Tag: Travel

via francigena: gambassi terme to san gimignano

wanderessence1025 November 29, 2023

Saturday, July 8: We left Ostello Sigerico at 6:08 am Saturday morning and climbed up to Gambassi Terme, where we wandered around haphazardly. Both of us said it felt like we were going around in circles and then, too late, the guidebook confirmed that was just what we were doing. It had advised a shortcut, but we had neglected to study the route before setting out.

Leaving Ostello Sigerico toward Gambassi Terme

me heading to Gambassi Terme (photo by Darina)

the Pilgrimage Route

church in Gambassi Terme

Gambassi Terme

me in Gambassi Terme (photo by Darina)

Gambassi Terme

The town was quite charming but we didn’t linger and were soon on our way to San Gimignano. We finally left the asphalt road and descended down a gravel track through vine-covered trees. Pauline from the Netherlands quickly bounded past us, stopping only to take a few pictures. She had been walking about 100km before the French-Swiss border, maybe since June. At 62, she was very fit and fast.

We passed a pilgrim-friendly winery and olive farm, Casanuova, which was sadly closed at that early hour. Then it seemed it was hours that we were walking in the Tuscan countryside.

Sign for Casanuova

Darina and I walking (photo by Pauline)

Me with Darina (photo by Pauline)

me with Pauline

Darina, me and Pauline

Casanuova (closed)

Tuscan countryside

me trudging along in Tuscany (photo by Darina)

Tuscan countryside

Darina walking in the Tuscan countryside

me in Tuscany

Darina with the cypress trees

Tuscany

me trudging along in Tuscany (photo by Darina)

Tuscany

We walked on a ridge line and up and down until we finally came to Pancole, a town that is home to Santuario di María Santissima Madre Della Divina Provvidenza. Apparently an apparition of the Virgin Mary was seen here in the 17th century. Inside the church is a 15th century fresco of a breast-feeding Virgin by Pier Francisco Fiorintino. The original church was destroyed by the Nazis in WWII but was rebuilt in 1949. We went down some steps to see the characters of a life-sized nativity scene. Some pilgrims we had met at Ostello Sigerico were resting there, so we did as well.

signs for the Via Francigena in Pancole

Santuario di María Santissima Madre Della Divina Provvidenza

fresco of the breast-feeding Virgin

statue of the breast-feeding Virgin

Life-sized nativity scene at Santuario di María Santissima Madre Della Divina Provvidenza

views of Santuario di María Santissima Madre Della Divina Provvidenza from behind us

Then it was a long and hot slog on asphalt alongside olive groves before we started climbing up through the forest to Monastero di Bose.

The ecumenical Monastero di Bose, established in 1965, sat in a pretty shaded area at the peak of a very steep and long climb that we worked hard to achieve. The monastery once had both men and women in a community of prayer, celibacy, worship and sacramental life, but today not a soul was in sight. Since 2013, a subset of Bose friars has worshiped here in the simple and elegant 13th century Church of Santa Maria Assunta a Cellole. Darina sat for a while in the Romanesque church; she said she always felt a spiritual presence inside Romanesque churches whenever we encountered them. It was so breezy and cool up there, we never wanted to leave. But we had to make our way to San Gimignano.

back in the Tuscan countryside

Walking in Tuscany

Monastero di Bose

We finally landed on an asphalt road, the SP69 Highway, leading into town and this was the most unpleasant part of the stage. It was about 95 degrees and we were on pavement with no shoulder and cars whizzing by. It was rather dangerous but we had no choice but to go on. We were trying to reach our accommodation by noon to leave our luggage; otherwise we’d have to wait until the 3:00 check-in. We finally started to see views of the town of towers as we descended.

We ascended through the modern town and then into the medieval Porta San Matteo of San Gimignano. Luckily, the Residenza d’Epoca Palazzo Buonaccorsi was just inside the gate because we were about to collapse. We appreciated that Marzia waited 8 minutes for us so we could drop our packs.

We went out to explore San Gimignano drenched in sweat. Of course food and drink were always the first order of business, so we went to Boboli, Marzia’s recommendation, since we got a 10% discount for staying at the Palazzo. The waiter there was a strange leprechaun-looking man who seemed rather baffled. We had focaccia sandwiches, and Darina had a beer and I a fruit juice.

Walking on the road to San Gimignano

selfie of me and Darina with the towers of San Gimignano behind us

towers of San Gimignano in the distance

Darina enjoying lunch

focaccia sandwiches for lunch

San Gimignano, a UNESCO world heritage site, is a gem of medieval architecture with its 15 towers (there were once 72) built by wealthy families to safeguard their valuables and show off their affluence. San Gimignano traces its roots to the 3rd century BC. In the 5th century, it was named to honor Bishop Geminianus, who intervened to save the town from the armies of Atilla the Hun. In the Middle Ages, it became an important stop along the Via Francigena and is listed by Sigeric as his stage XIX. The town flourished until 1348 when the Black Plague killed half its population. The town declined in economic and political importance, which saved it from redevelopment in later centuries. I had visited here before, in 2019 (san gimignano: a city of medieval skyscrapers).

We climbed up into the steep town to see the towers and the Duomo Collegiate Church. Its plain facade hides a lavishly decorated interior, with black and white columns and a marvelous series of frescoes that tell the entire Biblical story, from both the Old and New Testaments. Local Santa Fina is also remembered in a frescoed chapel dedicated to her in the church.

Darina climbed up one of the towers, but since I’d been here before and done that, I decided to rest in the shade.

San Gimignano

view of Tuscan countryside from San Gimignano

San Gimignano

Duomo Collegiate Church

me resting in the shade while Darina climbed a tower

San Gimignano

Darina stopped for a BEFORE-dinner gelato at Gelateria Dondoli: “Gelato World Champion 2006/2007 & 2008/2009.” There was a constant line at this place.

