Monumento Alla Vittoria

Monumento Alla Vittoria

Shopping Arcade

Dominican Church Frescoes

Ancient Gries Parish Church Cemetery

Church of St. Agustine Interior

Overnight, we had some heavy rain, lightning and thunder but the days have been mostly warm and dry.

On this morning we took the Gondola down the mountain to Bolzano where we visited the Kolping Center for a lecture by Professor Andreas Hapkemeyer. The Kolping Center is a place where folks can go to learn a trade like cooking, woodworking, parenting, horseshoeing, wood carving and more.
The professor discussed the Tyrolean region and how the change in borders over the last 100 years or so has resulted in the need for four passports even if you lived in the same home. This area was once a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria, German and now part of Italy.

At the end of the 1920’s there were about 30,000 residents in Bolzano but Mussolini wanted it to be more Italian to show his power on the border. He had a goal of increasing the population to 100,000 residents, mostly of Italian descent. The area was producing steel and magnesium and they needed a larger work force so mostly poor people from all parts of Italy were brought here to live and work.

New shopping arcades, apartments and streets were built to accommodate the new influx of workers and to increase the population. The new construction was much more streamlined and modern in comparison to the architecture that had existed in the past. The new shopping arcades lined new avenues and the covered porticos were much larger in scale than anything that had existed previously.

Between 1926 and 1928 a monument was built called the Monumento Alla Vittoria in what would be the new center of town strategically placed between the old town and new town. This would become the first Fascist Monument and would become the scene for the most important public gatherings in the city. Political rallies and ceremonies of the Fascist Regime took place here.

The monument is similar to the Arc de’ Triumph in Paris designed with the symbols of the Fascist regime. Columns resembling a bundle of wooden sticks with protruding axe-heads had been an ancient Roman symbol of power and were used for the monument. The bundled wooden sticks were a symbol that together we can be greater than we can be individually.

After the second World War, the monument has remained a focus of tensions between Fascists and anti-Fascists and between linguistic groups. Today the monument remains although there have been many discussions about whether this monument should be torn down. To help educate the public about the history of the monument over time, it now houses a museum in the basement.

During our lecture Christine snuck out and purchased twenty gelato ice cream cups in all different flavors for us to enjoy. After the lecture we had time for a small bite to eat before meeting back up with the group at the monument museum for a self-guided tour. The museum is not too large and but has a lot of information on its history and photos over history.

We also visited a couple of different churches in town. The first was the Dominican Church with very old frescoes painted on the walls. The second was an interesting cemetery at the Ancient Gries Parish Church. The third was the Church of St. Augustine with its very ornate interior.

Kellerei Bozen Winery

Inside the Winery

Winery Barrels

Winery Bottling Machinery

Vineyards

This morning we headed out on the Gondola to the town of Bolzano below. Once in Bolzano we caught a bus to the Kellerei Bozen Winery where we took a wonderful tour. The winery used to have two locations where they produced their wines until 2018 when they moved into this new facility.

The winery is not owned by one family or corporation but instead is a co-operative of about 225 families who own vineyards in this region. They pool their small vineyards grapes to create about 50 different wines with a production of about 3,000,000 bottles a year. Each member of the co-operative is paid on the quality of the grapes that they bring to the winery for processing. The members receive payment for the grapes when they are harvested as well as receiving a quarterly payment from the profits of the winery.

This new facility was designed by an architect who had never previously designed a wine processing facility. It was built at a cost of about $40,000,000 and is built into the hillside and partially covered with vineyards making it both productive and eye appealing. Eight stories of soil had to be removed from the hillside before beginning construction from the ground up. Much of the rock in the soil was used in the concrete and the remaining soil was sold. There are ramps and scales for trucks and tractors to deliver the harvested grapes. The grape processing begins at the top floor of the facility in a drive through warehouse where the grapes are delivered. Gravity is used, rather than pumping, to move the grapes and juice through each process of the wine making until it finally reaches the ground floor cellar for storage and sale.

The facility is the most modern and complex winery I have ever seen and the multi-story processing plant is like none I have ever seen. They have a beautiful store and tasting room where they offer tours and sell their wines.

