Into the Wild

20th - 22nd October 2016

I don't understand why shoes are so expensive here. It's like the country has advanced so much that they're willing to pay about 200 EUR for a pair of boots! I guess everyone needs distractions from their daily lives, or just a goal to work towards. Nonetheless, I got myself shoes in a twentieth of that price so I am quite satisfied with myself (or will be till they degrade).

I got on a bus to go back home with my shopping bags and there was an old Italian man who wanted to give me his seat. He even helped me when some contents spilled out of my bag while the bus was moving; as a consequence of me wanting him not to help me (since I was much more able) and the bus turning just at that time, our heads collided! (thankfully, he wasn't injured...maybe).

I thought they were chocolate but they turned out to be different types of coffee! I would like a Leonardo Coffee please!

The Halloween season is here!

I found Harry Potter in Italian, sounds hilarious though!

Ha. Ha. Ha.

We love our professor so much he's the source of our graffiti

It's written in German and Italian (am I in Italy?)

I had my very own German tandem today (planned by yours truly). Three of us met up and learned that we can speak to each other in a language that wasn't our first or second. Myself and a girl from Lithuania have studied some German and given some exams but could not hold a conversation in German. And thus, after finding a German who was willing to help us, we made out way to a cafe and started speaking in German! It was so much fun! It wasn't exactly the grammar or the rules that mattered, it was the words and the meaning. Our German friend could understand us even though we made so many mistakes while speaking with her; I commend her for that. We will definitely do this again.

(^__^)

I took the an evening bus after a long time and I saw the city of Trento as I descended towards it. It was a beautiful sight. It felt transient and fleeting, but I love moments like this. This is truly what it means to be in the moment. You can never get back moments.

Italians drive as if they are racing, it is a pleasure to watch them rev their engines and push their cars up the mountains in Povo. But the best part is watching them speed down a straight like they are Formula racing drivers!

(^__^)

I went on a trip to Rio Novella and San Romedio. There is a beautiful canyon amid the dolomite hills/mountains in the valley of Novella. Dolomite are a type of rock that formed sedimentary layers and are beautiful to look at. The narrow canyon is constricting and the very fact that we were going to explore this place was fascinating to me.

Piazza Dante is present in every city I think

This is Piazza Dante near Rio Novella

Italian Monopoly Deal! I miss this game so much!

The valleys around including Rio Novella are filled with apple orchards. This is the season to harvest these apples so most of them were gone. It was quite interesting to learn of the different types of apples, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Gala and Ranetta. We were all tempted to pick these from the tree and feel like royalty but of course, life handed us the ones that had fallen on the ground instead. We couldn't really complain since they were so delicious!

Apples galore

I wonder how they harvest? Walking would take too long!

And so I found my answer. Who knew that they could be so tiny!

The Fuji apples are the last to be picked

Ignoring the beautiful lady, do you see the white nets? That's for hail protection

Down a path of no return (we weren't coming back this way)

This is the valley of apples!

Fall came late but I'm ecstatic!

These are the Delicious Red variety I think (appropriate name)

Do not be tempted.

There is a secret in this photo

The secret waterfall beckons

No one walks here I guess (except us)

If only you could survive on beauty

4 different types of apples, can you figure it out?

We all wore helmets so we wouldn't (accidentally) bleed out

Down into the canyon at last

I was scared of dropping my phone into the canyon while taking these pictures and so I trusted my friends to take the pictures for me.

We know not how to come back alive from down there

I did wonder how many died while making this metal path that we walked on

Odd stalactites? Well, it's not exactly a cave

Deep deep canyon

Will we make it out alive?

Quite narrow and winding

We walked through the winding trail/track for about an hour and a half and we didn't realise that we had become accustomed to the darkness of the place. It felt like a somewhat lit cave in a way. So when the light came rushing forth, it felt like a dream...

I'm surprised that no one lives here 

Out of the canyon!

It was refreshing to see some light after being the dark

Cerberus (someone in the trip felt his throat burn when he had a taste, death wish I suppose?)

Cute mascot asking us not to pick flowers during springtime

The tree of death and cerberus live among the beauty here (a forest with thorns)

This was a bridge that was broken so that the fruits on the other side could not be picked by passersby

Can you imagine that here, of all places is a hydro plant making use of the running river? (and it's automated!)

We made it out safe!

Now to see the wider part of the canyon

These paths are treacherous and not for the acrophobics

We walked through the "scenic path" to get to a place called San Romedio, named after a Saint Romedio. His story was an interesting one. Trento and this particular place (a hill somewhere) is about 40 kilometers apart. And for some reason, during the last century, Saint Romedio (a hermit) liked to travel to Trento from here quite often; and he did so on his trusty horse. And horses, like all other things in this world can die, and therefore, Saint Romedio could no longer visit Trento. Can you guess what he did? He found a brown bear (common in these parts) and after making it his pet (who knows how he managed that), he rode it to Trento. Thus, he became the famous saint who had a pet bear. The people living here, stay in honour of the hermit, San Romedio (SAN is saint I think) and have built a tall structure here.

Tall structure with a beautiful view from the top. 

That was all of us!

[Hi everyone! I know that today's post doesn't have that much content since I was so busy and excited putting up so many photos! Hope that you enjoyed the post! I would appreciate any feedback and keep reading! My next post will be on the 17th. Later!]