I am compelled to say that today had been one of the more quiet days of my trip, at least the later part of the day.  Having left Castel Fragsburg just after 1 this afternoon, I only had a drive down the mountain to the lovely Hotel Tivoli in the valley below where I now sit having just finished a fantastic dinner featuring duck with some very nice vegetables.  The atmosphere here is quite different from that of Fragsburg.  It would be hard to put the difference into words, only that they are both equally nice hotels but the atmosphere is different.  (am I babbling?)

I woke this morning without the necessity of my scheduled 9 o'clock wake up. When I awoke, I had absolutely no idea what time it was.  I really had wanted it to be late knowing I had had a good nights rest, but when I ventured down to the dining room for breakfast, I saw that once again I was the first one up, with exception this day of the kitchen staff.  Before I go any further, let me tell you how hard the staff of Castel Fragsburg works.  Back and forth they go, from table to table and back to the kitchen.  At times I really felt sorry for them, working so hard. 

Anyway, with the tables all set on the terrace for breakfast, and the buffet prepared of various cereals, meats, breads, jams, cheeses, I thought to take a panorama of the terrace.  Frustrated by the way my camera will not allow me to use a flash with my special fish-eye lens, I decided to switch to my wide-angle and wow what a difference it made.  The panoramas came out really well.  I then had breakfast and afterward asked Alexander if he wanted to take a couple more panoramas.  He definitely did and so after I spent half an hour packing up my belongings, off we went to our first location - the roof.  We had to access it from a suite and once on the balcony, we climbed up the fairly steep pitched newly tiled roof to the top where the morning air was very crisp and clear, having been washed out from the previous nights storm.  Anyone who is afraid of heights (Duncan) would certainly not of wanted to be up that high.  Anyway, the panorama came out great (view Merano Panorama  - well worth the download - 220k) and then we shot a suite, which is the best panorama of a suite I have ever taken.  (because of the wide-angle lens and using the flash)  When all was complete, I then decided to have a wonderful lunch consisting of a soup with had a bacon dumpling in it and some pasta with several delicious prawns.  The restaurant was packed for lunch and from what I understand, it is frequented by both tourist and locals alike.  Alexander told me the owner of the Hotel Tivoli was just up last week.  The view is spectacular. 

So with lunch complete, it was then time to say goodbye.  Alexander was waiting tables because of the crowd, so our farewell after three nights consisted of a handshake, a "until we meet again" pleasantry, and a very sincere thank you from myself for the past three nights.  Then, without saying many goodbyes at all to the staff, off I went.  I stopped in a small village just outside of Merano called Dorf Tirol.  It is a small village with sweeping panoramic views and two castles which are quite beautiful.  I only spent an hour or so there, walking the graveyard of a church. (it seemed to be a quite popular spot I must say)  I had to wonder walking past the graves seeing so many pictures of couples, most born at the beginning of the 20th century and having passed away in the past 20 years or so.  Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java(tm). I could only wonder about the lives these people had lead.  Having seen enough of Dorf Tirol, I decided to come down to Merano and begin my visit here at Hotel Tivoli.  Mr. Defranceschi was at the front desk as he has been every other time and to no surprise, he greeted me with an enthusiastic "Hello Mr. Hall, how nice to see you again!"  I must say that I have not really had the opportunity to sit for any length of time and chat with him, but every time I have visited the Hotel Tivoli, he has been so very kind.  If you will allow me to say, he is a very handsome man who seemingly has taken very good care of himself over the years.  I would guess him to be in his early to mid fifties.  So, after he requested a glass of champagne be brought to me, we chatted for 5 or 10 minutes and then he went back to running the hotel.  I, on the other hand, decided to force myself to sit down and do some work on a dental web site that is almost overdue.  The afternoon quickly turned into the evening and after having a nice dinner, here I sit in an empty restaurant smelling the aroma of cigars being smoked in a nearby sitting room.  I have no plans to go anywhere tonight other than my balcony perhaps, which opens to such a lovely view of the vineyards and orchards which literally surround the hotel.  The clouds that were absent this morning have returned and I can only imagine we are in for a wet and stormy night. 

In closing, let me share with you a thought I was having at dinner time tonight.  Those of you who know me and my travels from the past, know how burned out I would get, night after night in not only a different hotel, but usually a different city hours apart.  That scheduled killed me.  This trip has been so different in that I have had several times in which I would be in one location for several days such as here in Merano.  A total of five nights here, and the previous four nights were only two hours away and each of those four locations were within an hour drive of each other, if that.  On Tuesday, I will leave Merano after a night in a beauty farm and head to the home of a wood carver I met last year and think I will spend the night with him and his wife, if even on their couch.  It is nice of them to open their home to me, which you will see as well.  Then, I am in the same small village the next night before I will be on the road for several nights in different locations in Austria.  (I have some killer spots lined up there!)  Finally, I will have a chance to rest for five nights in Budapest where I will once again visit with a girl named Krisztina who has written me that she will "personally" show me Hungary.  That will be a real treat I must say.