Trips

Mon., 5/15/23 - Trento to Brixen (German) or Bressanone (Italian)

Finally, we got to see the Dolomites on our way to Brixen (German), also called Bressanone (Italian). The Dolomites are part of the Alps, but are composed of calcium and magnesium so they appear white, even without snow-cover. They are very jagged and nothing grows on them. They are stunning!

The ride today was through beautiful mountain areas. There is no flat land for crops so only grapes and apples are grown on terraces and some slopes have grass for cattle and sheep.

We stopped for a walk, lunch, and views of the Dolomites in Val de Funes. It was beautiful and very Swiss-like. The walk was up a path, with a local guide, to St. Magdalena Church. It was serene. The guide provided a snack of crackers and “speck.” Speck is pork marinated with herbs like camomile or coriander and then smoked above, not in, an oven. It is like thick bacon and is eaten like snack food. It is very local.

After a lunch of cream of carrot soup, sausage/sauerkraut/potato, and chocolate cake for dessert, we stopped for a photo op of St. Johann’s Church below the Dolomites - a “most photographed site.” This area does a lot of forestry and we saw lots of lumber mills.

Adige River in Trento	Trento to Brixen
First glimpse of the Dolomites	Castles and Dolomites
Vineyard	Stream at Val de Funes
Water trough	Dolomites
Dolomites
St. Magdalena Church	Sun Dial
St. Magdalena Church cemetery	St. Magdalena Church interior
St. Magdalena Church interior	St. Magdalena Church interior
Bell Tower - St. Magdalena Church interior	Dolomites and meadow
The world needs more of these
Val de Funes - St. Johann Church	Val de Funes - St. Johann Church
Stream at Val de Funes	Stream at Val de Funes
After arriving in Brixen around 2 PM and checking into the Cavallino D'Oro Hotel, the group embarked on an orientation walk in the town. The walk took us past the “famous” Elephant Hotel named for the 1551 elephant that was a gift by King John of Portugal to his nephew, Maximilian of Austria. We stopped to read the plaque on the building (that was once an inn) where Mozart and his father once stayed. On the corner façade of this same building is a wooden statue of a three-headed man. The statue represents a wild man named Wilder Mann. According to legend, the statue once expelled golden coins at Christmas. The old town is full of shops and some churches. Our tour took us through the Duomo’s cloisters whose walls and ceilings contain an extensive collection 14th c. frescoes. Most were either portraits of the succession of prince-bishops or Bible stories. The inside of the Duomo is overly elaborate with gold, carvings, marble, paintings, statues, and a big organ. The windows and rose window were stained glass in designs, not religious scenes.	Brixen - Company building of the Durst Architecture firm
Elephant Hotel	Wooden statue of the Wild Man
Mozart visited here - he and his father Leopold stayed at the Aquila Nera, an inn that was at this site	Sculpture of a man and dog
Another of the sculptures on the streets of Brixen
Cranes and very small car	Sun Dial
Dog on the balcony	Statue of Bishop Zacharias
Date palm	Date palm
Brixen City Hall	Cathedral of Brixen
Cathedral of Brixen	Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen
Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen	Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen
Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen	Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen
Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen	Cloisters of the Cathedral of Brixen
Duomo of Brixen	Duomo of Brixen
Duomo of Brixen	Bell Tower - Cathedral of Brixen
Bell Tower - Cathedral of Brixen	Street scene
Lanterns used for the annual Brixen Water Light Festival	Lanterns used for the annual Brixen Water Light Festival
Brixen Water Light Festival	Brixen Water Light Festival
White asparagus	Market
Market	Market

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