Trentino-Alto Adige - Day 1

Day 4 of our holiday was entirely spent in Trentino-Alto Adige or Trentino-Südtirol or Trentino-South Tyrol which is the northernmost region in Italy. These region became part of Italy only after WWI; in the southern part most people speak Italian as their first language, while in Alto Adige they speak German. (And there's also another language - Ladin - which is spoken in some valleys in both provinces).

We left Arco in Trentino and drove up north.
The first stop was on the shores of the small Lago di Toblino: very picturesque.







Later we visited Trento, the provincial capital.

Trento is a rather beautiful city, and is also remembered for the Council of Trent which started the Counter-Reformation.
It's quite lively with a busy university and it is ranked amongst the best cities in Italy for quality of life.

Here we visited the Duomo




and the adjacent Piazza Duomo, with frescoed buildings (there are a number in the city) and a fountain of Neptune















We walked up to the Castello del Buonconsiglio but we didn't have time to visit it.







After our walk in the centre, we went on a cable car ride for a panoramic view of the city



The castle


and the duomo




Back in the car, we drove up to Alto Adige and reached Bolzano/Bozen along the Strada del Vino/Weinstrasse







We stopped on the other side of Bolzano to visit Castel Roncolo (or Schloss Runkelstein)



a castle in a panoramic position, with one of the most important cycles of medieval non-religious frescoes.
Of course there was a steep (cobbled) path to climb!





but it was worth it




(I had a "Hugo": prosecco, soda water, elderflower cordial; Adrian a "Veneziano": prosecco, soda water, Aperol or in other words an Aperol spritz)





It was time to go to our hotel which was located in the town of Castelrotto (Kastelruth) at 1,060 m. (3,477 ft)   a.s.l.
The last part of road seemed to climb and climb and the car was making some worrying noises.



The hotel is the Cavallino d'Oro on the market square. Apparently it has been there since 1326 !



It felt very Tyrolean!





Adrian


and a strange companion!



We really enjoyed our 2-night stay there. We chose the half-board option and we enjoyed two excellent 4-course (5 if you count the salad bar - much loved by the many American guests) dinners.
It was all very efficient, but personable at the same time.
I had to keep reminding myself that I was still in Italy: it felt very Austrian/German.

Trentino-Alto Adige - Day 2 (and a bit of Veneto too)

Our second day in Trentino-Alto Adige was spent driving on (part of) the Great Dolomites road.

But before setting off we had a look around the town of Castelrotto/Kastelruth.





The balconies in most towns and villages in this part of Italy overflow with geraniums and other flowers. We did wonder if there was an official colour scheme... it all felt a bit Stepford wives, but yes very pretty and tidy.

We drove down to the Val Gardena and after Selva, started to climb and climb until we reached the Sella Pass at 2,244 m (7,362 ft)



You have magnificent views of the Marmolada glacier on one side (hard to believe, but during WWI, the front line between Italy and Austria ran across the glacier and the Austrians dug a maze of galleries and trenches into the ice)



and of the Sassolungo group on the other





Now we were back in Trentino; a few hairpin bends down the mountains and many, many more climbing again and we were at the Pordoi Pass (2,239 m - 7,346 ft) on the Veneto border.



There is cable car





which takes you up to the top of the Sass Pordoi mountain (2952 m/ 9685 ft). It's quite an amazing ride: the cable car is free-standing with no intermediate pillars!

The views from the cabin and from the top are fantastic!






(if you look at the bottom centre of the picture above, you can see 2 people walking down the zigzagging path! I guess that the landslide must be pretty stable but well just think what would happen if you slipped!)



The weather at high altitudes changes very quickly. In a matter of minutes a cloud came over and covered the Marmolada.



We could still see the Sassolungo and the almost lunar landscape of the Sella Group on the other side



I was very sensible and didn't venture far on my crutches. I didn't even go to the nearest patch of ice.
We had apple strudel instead!



A 'descent into the unknown' (LOL)



and were back in our car.

We drove a bit more, admiring the fabulous views and going past lovely villages











Next stop was an interesting museum dedicated to WWI; it documents the hardships endured by both Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers on these mountains. It must have been a freezing hell in winter.



The museum is located in the Tre Sassi fort which was built in 1897 by the Austrians to defend the border.


(sadly no pictures were allowed inside)

We then drove to Cortina d'Ampezzo, 'the' place to be seen in the Dolomites





We were not dressed for Cortina so we didn't even stop but drove back to Castelrotto via the Val Pusteria, admiring more mountains and views on the way.
(Well, we didn't stop because we still had a long drive ahead of us to go back to the hotel!)