TRENTO & South TYROL BREAK
JULY 16-22, 201616- SATURDAY
STAGE DAY
We left for Trento last night, and we reached Luigino, Paola and some other mates from Sangano for a pizza near Luigino’s house, our base for the first few days.
The Stage was held in the fields of Mt. Bondone, a very nice and pleasant, windy setting. We practised while Rosie was hiking the nearby mountains. I finally managed to learn a form I had always copied, but never actually understood, and I also learnt the Simon & Garfunkel song El Condor Pasa perfectly [the form we learnt is based on that song…]
In the evening, we all met again for dinner in a traditional restaurant, where I was wise enough to have only the first course, barley risotto. The portions around here are really HUGE and I couldn’t have gone through a second course too… Edio treated us all to dessert to celebrate his birthday!
17- SUNDAY
CANOE ON THE LAKE
Canoeing on the S. Giustina Lake in Val di Non I paired with Rosie and had a real job trying to keep our canoe on a straight course - she was ‘powering up’ in the front while I steer-paddled in the back, or trying to, but she must have an arm stronger than the other! We had great fun though, and we could go further along the canyons than last year, for the water was much higher.
Back ashore we had the ‘complimentary sandwich’ that, in my [and many others’] opinion, they’d better avoid - it’s all bread and a flimsy slice (one) of spek and another flimsier [if possible] slice (one) of cheese. Gimme a fruit juice and I’ll be happier!
In the afternoon we visited S. Romedio’s sanctuary through a nice trail cut into the sheer rock faces where Francesco had some trouble with heights, but still he made it through.
To end the day we had dinner with a local (Val di Non) speciality, the Tortel di Patate, a deep-fried large potato patty served with meats and vegs. Not really my cup of tea, for I’m not too keen on fry-ups, still, it’s ok on the odd occasion - and the shredded cabbage salad was FAB!
18- MONDAY
This morning we said goodbye to our hosts and moved on to Bozen, the Alto Agige-South Tyrol’s capital. The town is pretty, but, at 38ºC [100ºF], way too much for our likings! We took a short tour, visited a couple of sports shops, bought a map of Val Venosta, lunched on a bench with some traditional bread, and headed to one of Messner Mountain Museums.
The Museum complex consists of 6 different locations, each museum dedicated to one aspect of the mountains. This one is set into Firmian Castle, just outside Bozen, and revolves around the religious and spiritual aspects of the mountains. It’s quite impressive, with a large collection of artefacts from Messner’s travels to the Himalayas, and a large collection of paintings and pictures. Overall, we found it to be a bit ‘pick-n-mix’ though, for two of the towers of the castle ware dedicated to mountain exploration and equipment, that we found a bit disconnected to the religious aspect of the previous sections. in another of the towers was the story of Firmian Castle, that, although disconnected from the rest, could be interesting to explain the setting. Still, well worth a visit.
Here, although still in Italy, everybody speaks German as a first language, switching [reluctantly] to Italian when they see you don’t speak German…
Later in the afternoon, we headed for Meran, but the temperature didn’t drop a bit so we skipped the town altogether and continued to Val d’Ultimo [Ulten Valley] and the freshness of the mountains. We stopped at the very end of the road, by Lago Fontana Bianca [White Spring lake], where we parked under some pine trees by a small stream, at 1900m [6,240ft] - nice and cool!
19- TUESDAY
CIRCULAR WALK : RIF. CANZIANI - +600M [1968FT] - 7KM [4.35MI]
A great walk to this mountain refuge where we had some excellent food. We made a circular tour, reaching the refuge from our starting point, lake Fontana Bianca [White Spring], then we passed the dam on lake Verde [Green] coming back down the other side of the valley.
The mountains and views were spectacular! We started after breakfast at a relaxing pace as the level difference wasn’t that much [600m / 1968ft] and I managed it in 1.40hrs, including picture-taking! Considering I’m pretty out of shape it’s not that bad, as it normally took me 2 hrs to do that level difference. We encountered cows, horses and sheep that asked for a stroke on the head… ^_^A lot of the lakes here have small dams to regulate the water flow. The day was really great, with a warm sun and blue sky - we’re getting quite a tan!