We had a pleasant and delicious dinner at Bistro Caffè Giardino. It was just outside the city walls and had beautiful views of the Tuscan countryside. I had a delicious mushroom gnocchi and Darina some kind of tomato-based pasta. The husband and wife team were friendly and down to earth, even providing Darina with a needle, thread and scissors to sew up her pack that was ripping.

After dinner, I of course had to sample some of the gelato at Gelateria Dondoli. It was a sheep ricotta cheese with blueberries flavor that was rich and creamy, and delizioso!

Darina’s before-dinner gelato from Gelateria Dondoli

Darina and me at Bistro Caffè Giardino

Darina at Bistro Caffè Giardino

me at Bistro Caffè Giardino

view from Bistro Caffè Giardino

Gelateria Dondoli

me having my after-dinner gelato at Gelateria Dondoli

Steps: 32,785; Miles: 13.9. Day 2 Stage walk 9.38 mi (15.1 km).

Weather: Gambassi Terme: Hi 85°, Low 63°. San Gimignano: Hi 94°, Lo 65°.

The Via Francigena is an ancient road and pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. In around 990, Archbishop Sigeric journeyed from Canterbury to Rome and back, but only documented his itinerary on the return journey, taken in 80 stages averaging about 12 miles (20 km) a day, for a total of some 1,100 miles (1,700 km).

This is the story of our attempt to walk the stages from Lucca to Rome, which are, in total, about 255.07 miles (410.5 km). Since we had to cut out stages due to time constraints, our actual goal was to walk 211.77 miles ( 340.8 km).

Running tally (Day 2): 18.33 /211.77 miles (29.5/340.8 km).

via francigena: ponte a cappiano to gambassi terme

wanderessence1025 November 22, 2023

Friday, July 7: We started our first stage of actually walking the Via Francigena from Ponte a Cappiano at 6:50 this morning, after I’d grabbed a chocolate croissant at Bar Cappiano. It would be 5km to Fucecchio. We walked for a while along the brackish canal on a grassy path. The Via Francigena is not that well-marked so we had to keep reading the guidebook and tracking ourselves on the Via Francigena app. Even though we left early, it was still very humid and the grassy path was wet with dew. We were in full sun the whole way.

leaving Ponte a Cappiano

sign for the Via Francigena

Ponte a Cappiano

Darina in the cornfields

Cornfields

the flat boring path to Fucecchio

me trudging along to Fucecchio

We finally arrived in Fucecchio after 5km; we didn’t count on this part of the walk, as we thought our hostel was in Fucecchio when we booked it but then realized it was 5km north in Ponte a Cappiano. So our day was longer than we expected at about 16km or nearly 10 miles.

Fucecchio was called “Arne Blanca” by Sigeric and listed as his stage XXIII. The town’s main crop at one time was figs, and its name derives from Latin for “fig plantations.” A decimating plague rampaged the town in the 14th century; in the 16th century the Medicis began to redevelop it.

We visited the church on the hill, The Collegiate Church of San Giovanni Battista, and happened upon a priest who was able to stamp our passports. The neoclassical church with its austere brick facade was richly decorated inside. We had views of the sprawling landscape from behind the church. The main square, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, was classic Italian.

I reach Fucecchio

view from the hill in Fucecchio

Fucecchio

view from the hill in Fucecchio

The Collegiate Church of San Giovanni Battista

view from the hill in Fucecchio

Piazza Vittorio Veneto

The Collegiate Church of San Giovanni Battista

Vedutta della Collegiata e dell’affresco di Son Cristoforo

In the newer part of Fucecchio, we stopped at a cafe for some breakfast. Darina’s hiking shoes and socks had gotten soaked in the dewy morning grass, so she took them off and leaned them against a planter in the square where the sun could dry them off.

At one point I looked up and noticed the shoes had vanished. I alerted Darina. A man was sweeping trash in the square with a broom while a street sweeping machine was moving slowly down the street. They had already gone by us and it didn’t seem possible the machine could have swept the shoes up because there were barriers around the square. We asked everyone around if they’d seen someone take Darina’s boots, but no one had.

Darina hurried over to the driver of the street sweeping machine and asked (through Google Translate) if his machine had sucked up her shoes. The man with the broom even came over to see what they were talking about. He must have been the town idiot because he acted as if he didn’t know a thing about the shoes. She asked the machine driver to open the back of his truck and look for her shoes, but he said he had to finish street sweeping for another hour; he promised he’d return and open it then. We finally gave up because we couldn’t wait around forever. All of this had taken 2 hours of the day already. Darina didn’t care that much because she was happy to walk in her Tevas, but she wanted to know the truth of what happened to her shoes.

Darina had spotted a camera on the outside of the pharmacy so she went in and asked them to replay the video of the square. There on the video, she saw the man with the broom vigorously sweeping her shoes into the street sweeping machine. What I would have given to see that video! It cracked me up just picturing it.

What a comedy of errors! It was like something you’d see in a Charlie Chaplain movie. So hilarious. Every time I thought about it the rest of the day, I cracked up laughing.

We were ready to shake off the town of Fucecchio as soon as possible, after the incident yesterday with our misplaced hostel, the trains and the exorbitant taxi, and today with Darina’s hiking boots.

the cafe where we stopped

Darina points to the crime scene – where her shoes were disposed of

Saying goodbye to Fucecchio

We crossed a bridge over the Arno River, which flows 241km from the Apennines through Florence before emptying into the Tyrrhenian Sea near Pisa. We walked behind a paper factory then along another dyke.

It was a miserably long hot slog along dykes and flat boring farmland to get to San Miniato Basso (6.7 km). We saw some Danish pilgrims sitting on a bench and we followed suit by resting on another bench before climbing the steep climb to San Miniato.

