Bolzano/Bozen 05/2019

On our trip north from Rome to Munich in May this year, Geoff and I spent five days in a town that the Italian population knows as Bolzano, while the German speaking Austrian/Italians refer to it as Bozen. After the Second World War, the Italian border was extended to encompass the southern part of Tyrol. This resulted in that region of Italy being bilingual, like for example the names of localities and street signs. After talking to a student at a bus stop I learned, that school children are taught German, Italian and English from primary school level. The bonus for me was that I absorbed the Italian atmosphere while using my German language skills. I already liked the place but now I liked it more! Our apartment was close to the township but rolling your suitcase over uneven tiny cobbled street surfaces is not too much fun. However, the accommodation made up for it, spacious, bright, and close to everything. I had read about Bozen being the home of Őtzi, the Iceman, and visiting him was on our list but I had also read about the cable car that floats onto an upper plateau, where not only the magic of the Dolomite mountains is closer but you can also get very near to the earth pyramids of that area. A large part of that terrain covers grape growing plots, which contribute to Italy’s pride in producing good and, yes, healthy wines. My liking for this area grew with every bit of new information. Observing women and men in bistros and restaurants, sitting in outdoor settings drinking prosecco, and flaneuring, i.e., watching the midday world go by, added to this impression.

Ritten/Renon

   The next day we went up by cable car to Ritten/Renon and walked from there along the signed path towards the earth pyramids.

   These cone-shaped earth pillars are a natural phenomenon. They were formed twenty-five thousand years ago from clay soil after the melting of the last Ice Age. Over time rain washed parts of the mud away, leaving huge round rocks on top. Looking at them from the well-constructed platform, conjured up an image of a group of hooded elongated capuchin friars huddled closely together. The Dolomite mountains confront your gaze whichever way you cast it. The air is crisp and clear. In fact, everything is spotlessly clean, solidly built and visitor friendly. 

Postcard from Ritten/Renon

   A stand with postcards invited us to take a card, write, address, and place it into the letterbox next to it. The postage was paid to any destination in the world. I promptly wrote a card to Geoff, addressed to Australia, and guess what, it was waiting for us on our return. How good is that?

  

Empress Elizabeth and me

   

    
   As the following day was the public holiday of May Day, we saw parks, public venues, squares and restaurants packed with celebrating people and activities. We sat on a bus to Meran/Merano. In that town I swam in the famed hot springs. I would like to spend a whole day or a few days there, as they offer massages, sauna and all sorts of beauty treatments. Wouldn’t that be a treat? Alas, Geoff was waiting outside the complex from where we took another bus to Empress Elizabeth’s castle. She was a great advocate for healthy living and spent time in Meran taking ‘The Cure.’

A most amazing lookout over Meran

   The gardens around the castle are magic, we meandered through flower beds, cacti gardens and blossoming fruit trees. We also climbed up a very steep platform that jutted out into an open space to enjoy a magnificent vista. 

The Passer river in Merano

  


  


   And, of course, we stopped at the café, as you do, for delicious apple strudel and coffee. Before returning to Bozen we sat in an outdoor cafe next to the roaring Passer river that flows through Meran, with an Aperitivo in hand and practiced the art of flaneuring.

   








   The day to visit Őtzi dawned. The museum is conveniently central within a few minutes’ walk to the town center. It is purpose-built and costs €200,000 per annum to maintain. Apart from bits of his clothing, footwear, utensils, reconstructed fur cape, lots of information about the circumstances of his discovery, evidence and theories about the cause of his death, Őtzi is kept on ice in a chamber behind a glass frame. You walk up a few steps onto a small platform, look through the window and are only one meter away from him. You have Your Moment, it is just you and him, the man who lived over five thousand years ago. There is nobody behind or next to you. He is extremely well preserved, so much so that even as I am typing this, scientists from all over the world are still discovering new things about him and the world he lived in. I find it fascinating that his tattoos are etched onto the parts of his skin which are used in present times for acupuncture, a practice that has been associated with China for only three and a half thousand years. In 2016, scientists discovered that Őtzi had Helicobacter pylori in his stomach. The same year they discovered that his mother’s gene is extinct now but there are still people around the area where he was found who have the gene of his father. Who knows what discoveries they will make in the future? I find it amazing and am extremely glad we visited.

     Before our departure, I looked for a book about that part of the world. Apart from text- and fact books, I found a plethora of crime books where this location forms the background to the action. The air there is evidently conducive to get the creative juices flowing. Because of limited space in my suitcase, I found it hard to restrict myself to buying only one book. For this and so many other reasons, we just must visit again!

Aperitivo on the river