Winter is Coming

We ride above Lake Bohinj, heading out of Slovenia and back towards Austria, going through tiny hamlets and villages, all of which have at least one religious statue and place of worship. Catholicism is omnipresent here, statues of Our Lady and Christ on the cross abound.  This has been a real feature of the trip – not surprising in Italy I guess, but I didn’t expect to see so much evidence of Catholicism in Austria.

It’s a steep but quiet road and despite the altitude, depth of the ravines and frequent sharp curves, there are no safety barriers. My stomach lurches every time I take in the likely trajectory if we miss a turn or the bike skids.

The land is green and steep and whilst it may be verdant there is no question that those living off the land work hard here. Machinery is largely absent and where it is available, it operates on a small scale and is pretty ancient. No new tractors and combine harvesters here. Rather, we regularly observe decades old Fergusons, developed in Northern Ireland many moons ago!

We pass many men cutting wood and harvesting by hand, their arms big and sinewy, their damp t-shirts stretched across broad backs. They are not handsome men, but their strength and obvious connection with the land gives them a fundamental attraction.  At one point, we mistakenly drive into a farmyard. Two men are sitting in the shade of the house and they stand to see us more clearly. They wave and indicate for us to continue driving in the same direction but we look around confused because that would take us to a sheer drop down the mountain! They laugh and slap their thighs, showing their gummy mouths, and gesticulating at our lack of courage.  As soon as we get back on to the road, we regret not getting a photo with them.

Preparations have clearly begun for the cold climate ahead, with wood stacked and stored against every wall and in every shed, outhouse and barn. Winter is coming!