Arno River

long and hot flat slog through farmland

San Miniato Basso

church in San Miniato Basso

We took what was apparently a new path of the Via Francigena into San Miniato (elevation 147 meters, pop. 27,585). We could see the town looming high above us and thought it terribly daunting. The zigzag climb was hot and uphill and we wondered if there were a set of steps because we were getting close to the town rising straight up before us. Suddenly we saw there was a elevator that took people up to the town! It was a gift from the heavens for sure!

The high hills of San Miniato made it a prized fortress of the Lombards, who built a castle here in the 11th century, when it briefly surpassed Florence in importance as the Tuscan capital for the Lombard Holy Roman Empire.

San Miniato is known for the white truffle. Trufflers go out during the night with their dogs and walk through hidden paths between the trees to find the prized truffles. Lucky for us, the first cafe we found in the shade, Piccola Osteria del Tartufo, specialized in white truffle dishes. It turned out to be an excellent stop. We got bread, cheese, sour cream, & thinly sliced white truffles topped with honey. We also had Aperol spritzes. Everything was refreshing and delicious. We were so hot and tired that we sat there for a long time enjoying the accomplishment of our first day of walking about 10 miles in high heat with no shade. However, we still weren’t at our destination for the night.

the zigzag path to San Miniato

San Miniato

view of Tuscan countryside from San Miniato

San Miniato

lunch at Piccola Osteria del Tartufo

The friendly waitress allowed us to leave our packs in the restaurant so we could walk up to see the Duomo of Sant’Assunta, where we also got a stamp. Its asymmetrical San Mathilde clock tower was originally part of the medieval fortress.

Duomo of Sant’Assunta

view from Duomo of Sant’Assunta

Duomo of Sant’Assunta

The waitress at the restaurant also called us a taxi because we needed to take one to the bus stop at Ponte a Elsa so we could get two more buses to Gambassi Termi. We were skipping the stage from San Miniato to Gambassi Terme because it was a rough 26 km with no services.

The funny thing was that when they called us a taxi, it was Antonio, the same guy who had charged us 30 euros yesterday to drive us from the train station at San Miniato Basso to Ponte a Cappiano. He had quoted 20 euros today for the same distance he drove us yesterday. We could only assume it was because Italians had called him. I guess he figured he could take advantage of us English-speaking pilgrims.

We waited for the 3:40 bus 🚎 to Castelfiorentino and then switched to another bus to Santamaría a Chianni, basically 1.4 km north of the town of Gambassi Terme.

We jumped off the bus at about 4:30 in Chianni, right across from Ostello Sigerico, a very nice and well-run pilgrim hostel in a former monastery next to the medieval church of Santa Maria Assunta. It was the 20th stop made by Sigeric, the archbishop of Canterbury. They had drying racks for our clothes in the courtyard and a pilgrim dinner lined up for 7:30. We could even take a tour of the attached Romanesque church after dinner.

It was nice to meet some fellow pilgrims because we hadn’t seen many thus far. We met Pauline from Netherlands. She had been walking since near the border of Switzerland and France. We met an Italian man who was actually in the Osteria where we ate in Ponte a Cappiano the night before; he recognized us and he had, unbeknownst to us, appeared in our photos. He was walking long distances at breakneck speed. We also met two friendly young Italians who were trying to become actors. María Giulia Toscano (25) had played a bit part in Romantiche, and she was hoping to act in another movie soon. She and her friend had tried to do two stages of the Francigena from Fucecchio to San Miniato to Gambassi Terme in one day, and María had twisted her ankle so they were going home earlier than they planned.

After dinner we were able to go inside the Romanesque church attached to the Ostello.

me approaching Ostello Sigerico

approaching Ostello Sigerico

Ostello Sigerico

Darina with the pilgrim at Ostello Sigerico

me at Ostello Sigerico

vineyards seen from the garden at Ostello Sigerico

Ostello Sigerico

dinnertime at Ostello Sigerico

Darina at dinner

pasta at Ostello Sigerico

Romanesque church at Ostello Sigerico

me, María & Darina

María and her friend

Ostello Sigerico

vineyards of Gambassi Terme

Overall, it was a perfect ending to our first day of walking.

Steps: 25,347; Miles: 10.75. Day 1 Stage Walk: 8.95 miles (14.4km).

Weather: (San Miniato) Sunny. Hi 89°, Lo 66°. (Gambassi Terme): Sunny. Hi 82°, Lo 66°.

The Via Francigena (pronounced Fran-chee’-gina) is an ancient road and pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. In around 990, Archbishop Sigeric journeyed from Canterbury to Rome and back, but only documented his itinerary on the return journey, taken in 80 stages averaging about 12 miles (20 km) a day, for a total of some 1,100 miles (1,700 km).

Running tally (Day 1): 8.95/211.77 miles (14.4km/340.8km).

lucca: a farewell to mike & embarking on the via francigena to ponte a cappiano

wanderessence1025 November 15, 2023

Tuesday, July 4: Mike and I drove about 3 1/2 hours from Bergamo to arrive at Lucca. We checked into our hotel, Albergó San Marino, and then went out in search of the pilgrim credenciale. The receptionist at our hotel said he’d done the Via Francigena before and sent us confidently across town to the Tourist Info office. They in turn told us to go to Cathedral San Marino from 9:30-6:00; it was right around the corner from our hotel but we didn’t make it because we stopped for an Aperol spritz at a shady cafe near where they were setting up the stage for Lucca’s famous music festival; tonight it would be Billy Idol and Generation Sex. On Thursday night Bob Dylan would be playing, but only one general admission ticket was remaining at a cost of 145€. It didn’t matter because on Thursday, Darina and I would begin our walk to Rome, and Mike would be on his way home.

We walked to Piazza dell’Anfiteatro and had an excellent dinner at Sotto Sotto Ristorante. The waiter and manager, Eugene, was super friendly and welcoming. I had ricotta and spinach ravioli with butter and sage and Mike had the most delicious meal: Pulled pork sandwich, burrata stracciatella, green sauce and baked potatoes. It was breezy and cool and the plaza was quite lively, such a pleasant experience all around. The only detraction from the experience was some YouTube influencer sitting a couple of tables away with her family; she was taking a video of herself gushing about how she’d now reached a million followers, or some such nonsense. It was so obnoxious!

