Reached home

Almost a year has passed by since I returned home last November. Writing a blog with the title "homecoming-stories" therefore seems somewhat out of place. In many ways, I have reached home over the past nine months. I have learned how to appreciate the little things, the great landscape, the opportunities, and more than everything else the people who live around and with me here in Suedtirol. There are still many things I miss, but by now I have also come to realize that there will be things to miss, regardless where I live. Same as there are always things to enjoy, regardless of where one lives. With Mia, I can further be sure that life will always bring new, beautiful surprises - whether I continue living here in Italy, or whether I will move out again into the world.

So, what remains to be (publicly) said is that I will not continue writing this blog, but that you are more than welcome to follow up on Mia's and my life on our new blog at www.trekkingbaby.blogspot.com. For the first time, I feel that at I am congesting the web with something useful. At least for those of you who like hiking (or looking at trekkingpicturs) and/or would like to know more about hiking with children. And of course it's the new blog is also meant to make my friends want to come and visit me in Suedtirol ;)

Turning

Wow - Mia just turned herself from the back to the belly! At three months... I wonder what's next... crawling at four months? Walking at eight months? I have to admit that she actually is already quite strong - strong enough to make each diaper change a little struggle ;)

Knödeltime

Somehow I get the impression that she would prefer a Knödel over my milk.

Mia at three months

Three months later

The picture below has been taken on the 7th of May, the day before Mia was born. When posing for this picture, I had just completed a four hour trek with my mom. Thinking back, I am kind of tempted to believe that Mia was born BECAUSE of this trekking. Poor little worm had probably enough of being shaked around in my belly over "Stock und Stein". Today, we went on the same trek again (the picture below has been taken on more or less the same spot). At least this time Mia had a chance to see a bit of the landscape and participate more actively (and loudly) in the daytrip.

Summit

Pictures from Mia's first summit, the Königangerspitze @ 2400 m (with a bit of cheating, since she obviously didn't reach the peak by foot but rather was carried like a babykangoroo).

Kings of the road

One might think that pushing a stroller ahead of you would trigger polite manners by other traffic participants (in particular drivers of cars and bicycles). Not so in Suedtirol. Here, if you walk with a stroller, you better get yourself a second pair of eyes that help you cover a 360° radius, to make sure you don't oversee the kings of the roads with their bully jeeps or their 5000 Euro bikes.
Just today, I was already in the midst of a pedestrian crossing, a biker (who approached me and the stroller on his 5000 Euro bike) shouted at me - while almost driving into Mia's stroller with 50 kmh - to open my eyes before crossing the street (note: on a pedestrian crossing) . How comes these idiots on bikes think that they are exempted from traffic rules, just because they have fancy outfits and expensive bikes and well trained bodies? After all, I was already on the pedestrian crossing while he was still 200 meters away. Before I was able to tell him that it would be him to pay in case of an accident, because he 1) drove to fast 2) did ignore the pedestrian crossing - he was already around the corner.
But worst then the bikers are the owners of jeeps, and here again in particular female owners. I remember a middle aged women who recently parked her disgustingly big jeep in the midst of a pedestrian strip. I with my stroller had to walk on the street in order to pass her jeep. When I noticed her that the pedestrian strip was for pedestrians, she only shrug her shoulders and continued devoting her whole attention to her unnaturally full lips. Bitch. Besides the fact that I think its ridiculous to drive a jeep in a town where you can count the potholes on one hand, they should at least respect traffic rules. But after three months of stroller pushing, I have learned that it's size and speed that matter in Suedtirol. No wonder Italy has one of the lowest birthrates around the world.