double two parlor where cows came in individually...
...and a large freestall with everyone together.
The cows get unlimited hay and silage, and enter a stall that regulates their feed by reading the tag around their necks.
In South Tyrol most farms have from five to 30 cows. Sixty cows is considered big, and hundreds of cows is unheard of.
They sure know the beauty of community and small businesses.
In each farm the calves were housed individually, often tied after a few weeks.
The thing that blows my mind most is that the barns are often built into the sides of hills, covering part of the barn, meaning cows are in the dark underground with just a small window or two leading out.
It seems like there wouldn't be enough ventilation to keep them healthy?
But they must be doing a lot right because their oldest cow is 15 and many are over five. A far cry from our 3-4 year average.
Not barns are underground though... this one wasn't attached to the house, either.
It also has a pretty cool claw to move the hay since they mostly keep it loose and don't use bales.
Really though. Can you imagine walking out of your barn to this view??
I got to visit more than once, and finally got to help milk. (Communication with a German who speaks no English is rather difficult, yet entertaining.)
I asked the farmer his favorite cow and he pointed to one, and said she gives 40 liters of milk. I'm not sure how many pounds that translates to, but it is a lot.
So, of course cows were fantastic, but apart from the German-speaking bovines, I also spent a lot of time riding and exploring the unbelievable area.
The horses were pretty fantastic...
My home also had sheep and a sweet, fluffy dog named Spike. Considering my history of dogs, we got along pretty well.
And the sheep...
The second weekend I made a trip to Innsbruck Austria, just an hour away. Innsbruck is beautiful, surrounded by snowy mountains and the stone streets lined with colorful houses.
I met up with two couch surfers, Michelle and Sam.
The first day we explored the city and Sam gave us a fabulous history of the town before heading to his friends house and snacking on pretzels and beer and talking about languages and how many dialects of German there are.
The next day Michelle and I made our way up the mountain overlooking the city.
Although I can't take credit for beast climbing it (we took a cable car most of the way, but you better believe if I had more than one day in the city I would have!) The view was incredible...
Later, I was invited by a friend (we had met in Colombia two years ago and traveled to Ecuador together) to join him and his family for dinner, being some holiday where each village puts up a tree and decorates it and the surrounding villages fight to keep theirs standing while taking down the others...or something along those lines.
I met with Christoff and he drove me out of the city, up a hill, to his family's home with a beautiful view. His family was fantastic and so welcoming, participating in wonderful conversation, delicious, traditional food I can't pronounce, and a local liqeur made from trees and tastes like pinecones as it burns its way down your throat.
It was fantastic, and reminded me how strange yet fantastic the local food is.
Lots of pasta and potatos and spinach boiled and balled and rolled in cheese.
(Absolute favorite. Eaten with cream and ham.)
Another day, I visited a market with Hubi. Like any small farm community market, there was machinery and animals and I felt right at home.
Aand of course trips up the mountain...
(Also got the opportunity to go rock climbing. Always the most thrilling terrifying thing in my life.)
...And now, another airport. Tomorrow I will be in The Netherlands - another country long time dream.
Oh the places we will go.
No comments:
Post a Comment