Albergó San Marino

me in front of Albergó San Marino

Lucca Summer Music Festival 2023

doorway in Lucca

one of Lucca’s many churches

Sotto Sotto Ristorante

Mike at Sotto Sotto Ristorante

me at Sotto Sotto Ristorante

ricotta and spinach ravioli with butter and sage

Pulled pork sandwich, burrata stracciatella, green sauce and baked potatoes

Piazza dell’Anfiteatro

me at Piazza dell’Anfiteatro

Mike at Piazza dell’Anfiteatro

Cathedral San Marino

Steps: 8,864; miles 3.76. Weather: Partly cloudy. Hi: 82°, Lo: 65°.

Wednesday, July 5: This morning at the hotel breakfast we met an Italian couple, Stefano and Stefani, along with Stefani’s best friend Firenzia, who sported a Generation X T-shirt (Gen X is generally defined as those born between 1965-1980). We found they had attended the Generation Sex and Billy Idol concert the night before. Firenzia had been to 44 Billy Idol concerts all over the world and Stefani had been to 42. Stefani had been to San Diego multiple times and wanted to live there; Firenzia was in love with Las Vegas and wanted to marry an Elvis impersonator there. They were hilarious and even sang us a few lines of “White Wedding.” They were groupies in the truest sense of the word.

After breakfast, we walked out of Lucca’s city walls through the Porto San Pietro to the Aqueduct of Nottolini. This 19th century epic structure was once used to carry water from the mountains into the city and contained 400 arches made of stone stretching for 3km. It was rather disheveled and unkempt, not like many that have been well-preserved in other places.

Stefano, Stefani, & Firenzia

Albergó San Marino

Porto San Pietro

Aqueduct of Nottolini

Mike at Aqueduct of Nottolini

me at Aqueduct of Nottolini

When we returned from our aqueduct walk, we headed for the Lucca Cathedral Museum to get our pilgrim passports. Finally I was able to find them after being sent on a wild goose chase yesterday.

We then wandered around awhile and found San Michele Paolino Allesandro Church, where I got my first pilgrim stamp. Unlike most churches in Italy, this one is very plain inside. Known as the church of S. Michele in Foro, it was built over the ruins of a previous church (from 795) and on the area of the ancient Forum of Roman Lucca. Its present form dates back to the 12th century.

The white Church has impressive proportions and blind arcades run around the entire church. The façade is higher than the roof, which makes this church completely different from all the other ones in Lucca.

Lucca Cathedral

San Michele Paolino Allesandro church

We had lunch at Ciacco on San Napoleon Square. Mike had a panini with a zucchini omelette inside; I had Pappa Al Pomodoro: Tuscan tomato bread soup and Calabrian anchovies with burrata, a kind of room temperature soup that was more bread 🥖 than soup. It wasn’t my favorite. Then we wandered around waiting for Darina to arrive; she was keeping us informed of her progress coming from Pisa to Lucca.

Ciacco

Pappa el Pomodoro

panini with a zucchini omelette

Ciacco

church in Lucca

Polarsteps of Mike’s and my trip through Northern Italy to Lucca

Darina arrived in Lucca after her travel from Slovakia, by way of Budapest and Pisa, and met us at Piazza Napoleon for cool Aperol Spritz drinks. She came bearing a gift from Slovakia: Tatratea, a liqueur with 52% alcohol content! Mike would take it home so we could enjoy it in the safety of our own home 😂🤣.

I gave Darina the two pilgrim credenciales I’d picked up for her at the Cathedral Museum. I didn’t know if we needed one or two but we liked to get a lot of stamps, so I played it safe since the documents seemed quite elusive. After our drinks, we went to Lucca Cathedral so Darina could get her first passport stamp.

Darina with her gift of Tatratea

Darina, me and Tatratea

Lucca Cathedral

We all three rented bicycles and rode around Lucca’s 4km of city walls. It was a great green space, full of trees 🌳, breezes, people strolling and small groups pedaling four-person contraptions that seemed quite comedic. After we got off the city walls, Darina and I parked our bikes at several churches to get more stamps in our pilgrim credenciales.

Then it was time to finish a bottle of wine Mike and I had bought in Bergamo. Darina came to our hotel and we sat out on the patio and drank and talked about everything from Danish political TV shows to the screwed-up American political system.

a bikeride around Lucca’s city walls

Church of San Frediano

San Michele Paolino Allesandro Church

parked bikes

finishing up our bikeride

the bike shop

We finished our evening at Ristorante Des Arts, the same restaurant where Mike and I ate in April of 2019 when we briefly visited Lucca. We had cacio e pepe again, but somehow it paled in comparison. It had been cold then and we had huddled inside; this evening it was warm so we sat outside and enjoyed a different atmosphere altogether. I was pleased to meet Darina again after five years apart.

Darina and me at Ristorante Des Arts

me with Darina at Ristorante Des Arts

Mike, me and Darina at Ristorante Des Arts

Steps: 18,079; Miles 7.67. Weather Partly cloudy. Hi 83°, Lo 65°.

Thursday, July 6: Mike took off this morning at 6:30 am for the Pisa airport. Luckily he made it in time and caught his flight in Frankfurt despite a short layover. I was sad to have him go but was also trying to get in the state of mind for my pilgrimage. I rearranged my suitcase and my pack to send my suitcase through Bags Free to Rome.

I checked out of my hotel, left my suitcase and backpack at reception, and went to meet Darina at 10:30 near the Church of San Frediano with its beautiful façade, which displays a splendid Byzantine mosaic of the Ascension. Christ, in an almond shape, is surrounded by the apostles; the Madonna is portrayed in the center. We had passed it Wednesday on our bikeride but the mosaic was in the shadows. This morning, we were able to capture it in full sunlight.

