The Countryside

 Driving

We went driving to find a little town with a woodworking shop - for reasons. We went the scenic route, literally. The skies were clear, so the mountains were very visible. 

(Sorry about pictures through the windshield, but one does not stop on these roads - in facts, one hopes mightily that cars stay on their side, and motorcyclists don’t try to pass, and you won’t meet a big Post Bus on one of the switchback curves.)

Sometimes the mountains were obscured by trees on the steep hillsides. There are no guardrails - I was informed it is better to go properly straight off the cliff into the stream below - if one is set on leaving the road by going too fast or slipping or falling asleep - rather than hitting a guardrail and being flipped upside down into the stream dozens of feet below. Indeed. 

And then the town - 

Note Easter tree

Note the jolly Buddha

Note the angled windows

This was one of the things we came away with (not what we went for). It was carved by an old man in Tirol, who had no successor for his craft, so no more of these will be made. It is a small rare Baroque Holy Family from one block of wood. Note the tiny cherubs, the owl, the lantern, and the tree - not things one sees in typical Holy Family groupings. 

Going out of town, a different way, we saw this fortress above vineyards. 

‘Twas a nice day for a scenic drive - and we survived.