We tasted three white wines, three red wines and one dessert wine in a classroom- type tasting room. The wines sell in the range of $15 to $40 a bottle and everyone seemed to like them all, even if they had favorites. They do export some of their wines to the US and Canada, although most are consumed locally.

After our wine tour and tasting we took the bus back to the center of Bolzano where we had a walk through town. We stopped for a sandwich and a soft drink before returning to our hotel at the top of the mountain. Dinner is always something special and this night was no exception. We had delicious spinach dumplings with brown butter and parmesan followed by a wine soup. The main course was a veal saltimbocca with scalloped potatoes and cabbage. Dessert was a very light chocolate mousse with a hint of orange accompanied with pears.

Kent and Mark in Bolzano

Bakery Cookies

Model of Otzi the Iceman

View of the Dolomites

On this morning we headed down the mountain to Bolzano to visit the Otzi or Iceman Museum. Otzi is a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived between 3400 and 3100BC. The mummy was found September 19, 1991, at an elevation of 10,530 feet in the Otzal Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. He is Europe’s oldest known natural human mummy and has offered an unprecedented view of Copper Age Europeans. His body and belongings are displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology here in Bolzano.

The mummy has been extensively examined, measured, x-rayed and dated. Tissues and intestinal contents have been examined microscopically, as have the items found with the body. By current estimates (2016), at the time of his death, Otzi was 5’ 3” tall, weighed about 110 pounds and was 45 years of age. Using modern 3-D technology, facial reconstruction has been created showing Otzi looked old for his age with deep-set brown eyes, a beard, a furrowed face and sunken cheeks. Otzi wore a cloak made of woven grass and a coat, a belt, a pair of leggings, a loincloth and shoes, all made of leather and different skins.

Other items found with Otzi were a copper ax with a yew tree wooden handle, a knife, a bag with 14 flint tipped arrows with stabilizing fins, a 72” longbow, bowstring, and several other unknown items.

The cause of death remained uncertain until 10 years after the discovery of his body. In 2001, x-rays and a CT scan revealed that Otzi had an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder and a matching tear in his coat. Bruises and cuts to the hands, wrists and chest as well as cerebral trauma were also found indicating a blow to the head. It is now believed that Otzi bled to death after the arrow shattered the scapula and damaged nerves and blood vessels before lodging near the lung.

The museum is quite fascinating as is all of the research that has been done to understand this mummy’s history, life and death. The mummy is displayed in a temperature-controlled cabinet with a small window that you can look into to see Otzi’s remains. The clothing items have now been beautifully displayed in climate-controlled cases and are in extraordinary condition given their age.

The afternoon brought out a mix of sunshine and a rain shower. The clouds continue to hover around the surrounding mountains creating an everchanging landscape.

Mountain Views

Mountain Restaurant

Kent in the Mountains

Mark in the Mountains

This morning we headed out from our hotel at 8:30am bound for a spectacular mountain setting in the Alps for the day. We first had to take the gondola from Oberbozen, where our hotel is located, to the town of Bolzano below. From here it was a short five-minute walk to the bus station where we caught a bus up the valley and into the mountains. The bus ride took about thirty-minutes to reach the Seggiovia Panorama Chairlift. The chairlift took us on a twenty-minute ride up and across beautiful green pastures and forested areas to a place called Compatsch. Here in the winter it is a bastion of skiing and snow activities. In summer families flock to the area to hike, ride bikes and enjoy the picturesque scenery.

Once we reached the top of the chairlift we hiked on a trail about two-miles to an area called Saltria where the elevation is about 5,500 feet. From here you have exquisite views of the mountains all around you that rise to over 10,000 feet in elevation.

The hills of the area are sprinkled with single family homes, cattle barns, ski resorts, horses and cows. Kent and Christine took us to one of their favorite restaurants where we enjoyed lunch outdoors on the patio surrounded by natural beauty. Lunch in this case meant plenty of wine, beer, water, meat and cheese platters, several types of pasta, local pancakes with preserves and powdered sugar, coffee, espresso and the local liquors to top it off. The setting really was spectacular and we enjoyed our time out in nature.

