-...sure he's 5300 years old but he's been on ice!

Artwork on building in Bolzano

Bolzano was our last stop in South Tyrol before moving on to Venice. Sometimes when you are traveling you visit great places...to visit. Other times you find places you could actually live. Bolzano was one of those for me. Two rivers converge here and it is surrounded by mountains with easy access by tram. Like so many European towns, Bolzano comes alive at night as the old town center lights up with activity. It's rich in history and appears to be fairly diverse. It's home to active convents and monestaries, the Italian special military forces, as well as containing a young population attending the university which we learned has strong Art, IT and MBA departments. When we first arrived Bolzano looked a little "dusty" as our friends from Revy would say, but upon further exploration we found the people friendly and the town safe.  Our apartment was clean, comfortable and within
walking distance of old town. The building was quiet with an old marble staircase. We enjoyed walking around town, visiting museums and the shopping at the extensive farmers markets.

The main entrance to our apartment

Heading downtown for the evening

Veggie stands were everywhere

Medieval Porticos

Bolzano has these nice medieval porticos along the main street in the old town center. They reminded me of Bern Switzerland. The town also contained outstanding ironwork with great wooden doorways leading to small interconnected alleyways you wouldn't know existed unless you poked and prodded around. Fully exploring the details of this town required more time than we had.

One of the doors

The main square contained a statue of Walther von der Vogelweide, a German poet and storyteller of the middle ages. It also contained a gothic church with a beautiful tile roof. One night we had dinner on the square listening to a pianist play songs we recognized but couldn't always name.

Dominican church with intricate gable

We had read that Bolzano and the surrounding area provides an ideal climate for a variety of wine grapes, but did not make it out for any tastings. One day we drove out to Hafling, the town where the haflinger horse originated. This horse is chestnut colored and was bred for mountain terrain. Ali had first seen one at her barn back in Banks Oregon. We specifically chose the Bolzano area to see these horses and maybe take a ride. Because they were originally bred as a workhorse and ultimately for mountain terrain these horses are very sure-footed. They are a smaller breed with good endurance and a smooth gait.

Ali at the Hafling Village sign

We found the town of Hafling no problem and decided to grab some lunch at a restaurant adjacent to a horse stable we spied. It was clear that we were in the country now since no one spoke any English. As we sat down and prepared to order lunch I attempted to ask the waiter if the stable next door rented horses. I ended up hand-signaling something I thought would convey "horses".  Once he understood I was asking about horses he looked at me horrified and said, "...to eat"?!  Lunch was good though.

Unfortunately, the barn next door was the only riding stable in town and it was closed so we weren't able to ride. We did see some Haflingers though and Ali visited with a pony grazing in a field.

Shortly after we arrived in Hafling a storm the likes of which we hadn't seen since Slovenia blew in. We decided to return to Bolzano and seek horseback riding in Umbria a couple of weeks later.

Back in Bolzano we visited the Archaeological Museum, now  home to "Otzi, the Ice Man". Otzi is a well-preserved 5300 year old mummy found in the mountains along the Italian/Austrian border not far from Bolzano. This is a fascinating story. He was preserved in an ice shield and discovered by some hikers. What they found with him was as interesting as Otzi himself. Among other things Otzi possessed a bow, arrows, an axe, knife, a tool sharpener, herbs and several pieces of clothing made from animal hides. The nearly intact mummy is stored in a custom-designed room that preserves the exact conditions of the ice shield. You can see the layer of ice on his body. No pictures were allowed of the mummy but below are a couple of photo's including an x-ray of Otzi's foot that I thought was interesting.

Otzi rendition

Otzi's foot - no nike

Before leaving Bolzano we took the tram up the mountain and rode a small-scale train into the Dolomites one more time for dinner on a country farm we had been told about. It was a 15-minute tram ride, a 20-minute train ride and about a thirty-minute walk from the train station to the farm, but it was well worth it. We sat on their patio with grand Dolomite views and a home-cooked meal of elk ravioli, pork schnitzel, various grilled meats and pasta - all very good! The family that ran the farm was very friendly, and the father gave me a hard time about eating more and more of his food. It was a great finish to our visit to South Tyrol and the Dolomite Mountains.

Home cooked meal on the farm