Bolzano, Trento, and Verona
The 25th began with a train ride from Innsbruck to Bolzano, Italy. The last part of the train ride, as we entered Italian wine territory, was very pretty. The tracks wove between large hills crowded with rows and rows of grapes. Upon our arrival in Bolzano, we had a small fiasco with our accommodations; we booked a place online that was an apartment rather than a hotel (not sure how it ended up listed online). We eventually found ourselves at the Bolzano Youth Hostel which was cheap and provided adequate amenities. We had the best pizza of the trip (so far) at a small pizzeria near the center of town, took it to go, and ate in a park. Gelato (for 1 Euro!) of course followed the pizza dinner.
On June 26th, we embarked on a bus journey to Ortesei bound for the Dolomites. We reached Ortesei and rode a (very expensive) cable car up to a peak called Seceda. We hiked around the area for many hours and got some incredible views of the Dolomites. Unlike the Swiss Alps, the Dolomite peaks are craggy and steep rather than grassy and moderately steep. I would love to come back to the area someday and do some hut hiking like we did in Austria. Upon our return to Bolzano, we sat outside at a cafe and watched the US-Germany game. It was an unexciting game overall, but the US played well enough to qualify for the elimination round of the World Cup. Dinner was again pizza and gelato...
On June 27th, we got some Italian plums (like in our backyard) and cherries at an outdoor market we stumbled upon while walking through town. We then visited the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, home of Otzi the Ice-man. Otzi is a human that lived 5,300 years ago in the mountainous region that today is Northern Italy and Western Austria. His body was found by hikers in 1991, almost fully preserved in ice high in the mountains. The museum was really engaging and touched on many aspects of Otzi's life--his lifestyle and culture, circumstances of his death, and the process of removing his body from the ice and continuing to preserve it as it was preserved in the glacier. This museum was my favorite European museum yet this trip. After seeing Otzi, we took a cable car up a mountain next to Bolzano and enjoyed our fruit for lunch. We walked around on a forested hiking trail at the top of the mountain for a while before riding back down to the city. For dinner, I had some really good papardelle with wild boar ragout and truffle mushrooms. We decided to continue our gelato streak after dinner.
We began the 28th with a train ride from Bolzano to Trento. In Trento, we visited the MUSE, a new science museum that one online review described as "world-class." The MUSE", the review said, "will put Trento on the international map." With high hopes, we entered the glass-walled modern-looking building. The museum had lots of great taxidermies of alpine animals in some exhibits and hanging from the ceiling down the central open area. Overall the museum was a little disappointing, but this was a function of our very high expectations and the previous day's experience at the Otzi museum. Worth a visit, but not world class. We continued on the train to Verona, where, after a long walk to our hostel, we dropped our bags and went to find a place to watch the Brazil v. Chile game. We walked outside the tourist district and eventually found a place where some locals were hanging out watching the game. The game went into extra time and then penalty kicks, where Brazil prevailed. On the way back to our hostel, we had pizza for dinner and gelato for dessert.
We spent the 29th in Verona. We began our day at the Teatro Romano. There are modern seats installed in the theater, reducing some of its appeal. The archaeological museum is connected to the Teatro Romano but it is unfortunately under renovation so we could not go inside. We spent a while walking through town during the mid-morning. The streets of Verona are skinny, filled with three- and four-story buildings, and paved with cobblestones--just as charming as you would imagine it to look. We especially loved watching the large groups of tourists holding their headsets slowly meandering behind a guide holding a flag, speaking into a microphone. In the afternoon, we visited the Arena, a site of ancient gladiator battles that now hosts the opera, and the Casa di Giulietta (house of Juilet). We watched the Netherlands v. Mexico match at a cafe outdoors. There were a table full of Dutch fans dressed in bright orange sitting in front of us, which made the match all the more exciting. After dinner, we continued the gelato streak (5 days now) on the way back to our hostel.
Next post will have pictures, I promise.
On June 26th, we embarked on a bus journey to Ortesei bound for the Dolomites. We reached Ortesei and rode a (very expensive) cable car up to a peak called Seceda. We hiked around the area for many hours and got some incredible views of the Dolomites. Unlike the Swiss Alps, the Dolomite peaks are craggy and steep rather than grassy and moderately steep. I would love to come back to the area someday and do some hut hiking like we did in Austria. Upon our return to Bolzano, we sat outside at a cafe and watched the US-Germany game. It was an unexciting game overall, but the US played well enough to qualify for the elimination round of the World Cup. Dinner was again pizza and gelato...
On June 27th, we got some Italian plums (like in our backyard) and cherries at an outdoor market we stumbled upon while walking through town. We then visited the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, home of Otzi the Ice-man. Otzi is a human that lived 5,300 years ago in the mountainous region that today is Northern Italy and Western Austria. His body was found by hikers in 1991, almost fully preserved in ice high in the mountains. The museum was really engaging and touched on many aspects of Otzi's life--his lifestyle and culture, circumstances of his death, and the process of removing his body from the ice and continuing to preserve it as it was preserved in the glacier. This museum was my favorite European museum yet this trip. After seeing Otzi, we took a cable car up a mountain next to Bolzano and enjoyed our fruit for lunch. We walked around on a forested hiking trail at the top of the mountain for a while before riding back down to the city. For dinner, I had some really good papardelle with wild boar ragout and truffle mushrooms. We decided to continue our gelato streak after dinner.
We began the 28th with a train ride from Bolzano to Trento. In Trento, we visited the MUSE, a new science museum that one online review described as "world-class." The MUSE", the review said, "will put Trento on the international map." With high hopes, we entered the glass-walled modern-looking building. The museum had lots of great taxidermies of alpine animals in some exhibits and hanging from the ceiling down the central open area. Overall the museum was a little disappointing, but this was a function of our very high expectations and the previous day's experience at the Otzi museum. Worth a visit, but not world class. We continued on the train to Verona, where, after a long walk to our hostel, we dropped our bags and went to find a place to watch the Brazil v. Chile game. We walked outside the tourist district and eventually found a place where some locals were hanging out watching the game. The game went into extra time and then penalty kicks, where Brazil prevailed. On the way back to our hostel, we had pizza for dinner and gelato for dessert.
We spent the 29th in Verona. We began our day at the Teatro Romano. There are modern seats installed in the theater, reducing some of its appeal. The archaeological museum is connected to the Teatro Romano but it is unfortunately under renovation so we could not go inside. We spent a while walking through town during the mid-morning. The streets of Verona are skinny, filled with three- and four-story buildings, and paved with cobblestones--just as charming as you would imagine it to look. We especially loved watching the large groups of tourists holding their headsets slowly meandering behind a guide holding a flag, speaking into a microphone. In the afternoon, we visited the Arena, a site of ancient gladiator battles that now hosts the opera, and the Casa di Giulietta (house of Juilet). We watched the Netherlands v. Mexico match at a cafe outdoors. There were a table full of Dutch fans dressed in bright orange sitting in front of us, which made the match all the more exciting. After dinner, we continued the gelato streak (5 days now) on the way back to our hostel.
Next post will have pictures, I promise.
James would be impressed and jealous of your gelato streak. During our honeymoon through Rome/Florence/Venice I think he averaged about 2 gelato stops a day.
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