To save a bit of hiking on the return journey some of us opted for a bus ride back to the chairlift for two-euros each. Once back at the chairlift, it was a ride down the mountain, back to the bus to Bolzano and finally back up the mountain to our hotel by gondola. It was a long and exhausting day.

Back at our hotel they use Sunday dinner to use up what food is left from the week so there is less waste and it is the chef’s night off. Dinner started with a bean and vegetable soup followed by a cold buffet of vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, fish, roast beef, salmon, cheese, tuna and more. Dessert was a baked apple with caramel sauce, ice and whipped cream.

Messner Mountain Museum

This was a free day for everyone to do whatever they wanted to do rather than having a planned day of activities. Mark was still feeling a bit under the weather from his fall yesterday so he stayed close to the hotel. Kent went with Susan (60-year-old daughter) and Dale (80-year-old mom) on the Gondola down to Bolzano where they took a taxi to the Messner Mountain Museum.

The Messner Mountain Museum addresses the subjects of man’s encounter with the mountains. The museum is organized as an itinerary between the various works of art, installations and relics that it houses. The paths, stairs and towers lead visitors from the depths of the mountain, where their origins and exploitation are brought to life, and the religious significance of the peaks are an aid to orientation and a bridge beyond, to the history of mountaineering and the alpine tourist industry as we know today.

The museum castle squats on a spur of Mitterberg overlooking the confluence of the rivers Etsch and Eisack at the edge of Bolzano. Sigmundskron was always something special which at the time was called Formicaria or the Rinkelstein Castle; it is one of the oldest castles in South Tyrol and, with its five-meter-thick walls, an early example of the art of fortified construction. 945 A.D. is the year of the earliest extant record of the castle.

Rittner Horn Mountain where we hiked to the tower at the top.

Tower at the top of the Rittner Horn

View from Rittner Horn

Cow on the mountain

Llamas on our hike

Views on our hike

On this morning we headed east from Oberbozen on the train towards the town of Klobenstein. There we transferred to a local bus which took us up the mountain to Pemmern, a ski resort. Once at the ski resort we boarded the enclosed chair lift cars to the top of the chair lift on Rittner Horn. From there the majority of folks took a long hike up the mountain to the top where there were magnificent views of the Alps. The hike up took about 90-minutes. At the top folks enjoyed coffee, beer and snack before heading back down the hill for the 45-minute descent.

Meanwhile a smaller group of three older ladies and Kent were walking a circular trail around the rim of the mountain where they enjoyed the views of the Alps. Their walk took about two-hours in total and they then enjoyed lunch in the only restaurant at the top of the chair lift. When the larger group returned they too had lunch before taking the chair lift back down the mountain.

By this time, it was about 3:00pm and the group once again took alternate routes back to the hotel. Seven of the group were driven back to the hotel by car which only took about fifteen minutes. Twelve of us took off on foot through gorgeous meadows of wild flowers, through tree covered paths and past old homes and inns. Unfortunately, Mark slipped on a wet and muddy rock along one of the paths and took an ugly fall which took his breath away. After a few minutes to catch his breath, he was up and back on the trail to the next stop.

A short distance later we stopped at a local pub where we enjoyed more waters, beers, apple cakes and a home brew of plum schnapps. It was already about 4:30pm by this time and it would have been another 90-minutes to the hotel on foot. Kent and Christine put Mark in a taxi and sent him back to the hotel to rest. It does not appear that he broke any bones but he is moving slowly and his muscles are sore.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed a delicious barbecue dinner prepared poolside for all the guests. First, there was a buffet of fresh vegetables to make a salad of your own as well as pre-made salads like potato salad and coleslaw. Next, came the entrée which included a wide selection of grilled meats like lamb chops, pork, chicken skewers, turkey and zucchini, beef tenderloin and more. Finally, for dessert there was a selection of beautiful fresh berries and fruits, a variety of mousses, cakes, strudel and more.

Church Interior

Assumption Procession

Assumption Procession

Assumption Procession

Assumption Procession

Cemetery

Parade

Parade

Parade

Assumption Day was celebrated in Italy on this day. The Catholics believe that on this day the body of the Virgin Mary was taken up to Heaven after her earthly life had ended. Teachings about the Assumption of Mary became widespread across the Christian world, having been celebrated as early as the 5th century.