We had drinks near Napoleon Square, next to the music festival stage where they were doing sound checks for Bob Dylan’s show that night. We had both done some research about how to take public transportation to Fucecchio, skipping the first 2 stages of the Via Francigena because we’d read those stages went through Lucca’s ugly suburbs. Also in the interest of time we had to choose to eliminate some stages. We thought we had our route figured out, and we headed to Lucca’s train station.

one of Lucca’s towers

Church of San Frediano

another of Lucca’s towers

the Bob Dylan sound stage

We took a train to Pisa, switched trains and arrived at San Miniato-Fucecchio. We realized too late that the Ostello Il Ponte dei Medici was actually in Ponte a Cappiano, 5 km north of Fucecchio. By this time it was late and hot and no way did we want to walk north to the Ostello and then have to backtrack south tomorrow morning. Some kindly locals tried to help and instructed us to take the train to Lucca! I said we just came from Lucca and that could not be the solution. Finally we found a taxi to take us to the Ostello for a steep 30 euros, way too much for a 12-minute drive.

Darina and I checked into our first hostel, Ostello il Ponte dei Medici, at around 3:00 after our challenging day navigating public transportation to get to Ponte a Cappiano. We weren’t too sweaty since we didn’t actually walk, so we postponed our showers and went to the only bar open in the small town, Bar Cappiano. We each had a beer and a panini with formaggio, Pomodoro & prosciutto while we observed a gaggle of local old men who probably gather there every day. It was quite fun to watch this group of obvious old friends. We wondered what on earth people do in a small town such as this, and we figured this was it: sitting around chatting at the local bar while the women cooked and cleaned at home.

After a long lazy while, we climbed uphill to the only church in town, Chiesa di San Bartolomeo. Darina buzzed the doorbell of a side building and a black priest stuck his head out of an upper window and waved like the Pope giving his benediction. We asked if he could open the church and stamp our pilgrim passport. He had a cell phone glued to the side of his head but he came down, stamped our passports and opened the church. By the time we came out, he was in the parking lot waiting and still chatting away on the phone. Down the hill someone was burning something and smoke was wafting up from below. We could see what we thought was San Miniato in the distance.

We returned to the hostel, which is built into the top of the famous medieval bridge of the town. This stop was identified as Sigeric’s Stage XXIV on the Via Francigena, also known as Aqua Nigra (“Black water”) – named for the brackish waters of the Usciana Canal which it spans. The bridge had strategic value in the medieval wars between Lucca and Florence, who each fortified or destroyed it at various times in its history. One of the Medicis rebuilt it, earning it the name “Medici Bridge.” For centuries the Hospitallers of Altopascio safeguarded the bridge for pilgrim traffic on the Via Francigena (according to Sandy Brown in Walking the Via Francigena Pilgrim Route – Part 3: Lucca to Rome).

late lunch in Bar Cappiano

Chiesa di San Bartolomeo

view of Ponte a Cappiano from Chiesa di San Bartolomeo

Ponte a Cappiano

Medici Bridge (Ostello il Ponte dei Medici is inside the bridge)

Usciana Canal

We showered but didn’t bother washing our clothes because we hadn’t sweated that much. However, after showering, we immediately started sweating profusely. We escaped the stuffy hostel, which we had all to ourselves, and went back to the bar, sitting in a shady corner and writing in our journals.

The only Osteria in town opened at 8:00, so we went there for dinner. The woman, Nonna (grandmother), served us cool white wine in flower-painted wine glasses. We each had bruschetta, a plate of spaghetti arrabiata and some bread dipped in olive oil. It was a very pleasant evening as the woman was super nice and the ambiance was lovely and welcoming. We got another stamp in our passport. We now had seven stamps without having walked a step 😂🤣.

Darins with the painted glasses in the Osteria

me in the Osteria

Osteria in Ponte a Cappiano

spaghetti arrabiata

Darina and me in the Osteria

our pilgrim passports with 7 stamps

Steps: 12,405; Miles 5.26. Weather: Hi 89°; Low 64°. Mostly sunny.

The Via Francigena (pronounced Fran-chee’-gina) is an ancient road and pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. In around 990, Archbishop Sigeric journeyed from Canterbury to Rome and back, but only documented his itinerary on the return journey, taken in 80 stages averaging about 20 km (12 mi) a day, for a total of some 1,700 km (1,100 mi).

This begins the story of our attempt to walk the stages from Lucca to Rome, which are in total about 410.5 km (or 255.07 miles). Since we had to cut out stages due to time constraints, our actual goal was to walk 340.8 km (or 211.77 miles).

Running tally: 0/211.77 miles.

bergamo: città alta, “polenta e osei,” & the accademia carrara

wanderessence1025 November 8, 2023

Monday, July 3: Our first and only full day in Bergamo, we drove to the Lower Town and took the funicular up to Città Alta.

Funicolare Città Alta

In the Città Alta, at the top of the funicular, we were greeted by numerous pasticcerie with shop windows full of “polenta é osei,” the most renowned sweet specialty of Bergamo’s cuisine. It is made from sponge cake, chocolate, butter, hazelnut creams and rum. The sponge cake is covered with yellow marzipan, then dusted with crystals of yellow sugar. The little birds then placed on the polenta are made from marzipan covered with a layer of chocolate.

We didn’t allow ourselves to be enticed by these sweet concoctions just yet; instead we wandered through the town, arriving at Piazza Vecchia. Sadly we found we couldn’t climb up the massive 13th century Torre Civica, also known as the Campanone, because it was closed on Mondays.

at the top of the funicular

“polenta é osei”

Piazza Vecchia with the Campanone

Piazza Vecchia

We visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, a major church in the upper town. According to popular tradition, the church was built to comply with a vow made to the Virgin Mary in 1133 by the citizens of Bergamo to protect the city from the plague that was hitting northern Italy at that time.

