More Things Italian

 Buongiorno,

I have neglected the blog for too long.   It has been a  hectic month, seems like one catastrophe after another.  But now, on the morrow a small vacation will begin as we cross over into Austria to our go-to town of Mauthen.  The cat will be cat sit by Orietta's mother while we will cool off in that small non tourist village.

Mauthen is just across the border and the drive over the pass is very scenic and curvy.  This border was a battle line during WWI.  Austria-Hungarian troops fought against Italians assisted with a battalion of British artillery soldiers.   They endured the harsh winters while  bombarded, spied upon and shot by snipers.  Millions died on the war front.

On the north side (Austrian) as you descend into the valley below you pass a small cemetery which serves to remind one of those who gave their lives.  I must admit that my high school history teacher neglected to mention this war front and its importance.  He said a lot about the fighting in France that America entered near the end of the war.  I wonder how much Italian students learn about this war they call the Great War.  Maybe my Italian FB friends can  enlighten me on this.

This morning I packed up my painting bag, paints, pads of special  watercolor paper already stretched, brushes,  collapsible water holder and paper towel.  I am looking forward to painting when we get there as I have not painted at all for awhile.  This bag tends to get heavy just about the time I add my ipad.  But Mauthen has plenty of places to sit and paint and enjoy the peace of the mountains on both sides and the sounds of a roaring river along the side of our favorite restaurant

It has been too hot in the past two weeks to fly the drone, and I am itching to launch it and take some shots from above the village.  There is a small church up the side of the mountain that I want to show you.  East of the village are several small villages, one with a castle, another with a water fountain in the center of the street, and one with a small pond with quaint Austria houses nearby.  I have a list of sites.

Meanwhile here in Abano Terme the sun continues to cook anyone who has to work outside.  Yesterday my weather ap stated that the temperature felt like 111 degrees.  Those living in Europe....111 degrees is 43.8889 Centigrade.  Roasting.  Burned toast.

I look at this 111 and think of my great friends now enjoying Hawaii.

Over 80 and still travelling across the pond.  They are an inspiration.  

We have a Toyota all electric car.  It is quiet, the AC works great, you can  turn it on before you get in.  It has a lot of power.  We did not choose this car, my wife's factory provides the model for their executives.  There is one huge flaw for people like us.  Example.  We previously could drive all the way to Croatia and part way back using diesel gas.  Filling up took 5 minutes and usually this was a pit stop at the same time.  Now with electricity we can only take it to the border before we have to stop and charge.  The fast charging takes almost an hour and on the way back we will have to do the same.  Not fun!  

This year I think I read where electric cars are not a big sale item in Europe.  This is one of the reasons, besides the price.  They have priced their cars out of the range for most Italian families.  These car makers are going to have to produce vehicles costing thousands less than what they are forcing people to buy. 

  You would think that since they have robots doing almost all the work the savings could be passed on to the consumer. 

The piano is calling me, but first a short story.  The cat that we have spent his first 6 months in a bathroom.  The people "rescuing" had other cats living in the house.  For some reason they did not allow the rescue cat to mingle.  So he sat in a mostly quiet room without much human/cat experience.  When we brought him home we learned that he liked quiet.  Do you see where this is  going?  So the second day he was with us I sat at the piano and began  going over my scales and finger exercises.  Ol' Taco headed for the back of the house as fast as his paws could gain a grip on the slick floor.  When I finished playing he came back to join us.  This is now a daily occurrence, but one day he jumped up on top of the keys sounding like Mozart gone crazy.  Then he took a big heavy walk to the highest notes, and looked at me with disgust.  This has happened a few times since then.  I have heard of people whose cats have clawed and chewed  the legs on their piano.  Thank goodness he hasn't figured that out yet.  My wonderful piano is without a scratch, just as it came two years ago.  Happy Day to You.

Ciao!

My wonderful Italian pal, Alberto, broke in my piano.  He takes the time to teach me Italian and shares his skill at jazz.  Friends are a treasure and Alberto is a super Italian ambassador.