Across Italy schools are closed, banks are closed and it is a public holiday. In Oberbozen we visited the local church where the local community has a church service followed by a public procession. People carry statues of Christ and Mary along with many religious banners on tall poles through the countryside. Many of the locals were dressed in traditional clothing. The men wore lederhosen and the women wore traditional dresses.

Adjacent to the church is a beautiful walled cemetery with plots of soil in front of each grave planted with colorful flowers. Many of the graves also have elaborate metal work crosses and placards with the names of the deceased.

After the religious celebrations there is a public party similar to what you might find at an Octoberfest celebration. There was a giant tent with a large band playing all sorts of tunes and picnic table after table of people celebrating. There were lots of beer, pretzels, wine, roast chicken, sausages, French fries and lots of sweets. Kent and Christine ordered lots of food and drinks for everyone so we could enjoy the flavor of the holiday celebration. The festivities went on from about noon until 2:00 in the morning. The festival grounds were just behind our hotel so we could hear the band from our hotel.

Around 2:00 in the afternoon we watched the local neighborhood celebrating with a parade down the main street. Since the community is small the parade consisted of a few marching bands, a few horses and a few floats. The theme was “bee honey” and the entire parade, organized by the firefighters, lasted only about fifteen minutes.

As if we had not eaten enough at the festival, we had our usual five course dinner in the dining room.

Gondola Views

Bolzano below the gondola

Bolzano Main Square

Bolzano Church

Bolzano Church Interior

Bolzano Street

Bolzano Sidewalk Bar

View of the Mountains from our Hotel

Hotel Dining Room

This morning we took the gondola cable car from our hotel up on the mountain top to the city of Bolzano 3,000 feet below on the valley floor. The cable cars each hold about 20 passengers and take just 12 minutes to reach Bolzano. The cable cars cross many lush green pine forests, many lush vineyards and the hillsides are dotted with charming single-family homes and small hotels.

Once in Bolzano we took a short orientation tour from the cable car station into the old town. Once in the old town we found a café where we waited for about 30 minutes for our tour guide to arrive. While waiting Kent and Christine, our program managers, ordered beers, coffee, and gelato ice creams for everyone.

Doris, our tour guide, led us on a two-hour tour around the old town. We visited the town church dating back to the 14th century, the main town square called the Piazza Walther Platz, the fruits and vegetable market and more. The old town includes a main street lined on both sides with a covered colonnade filled with shopping opportunities. The shops range from unique local shops to recognizable name brand shops and yes, even a McDonald’s. Most of the buildings in the old town are three to four stories tall, are well maintained and many of the streets are pedestrian only. In comparison to Oberbozen where our hotel is located, Bolzano is filled with tourists and locals, shopping, dining and going about their daily lives.

After our walking tour, Kent and I found a local café where we had a lunch of a salad, a pesto pasta with shrimp and a gnocchi dish. We then explored the old town a bit before heading back up the mountain via the cable car.

At 5:30pm we had another wine lecture where we tried another five varieties of local wines. At 7:00pm the hotel had prepared an outdoor cocktail party in celebration of the arrival of Assumption Day the next day. They had prepared drinks and a large variety of appetizers.

For dinner they had put out fresh light-colored linens, hand folded napkins, fresh white roses on each table and candles. The dining room looked beautiful. The chef had prepared a special dinner starting with a seafood plate of mussels, octopus, scallops and a small green salad. This was followed by a pasta course with two freshly made pastas with a chanterelle mushroom sauce. Next was a basil cream soup with fresh cream and a dollop of pureed tomato for color. The entrée was a veal medallion steak on a potato pancake, accompanied with roasted carrots, spinach and zucchini. Dessert was a delicious plate of fresh tropical fruits like kiwi, mango, plum topped with a panna cotta ice cream. It was all very delicious.
We dined this evening with Susan, a fellow traveler, and Christine, one of our program managers. We shared life stories…..very amusing.

