Trips

Tues., 5/16/23 - Bolzano

This morning we walked 30 minutes to the train station in Brixen and used our Brixen Card to ride the local train to Bolzano - a half hour ride.

Bolzano is also in the Tyrol/Trento autonomous region. Bolzano is 70% German speaking and 30% Italian. It has been a pawn to be gained or lost in various wars. Italy won WWI so Austria-Hungary had to cede the South Tyrol to Italy. After WWII Mussolini and his buddy, Hitler, made a pact to keep the South Tyrol part of Italy. After WWII the German speaking population here was forced to speak Italian in schools and businesses. So children spoke Italian during school hours and then they were hidden in basements to learn German and German culture and traditions.

Clever Trellis	Another view
Free University of Bozen	Nice hairdo!
How to take your bicycle on the train	Bicycle racks
After arriving in Bolzano, we walked another 30 minutes past: a statue of Walther von der Vogelweide; a busy street market; the Bolzano cathedral with its colorful tile roof; and on to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology to see Otzi, the 5,300 year-old Ice Man. We had been to Bolzano and to this museum once before and found it to be very interesting. Since our first visit, extensive DNA studies have been done on him and the amazing finds from where he was buried in the glacial ice are scientifically fascinating. Some of the interactive exhibits, as well as looking through a window at the remains of Otzi in his temperature controlled room are very well done. The life-like reconstruction of him from all of the findings and DNA, etc. is probably quite accurate.	Bolzano
Walter von der Vogelweide - Poet - most celebrated poet of High German literature	Decorated building
Bolzano Cathedral	Bolzano Cathedral
Street market	Street market
Street market	Fancy bird sculptures
	South Tyrol Museum of Archeology
Genetic information about Otzi, the Ice Man	Genetic information about Otzi, the Ice Man
Otzi, the Ice Man	South Tyrol Museum of Archeology
We then sat in another museum room for an OAT “controversial topic” presentation. Two former teachers who live in this area, one German and one Italian, explained how the 70% German population in South Tyrol and Trentino (Trento) want to remain German even if their homes are now part of the Italian nation. They provided a good explanation of both sides. It was very interesting and sad. For lunch on our own, we found a bakery with yummy sandwiches and a place to sit inside. The weather was not sunny.	Hillsides above Bolzano
Types of churches that can be seen on the hillsides above Bolzano	Frescoed wall
	The group gathered again after lunch to take the long cable car ride up to Renon for another look at the Dolomites. Once at the top we realized we had been up in Renon before. The weather was still not great so we sat in the fancy hotel and drank expensive coffee before returning to Brixen by cable car and train and a long walk.
Views from the cable car to Renon	Views from the cable car to Renon
Views from the cable car to Renon	Views from the cable car to Renon
View of the cable car to Renon	Blessed Rupert Mayer Church - he volunteered as an army chaplain in WWI
Just cute	Cable car station
Cable car	Cute RR sign
Looking down on Bolzano from the cable car	Looking down on Bolzano from the cable car
Looking down on Bolzano from the cable car	Restaurant sign
Façade above a sporting goods store	Another local sculpture

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