Day 7 (Italy): Lasa - Trento (room with a view)

today’s distance: 144 km
total distance: 752km
riding time: 6.5 h

Leaving Laas and heading to Meran was a joy. The headwind from the day before was gone and so I scooted down the valley. The area also brought some memories - albeit faint - back as I spent some summers here with my parents. For some pictures go here and here, I was small.

The whole valley was lined with apple orchards, progressively growing greener the further I went down the valley.

In Meran I had my first experience with a paranoid state. Every internet cafe is required to note the ID number of their patrons, the reason being terrorist threats. As if a terrorist would come in and submit their real ID, it was absurdity. The same was true for a computer store owner and the people in the cafe. Unfriendly as you can be …

I set up my couchsurfing stayfor the night with Giorgio a bit last minute and now was also going to arrive one day early. It didn’t seem to be a problem for him. The problem I had was an extremely strong headwind that made me stop cold a couple of times. Despite some good pedealling I would only be able to do about 12 km/h and had a long way to go to Trento. In the end it trned out to be 144 km. On the way I met an ornithologist who showed me some birds in the area (no pictures Prof. G, sorry, they weren’t sitting still ormy lense wasn’t powerful enough). The further I got down the valley, the more people were coming towards me, most of them with a relaxed smile on their faces. What was compounding the frustration were different distances given on signs, ranging at one point from 11 to 28. After a long day, that is a noticable difference - at least for me. It was a tiring and long day, but Giorgio - my host for the night - made more than up for it.

After dodging crazy Italian traffic getting into the center of town, I waited on the main square for him and ultimately went to his place - going uphill he just hammered it with me slowly trundling up behind. Giorgio is a great guy from Sicily who is now pursuing his Ph.D. in computer sciences with a great many interests. And sooooo friendly. Thank you for everything, the cooking included. Should you ever meet him and he tells you that his German isn’t good, ask him for some pastries his grandmother makes … and he will tell you that they are made with Muerbeteig. So much for not speaking German well.

The room I was staying in is great …. wonderful views over the castle qand the surrounding are included.