Trail Markers

Lobishof Complex

Private Chapel attached to a local home

Neighborhood Home

On this day we departed the hotel about 11:00am for an hour long walk to Lobishof. The walk was on narrow roads which were well paved but meandered up and down the hillsides making for a strenuous walk at times. Lobishof is a farm, farmhouse, restaurant and guest house in a beautiful green valley surrounded by green pastures, the valley below and the mountains in the background.

After the walk we enjoyed cold beers, soft drinks, cheese platters and several varieties of cakes. They have picnic style tables under large umbrellas and beach style folding chairs for lounging in the sunshine. Families with children, locals and tourists all seem to gather here to enjoy the food and scenery.

By early afternoon we all headed back to our hotel either on foot or by taxi depending on how tired folks were from the walk over. Those who walked back to the hotel took a well-marked and wide gravel path through the woods. The walk took about 45 minutes. The taxi took about 6 minutes! Kent took a taxi with another fellow and two ladies.

At 5:30pm on the terrace of our hotel we had a lecture on wines of the Alto Adige region with Chris Mayr. The Alto Adige wine region is one of Italy’s smallest winegrowing regions, yet thanks to its geographical position, it is one of the most multifaceted. The Alpine climate mixed with the quality of the soils and experienced wine growers has made wines of this region prized by wine connoisseurs throughout the world.

The region produces twelve varieties of grapes with 38% red wines and 62% white wines. Grapes that we are familiar with include about 12% Pinot Grigio, 11% Gewurztraminer, 10% Pinot Blanc, 10% Chardonnay, 9% Pinot Noir, 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet and 2% Riesling. We sampled four wines, one sparkling wine, one white, one red and one sweet dessert style wine.

For dinner we were treated to the salad bar again with all sorts of fresh vegetables, greens, breads and more. We then had cannelloni which was very good. This was followed by a zucchini soup with pumpkin seed oil. The main course consisted of chicken and turkey slices with a curry sauce accompanied by white rice, mushrooms and snow peas. Dessert was the apple slices deep fried in a batter and covered with cinnamon sugar and a vanilla sauce. All very good but once again more than we needed.

Mark milking Hilda outside the Munich Hilton Hotel

Views as we drove through the Alps

Views as we drove through the Alps

Hotel Regina Exterior

Hotel Regina Room

Church on the way to Bolzano

We left the Munich airport Hilton Hotel at 10:00am by bus headed for the town of Bolzano in the Dolomites of Italy. The drive took about five hours including a comfort stop for the toilets and ice cream and coffee. The drive through Innsbruck, Austria, and the Alps were very beautiful. Due to the amount of rain they have received, everything is extremely lush and green in color. Some of the high peaks of the Alps still have snow on them and people are able to ski in some locations all year. The drive took us through many tunnels bored through the Alps to make the drive less winding and more direct. The steep hillsides are terraced with grape vineyards and apples growing. The apples are grown on what I might call a bush more than a tree. They are grown on stakes about five feet tall and not more than thirty inches in diameter. Each bush might have many clusters of apples in colors of red and green.

Our home for the next couple of weeks will be the Hotel Regina located in Oberbozen on the plateau of Renon or Ritten in South Tyrol perched high above the town of Bolzano. The hotel is owned by the Unterhofer family. The hotel has rooms with beautiful mountain views, a heated infinity edged pool and access to miles of hiking trails.

The plateau of Ritten is about 3,000 feet in elevation and consists of 17 villages scattered among vineyards in the valleys to the Alpine highlands.

Once we settled into our new hotel we headed out on a short walk of the small town of Oberbozen. There several historic old homes and inns, small cafes, a historic railway system and the gondola that transports you down the mountain to the town of Bolzano about 2,000 feet below.

Every afternoon from 3-5pm cake and coffee is served in the bar and on the terrace. Dinner is served in the dining room at 7:00pm. The first course tonight was a self-serve salad bar. This was followed by a cheese soufflé like dish, followed by a pancake soup (think crepe rather than breakfast pancake), followed by a main dish of veal roast with a garlic and parsley sauce, potatoes and carrots. This was followed by a dessert of chocolate cake with espresso and caramel ice cream. Everything was very tasty but it was more than we needed to eat.