The church was founded in 1137 on the site of another church from the 8th century dedicated to St Mary, which had been in turn erected over a Roman temple. The church is a conglomeration of different styles, from Romanesque to Gothic. We loved the wooden marquetry designed by Lorenzo Lotto.

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

We went next door to the Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church, with its brilliant white facade. Located in Piazza Duomo, in the heart of the Old Town, this area was already a sacred place in the 5th Century B.C., as known by the underground layers. The building holds numerous treasures, such as the paintings by Giovan Battista Moroni and Andrea Previtali, The Martyrdom of Saint John Bishop by Giambattista Tiepolo, an altarpiece by Carlo Ceresa and some wood and marble inlays by Andrea Fantoni.

Cathedral & Duomo, S. Alessandro Martire Church

After wandering around a bit, we had to sample some of the “polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio during our “mandatory” cappuccino and pastry break.

“polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio

me enjoying “polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio

“polenta e osei” at Il Fornaio

We strolled about some more, on a super sugar high, stopping into a random church, Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine.

Bergamo’s Città Alta

Chiesa di Sant’Agata nel Carmine

Città Alta

map of Città Alta

After rambling around some more, we stopped for lunch at Il Fornaio, where we shared a delicious pizza with burrata and mushrooms.

Il Fornaio

pizzas for sale at Il Fornaio

Burrata and mushroom pizza at Il Fornaio

By then we were stuffed, so we meandered aimlessly until we decided to walk down from the Città Alta to the lower town.

Bergamo

me in Bergamo

Mike in Bergamo

Bergamo

On the long path down to the Lower Town, we had fabulous views of the Città Alta perched proudly on the hilltop.

view of the Lower Town from Città Alta

Bergamo

walkway from Città Alta to the Lower Town

me on the walkway from Città Alta to the Lower Town

view of Città Alta

fetching house on the hillside

view of the Lower Town as we descended

another fetching view

Mike on the walkway down

a pretty house we passed along the walk down

When we reached the Lower Town, we stopped for Aperol spritzes and were served up some cicchetti even though we weren’t hungry and didn’t ask for any food. The waiter said it was included in the price, which turned out to be outrageous compared to other places. That’ll teach us to always look at the menu before ordering.

Mike at the café

a little stop for drinks in the Lower Town (+ cicchetti)

After taking an afternoon nap, we walked just around the corner from our Airbnb to the Accademia Carrara, officially Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo, an art gallery and academy of fine arts in Bergamo. The art gallery was established in about 1780 by Giacomo Carrara, a Bergamasco collector or connoisseur of the arts. The academy of fine arts was added to it in 1794.

Accademia Carrara

entrance to Accademia Carrara

We enjoyed seeing all the masterpieces by the classic Italian painters. We were given a pamphlet that showed the masterpieces we should look for and did a kind of scavenger hunt to find them. The 16 are numbered and named on the photos in the gallery below. Famous painters represented included Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini, Canaletto, Pisanello, Mantegna and Titian.

Accademia Carrara

1. Madonna col Bambino e angelia by Benozzo Gozzoli c. 1440-1445

Accademia Carrara

2. Ritratto di Leonello d’Este by Pisanello c. 1441-1444

Saint Apollonia with her Teeth Torn Out by Giovanni d’Alemagna 1440-1445

Saint Appollinia Blinded by Giovanni d’Alemagna 1440-1445

Accademia Carrara

3. Madonna col Bambino by Andrea Mantegna c. 1480

Accademia Carrara

Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini c. 1485-1487

The Story of Virginia by Sandro Botticelli c. 1505

Saint Jerome Extracting the Thorn from the Lion’s Paw by Pittore lombardo o ligure 1465-1475

Ecce Home by Andrea Solario 1503-1505

Madonna and Child between Saints Jerome and Anne (the Baglioni Madonna) by Andrea Previtali 1511-1513

The Stoning of Saint Stephen by Lorenzo Lotto 1513-1516

Saint John the Evangelist by Lorenzo Costa c. 1480-1481

Weeping Angel by Vicino da Ferrara c. 1465-1470

Portrait of Giuliano de’Medici by Sandro Botticelli c. 1478-1480

7. San Sebastiano by Raffaello 1501-1503

8. Tre Crocifissi by Vincenzo Foppa 1450 o 1455 (?)

The Flagellation of Christ by Defendente Ferrari c. 1520

Portrait of Giovanni Benedetto Caravaggi by Giovanni Cariani c. 1519-1520

Portrait of a Gentleman by Altobello Melone c. 1513

Accademia Carrara

10. Nozze mistiche di santa Caterina d’Alessandria, un angelo e Nicolò Bonghi by Lorenzo Lotto 1523

11. Ritratto di vecchio seduto by Giovan Battista Moroni 1576

12. Ragazzo con canestra di pane e dolciumi by Evaristo Baschenis 1650-1660

13. Il Canal Grande da Ca’Foscari verso il ponte di Rialto by Canaletto c. 1726-1728

14. Caterina Cornaro riceve l’annuncio della sua deposizione dal Regno di Cipro by Francesco Hayez 1842

15. Ritratto della contessa Anastasia Spini by Piccio c. 1840

16. A Memory of Sorrow (Portrait Santina Negri) by Giuseppe Pelllizza da Volpedo 1889

Portrait of Francesco Maria Bruntino by Fra Galgario 1737

View of Saint Mark’s Square by Francesco Guardi 1760-1770

Accademia Carrara

The Artist’s Daughter Irene (Girl with Roses) by Cesare Tallone 1898

Madonna Nursing the Child by Bergognone c. 1492-1495

The Birth of Mary by Vittore Carpaccio c. 1502-1504

Accademia Carrara

Paolo e Francesca by Gaetano Previati c. 1887

Madonna and Child Enthroned; the Holy Trinity; Saint Peter; Saint Michael the Archangel (The Scanzo Polyptych) by Bartolomeo Vivarini 1488

Accademia Carrara

Musical Instruments and Sstatuette by Evaristo Baaschenis c. 1660

The Mother’s Curse by Ponziano Loverini 1886

We also loved the special exhibit on the Bergamasque Alps, “Vette di Luce,” especially after having spent over a week in the Dolomites. The paintings were done by various Italian artists and the photographs were taken by Naoki Ishikawa (b. 1977, Tokyo). After climbing Mount Fuji and Denali, he went on to conquer ten of the world’s fourteen highest mountains. In the Bergamo region, he was struck by the everyday life of the mountain communities: cow herding, producing cheese and butter, and the processes used to obtain great varieties of dairy products.