Later in the afternoon we moved into a parallel valley, Val Martello [Martell Valley] where we’re qubing in the woods, near an impetuous river coming from one of the glaciers up the mountains. We paid a 24hrs parking ticket [€4.00] that allowed us to park anywhere along the road. While transiting from one valley to the other, we had to nearly go back to Meran, where we recorded 37ºC [98.6ºF] again - really unbearable! Fortunately up here, temperatures are nice and cool. Another quite tiring but fulfilling day!
We’re at 2000Masl [6562ft].
20- WEDNESDAY
CIRCULAR WALK: GLACIOLOGY TRAIL - +600M [1968FT] - 10.5KM [6.5MI]
We followed Luigino’s suggestion to do this trail, and how right he was! Stunning landscape, glaciers, rivers, waterfalls, amazing rocks! The tour was meant to take 4-5 hours, but we made it last 8 hours, we took so many pictures, and even just stopped in awe at the majesty of these mountains!!!
I was considering that, when you are surrounded by such beauty, you really forget about everything, and you are pervaded by a sense of calm and quietness.
The day has been quite tiring, what with also my left knee swollen for the day, but I’m extremely satisfied! I even managed some barefooting in a small lake where we stopped for lunch. What a day!!! =D
Later tonight we moved valley again, reaching Solden [1860Masl / 6100ft] where we Qubed on the cableway carpark, together with other campervans. We couldn’t do any shopping, for the local Spar closes at 6.30pm and we reached it at … 6.40… shoot! So, we treated ourselves to a nice meal in a traditional restaurant - fantastic food and lovely atmosphere. We also managed to buy a carton of milk from them, for tomorrow’s breakfast! ^_^
21- THURSDAY
GLACIER SHORT TRAIL - +100M [330FT] - 2KM [1.25MI]
Both my knees are playing me today - the left one is on its way down, but the right one is giving me sharp pains… so we took it easier - we took the cableway up to the base of the Ortles glaciers and the refuge there. We choose a short trail taking us across the rocks [and some ice] up to the very edge of the glacier where Rosie ventured for a bit, but I preferred not to.The views from here are really great, in spite of the day initially overcast [we did get some sun in the end]…The thing that strikes me the most is the amazing variety of rocks!!! Every step you take you can stop for minutes just to take in the different shapes, colours and patterns of these stones.And the funny thing is that what you see from a distance seems just a boring pile of brittle on the mountain slopes!
We enjoyed a meal at the refuge, where I had some amazing “canederli” [sort of meatballs made with bread instead of meat and with various fillings - it doesn’t sound much when describing it… you have to try them to believe it!] and took the cableway back down. During the descent we spotted a small herd of yaks that Messner originally ‘imported’ from Tibet quite some time ago. Sadly, we could only see them from a very high distance…
For the night, we moved to the Stelvio Pass, for tomorrow we’ll be going down to the Padana plain to Piacenza.
We found a nice spot, just before the Pass, with extremely nice views on the majestic mountains here. You really feel very small and insignificant, but at the same time, very much part of a wonderful universe! Before dinner I managed a few pics of a marmot eating on the slopes just down from where we are parked.Wonderful nature! =D 2750Masl [9000ft]
22- FRIDAY
What a good night sleep! I must say, our Quber really performs well. It should be just SLIGHTLY bigger to allow a little more freedom of movement, but on the whole it’s really a great way to travel. The sky has been overcast for most of the day and we even met some thunderstorms along the way.On our way to Piacenza we stopped at Bormio, an unimpressive little town, and at Ponte di Legno, very nicely laid out on two sides of a river. We could just walk around the town taking pictures before a heavy storm collapsed on us, and we waited out a bit under a gazebo on the main square. When the rain subsided a little, we made it to the a nice restaurant where I had some “pizzoccheri”, a local pasta dish with cheese, potatoes and kale, and a nice craft beer. On our way back to the car, we bought some local cheese in a quaint little shop, to take to P+V to Piacenza [and a bit for us too ;)].
all pictures here: http://bit.ly/2aMeVL6
No comments:
Post a Comment