Sitting here on the train, traveling through Austria(!) on the way to see Devan in Munich. High mountain peaks, beautiful valleys with little towns and fields, sun shining - yep Austria! I keep wanting to get out and explore, but I have to be satisfied with just a train ride through this trip. :-)
So let's backtrack a few days to the Dolomites - Italy's Alto-Adige, or if you are from the area, South Tyrol. As Rick Steves explains, "Many here are fair-skinned and blue-eyed, eating strudel after their pasta, and feeling a closer bond with their ancestors in Austria than to their swarthy countrymen to the south.." If you want to read more about the history of this area and how it became a part of Italy after World War I, click HERE.
Took a break from Italian food, and went out for some South Tyrol cuisine...As most of you know, this is a meal that I normally would never order. Pork loin, sauerkraut (which in theory I don't like), and a dumpling that may have had liver in it....But I ate it and enjoyed it!
Top it off with an apple strudel!I hopped on the train Wednesday morning and took the train up and away from the paintings and architecture of Florence to the mountains and snow of the Dolomties. The first change in culture was getting off the train in Bolzano/Bolzen (as an attempt to Italianize the region, Mussolini gave all the towns and streets Italian names, hence everything having two names.) to
be greeted by the signs being in both Italian and German as opposed to Italian and English like the rest of Italy. Then walking down the street, I'd pass a group speaking Italian and then on the corner a couple speaking German. It became a game for me to try and pick out who would be talking what. Man waving his hands while talking, Italian speaker. Blond hair, slightly sun-burnt woman, German speaker. In this town of about 100,000 people live side by side with two languages, although I would have to say the majority of people seemed to speak German, which becomes more and more the language of choice as you get further into the region. I nice segway to get my ears used to the language in prep for going to Munich to visit Devan!
Even church architecture changed
Had to include this!A surprise find in a music shop in Bolzano.
My purpose for coming to the region was to do some hiking up from the Alto Adige, Europe's highest alpine meadow, and up into the Dolomite range, to Mt. Schlern and along the ridge connecting it to another peak. So Wednesday I spent the afternoon in Bolzano, buying some bread, cheese, and fruit from the street market for my hike, going to see the famous Ice Man in the museum (have you ever seen a 5000 year old mummy? Cause now I have!), and spending the evening at the Youth Hostel Bolzano/Bolzen getting myself organized. Then Thursday, up early and off, catching the bus to Suisi, and then the gondola ride up to the meadow. On the way up I started to realize something.....'Oh yeah, I'm going up in the mountains in September...." Yep, as we got higher, there it was - snow! I quickly realized I had underpacked and bought myself a fleece (very good idea as it turned out) and a new pair of hiking poles (which I'm so glad I purchased as they really probably saved my knee from acting up). (photo of meadow with some parachuters coming down!)
A cool way to fill a water tough with water!
Then through the meadows, past the little farm huts, horses, and cows, with their bells ring-a-linging, a sound that you could hear all the way up on the mountain, drifting up occasionally with the wind, something that would be comforting when I was all alone on the trail. And then up and up. Hiking felt good, and soon I started to smell the pine trees, the fresh air, the snow, the sun - all giving me a feeling that it was an early Spring day, March, back home in Montana - the kind of day that you would be happily up on the ski hill in a t-shirt :-) I also had to laugh because one week ago I was kayaking and swimming in the Mediteranean and now here I was tudging through snow!
And then I made it to the top, to Rifugio Schernhaus, my lodging for the night. One of the first "refuges" in the area, built in 1888?, it was an amazing place, with comfy little rooms, slippers to walk in, and a great dinner on the mountain, for the dozen or so of us staying the night.But I still had the late afternoon, so I hiked up another twenty minutes to the top of Mount Pez, where there was an amazing 360 degree view of the whole region. I just sat up there for a good hour, watching people come and go, writing in my journal and being way up high, away from traffic, hourds of people, and buildings. Just being with the mountains and fresh air - such a good thing for the soul.
Way up top
That night as I was eating dinner, I brought my camera with me (you never know!). When I was about done, a guy came up to me, Peter, to tell me that a "very special moment" was happening outside on the mountains and I should come with my camera. The whole range had turned red with the setting of the sun, and particularly on one area, the Rosengarten. He then told me of the legend of the area where there were dwarfs and humans and they had a battle where the humans killed masses of the dwarfs, so they retreated into these mountains, and when the mountains turn red, of the rose garden that betrayed the dwarf king that he turned to stone. Check out the legend HERE.
These photos look much redder in the originals-
not sure what happens when Blogspot loads them.
But you get the idea!
Afterwards, we went back inside and finished, chatting with Peter, who was from Switzerland, him telling me about the legends of the area. What a great day!
Perfect day in the mountains
Then next morning I awoke to the sun rising up over the mountains - and it was COLD! The air was crisp and fresh, like a winter morning where you just snuggle a bit more under the blankets before gathering the courage to hop out of bed! And so that is exactly what I did. And then somewhere between getting up, getting ready, and returning to my room, a thick fog had descended on the mountain. I was hoping it would lift, as I was looking forward to the views that I would no doubt have walking along the ridge that day. But alas, after having some tea and taking my time getting ready, it was 9:00 and I needed to set out. And so I bundled up in my four layers (t-shirt, long sleeve, fleece, and rain coat to act as windbreaker) and took off.There was one day while walking across England where I was up in the moors, in a similar fog, and while it tested my comfot level, making myself trust in my direction and knowing where I was going, there was something really magical about walking in the mist, not really knowing what was around you. And that was how walking up on the ridge was.
Cairns marking the trail
There was a moment where the trail went right up to the ledge, and I had a moment where my heart started beating a little faster, looking over the ledge, not really able to see what was out there. That Mary Chapin Carpenter song came to my head, 'I Take My Chances', where she sings about standing on the edge of the railroad tracks until she sees the train "just to see how my heart would react." And so I stood on the ledge, noticing my heart beating faster, and trusting in my firm feet on the ground. Oh, that song is so good! It's been stuck in my head since!Anyway, I kept walking, coming across a couple who appeared out of the fog, who were from Seattle! Peter had met them yesterday and told me about them, and they must have seen him again this morning, as they knew about me. As much as I have just raved about the isolation of being up on the mountain, seemingly by yourself, it was a nice break to run into them and have a moment of talking about our hiking adventures. And then off again.
Then, about 10 minutes before I hit the next Refuge house, the sun broke through, around 11:00, and then just like that the fog lifted as I got to the Refuge. And with the sun, came the people. Funny the timing, but really, it happened like that. All the sudden, coming from the other direction, came that morning's hikers, which made me savor all the more my time alone in the fog that morning (how many times can I saw that! hehe).And so with that I started my descent down, back into the meadow, back to the cows with their cowbells, with the little ponies and farm huts. And then, back down the gondola, into the "real world" where I got my big pack in Bolzano that I left at the hostel and on to Brissanone/Brixen to spend the night before heading to Munich.
Just came down where those zig-zag lines are!
And back to the meadow...Last look at the Dolomites
gorgeous hiking photos!
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