The Dragon’s Lair by Matteo Rubbi 2023

Pizzo Recastello by Camillo Galizzi c. 1935-1940

View of Sedrina by Costantino Rosa c. 1850-1870

“Vette di Luce”

Landscape with Snowy Mountains by Costantino Rosa c. 1861

Serio River Waterfalls by Costantino Rosa 1861

The Cabianca (from the Calvi Refuge) by Camillo Galizzi c. 1948

The North Face of the Presolana by Camillo Galizzi c. 1935-1940

View of the Val Brembana by Constantino Rosa c. 1850-1870

Naoki Ishikawa

Naoki Ishikawa 2022

Naoki Ishikawa

After our museum visit we found a hole in the wall café, Café Poeme, where Mike had a brown-sauced lasagna with radicchio and I had breaded meatballs, French fries and a honey mustard sauce. We both had Hugos as we sat on the sidewalk near a busy street. It was a rather nondescript place, but the food was good.

me with a Vespa on the street of Bergamo

Mike at Café Poeme

brown-sauced lasagna with radicchio

me with a Hugo at Café Poeme

breaded meatballs at Café Poeme

our trip so far on Polarsteps

On Tuesday morning we would head to Lucca where, on Wednesday, we would rendezvous with my Slovakian friend Darina. From there, Mike would return home and Darina and I would prepare to embark on a very hot Via Francigena to Rome.

Steps: 14,456; Miles 6.13. Weather: Hi 83°, Lo 64°.

a tale of two lakes: lago di garda & lago d’iseo

wanderessence1025 November 1, 2023

Lago di Garda

Saturday, July 1: We stopped at Lago di Garda on our way from Verona to Bergamo on Saturday. At 370 sq km, Lago di Garda is the largest of the Italian lakes, straddling the border between Lombardy and the Veneto, with mountains to the north and softer hills to the south. Villages line the shores, with harbors, vineyards, olive groves and citrus trees along their edges.

The man who ran the restaurant in Verona where we had stopped to get out of the rain had recommended we stop at the cute town of Lazise and then drive further north along the lake’s shore. We wandered around the cute town on the lake for about an hour, admiring the activity on the lake and the boats tied up in the marina.

Lazise

The man had also recommended to us that we park the car at Bardolino and then walk 3km north to Garda. It was a long, hot and rather boring slog. But the town of Bardolino was very cute.

me in Bardolino

Bardolino

on the way to Garda

me on the hot slog to Garda

When we finally got to the town of Garda we were so hot that we didn’t feel like exploring the town, so we found a bus to take us back to Bardolino.

approaching Garda on foot

On the way to Bergamo, we drove down a thin spaghetti-like peninsula to Sirmione, which sticks out from the southern shore of Lake Garda. Being Saturday afternoon, the town was so crowded there was no parking to be found, so we made our way to Bergamo where we checked into our Airbnb around 4:30.

We would be in Bergamo for 3 nights. The apartment was abundantly supplied with everything a person could ever need except air conditioning.

our 2nd floor Airbnb in Bergamo

Our Bergamo Airbnb

view from our bedroom window at our Bergamo Airbnb

We went to Ristorante Pizzeria Vesuvio, about a 7 minute walk from our house. As it was Saturday night, it was very busy and lively. Mike and I shared an asparagus pizza 🍕 and some bruschetta.

Ristorante Pizzeria Vesuvio

Steps: 19,106; Miles: 8.1. Weather: Hi 74°, Low 64°.

Lago d’Iseo

Sunday, July 2: Because it was supposed to be hot today (86°F) and because it was a Sunday, we decided rather than go to Bergamo’s ancient hilltop Città Alta (Upper Town), we would go to Lago d’Iseo, the fourth largest lake in Lombardy, fed by the Oglio River. After a 45-minute drive, we took a ferry from the town of Sulzano to the island of Monte Isola which towers from the south end of Lago d’Iseo. It is Europe’s largest lake island, at 4.28 sq km. Today it is dotted with fishing villages.

Sulzano

Taking the ferry to Monte Isola

ferry ride to Monte Isola

Monte Isola

looking back at Sulzano

In the small fishing village of Peschiera Maraglio, we rented bicycles and before taking off, we sat at a cute cafe and had coffee and croissants. An elderly woman (more elderly than me) came up and started talking to us in rapid-fire Italian. Somehow I gleaned that she had apartments to rent in the building next-door and that her husband had died. That was all I could understand, yet it was quite a long (one-way) conversation, with me nodding as if I understood.

magazines in Peschiera Maraglio

me with my bike on Monte Isola

the cafe where we stopped

Peschiera Maraglio

The elderly lady going inside her house

ready to bike

After our coffee break, we rode the perimeter of the island, about 8.7km (5.4 miles). We encountered a tough ascent (106m), where I had to get off the bike and walk uphill. Near the top of the hill, where Mike waited ahead of me, we met a family from El Salvador. Mike was busy chatting away to them in Spanish, and I chimed in periodically. Later, I asked Mike what he thought the El Salvadoran guy was saying. I thought the family was in Italy because their daughter was attending a music school. Mike had understood something altogether different. I really don’t know which one of us was right. Ah, the challenges of speaking languages other than English!

From one of the higher points we could see the tiny Isola di Loreto, a tiny privately-owned island with a neo-Gothic castle surrounded by a garden full of conifers. As we neared the end of the ride, we saw another privately owned island with a private home, San Paolo Island. On a high point behind us we could see the Rocca Martinengro, a fortress built during the 14th century (around a 12th century tower) by a family from Isola.

me and my bicycle

Mike and the bikes

church on Monte Isola

Lago d’Iseo

view of Isola di Loreto

Lago d’Iseo & Isola di Loreto

cute purple Vespa

I love the purple Vespas!

the heights of Monte Isola

a cemetery

view of Rocca Martinengro

San Paolo Island

Monte Isola

We came full circle around the island and dropped our bikes in Peschiera Maraglio, where we stopped in various shops to have a look. Then we took the ferry back to Sulzano, where we got our car and took a drive up the east side of the lake.

Peschiera Maraglio

ferrying back with a look at Peschiera Maraglio

looking back at Monte Iseo

view from Sulzano

Sulzano

I had a craving for calamari since I’d seen it sold at restaurants in Lazise on Saturday. It was hard to find a restaurant where there was space to park. We finally stopped to have lunch at the lovely Ristorante allá Galleria in Marone, but sadly there was no calamari on the menu. The restaurant sat prettily on Lago d’Iseo. It was quite a hot day, so luckily we were refreshed by some cool sodas, me a San Pellligrino Aranciata and Mike a lemon soda. I had risotto with smoked char and smoked trout; Mike had eggplant parmigiana. It was a nice way to enjoy the lakeside views before we returned to Bergamo.

Ristorante allá Galleria in Marone

Mike cooling off with a lemon soda

me with a San Pellligrino Aranciata

risotto with smoked char and smoked trout

eggplant parmigiana

Ristorante allá Galleria in Marone

Back at our Airbnb in Bergamo, we cooked in: pasta with leeks and tomatoes. We relaxed in our cozy apartment and would be ready to explore the city on Monday.

Steps: 6,539; Miles 2.77. Weather: Hi 86°, Lo 67°.

anticipation & preparation: a texas & new mexico road trip (+ a stopover in atlanta)

wanderessence1025 September 27, 2023

We’re finally on our way to visit parts of Texas and New Mexico, with a long stop-off in Atlanta, GA beforehand to meet our new granddaughter. Her due date is October 1, so we hope she’ll be in this world by the time we arrive (0r soon after!). We had originally planned this trip for 2020, but of course, like everyone else, we were waylaid by the pandemic. A year ago, we made reservations for mid-October at Chisos Mountains Lodge in Big Bend National Park; we had to reserve these spots a year ahead. We hadn’t planned anything else in the meantime; we figured we would build our trip around that stop when the time got closer. We certainly didn’t expect we’d be having our first granddaughter arriving!

I have been to parts of Texas before, namely Dallas (2016) and brief stops in El Paso and Abilene on my way back from my Canyon & Cactus Road trip in 2020. I have also been to the northwest corner of New Mexico, to Bisti Badlands, Chaco Canyon National Park, and the town of Gallup in May of 2018. All of the places we’re going this time will be new to us.

George W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum, Dallas, TX 2016

Dallas Arboretum 2016

view of Kennedy assassination location from Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza in Dallas, TX 2016

Gallup, New Mexico in 2018

Gallup, New Mexico 2018

Chaco Canyon National Park, NM in 2018

Chaco Canyon National Park (2018)

Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM in 2018

Bisti Badlands, NM in 2018

Mission in El Paso, TX 2020

Abilene, TX 2020

Our big hurdle this time will be the looming government shutdown after September 30. A handful of right-wing nut-job Republicans is vowing to shut the government down, which would include the national parks. Of course the whole showdown really pisses me off, as these extreme right-wingers don’t ever offer any solutions to the country’s problems, but instead thrive on chaos and hysteria. No matter, we won’t let them ruin our plans. If we can’t go to the national parks, we’ll simply visit towns and state parks. Either way, we’re going, but the trip will be a different trip altogether if we can’t visit the many national parks in these areas.

Our plan is to stay in Atlanta for over a week, visit Caddo Lake, TX, where we have arranged a boat ride, drive to Austin for a couple of nights and then stop in Fredericksburg, TX briefly to see the Hill Country and the German culture there. By a stroke of luck, we’ve found that the annular solar eclipse, which will be on October 14, will be visible in Fredericksburg on the day we plan to be there. Hopefully, we will be able to see the “ring of fire” when the Moon blocks all but the outer edge of the Sun. (See New NASA Map Details 2023 and 2023 Solar Eclipses in the US).

Then we will head to Big Bend National Park in west Texas; as it’s the first National Park on our itinerary, we’ll have to shift gears in transit if the government is still shut down at that time. After leaving Big Bend, we plan to go to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Park in New Mexico, which will both be closed if the government is still shut down. Then we’ll head up to Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Taos and finally Albuquerque, none of which should be affected by the shutdown, but visits to any surrounding national parks or monuments will have to be curtailed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that even if the government does shut down, they’ll reopen by the middle of October, otherwise, we’ll need to revise our plans on the fly. The longest government shut down so far in history was 34 days in December of 2018, when Trump was president. Who knows how long these lunatics will hold the government hostage to their right-wing demands. I’m hoping for the best, but I truly don’t believe they will act in the interest of the American people.

Of course, as always, I’ve been reading a lot of books to prepare for our trip. Here’s my list of books set in Georgia, Texas and New Mexico. The books in bold green are books I own but haven’t yet read. The ones with star ratings and links are the ones I’ve read. Others are only suggestions. You can see my list of all books set in the U.S. here: books & novels | u.s.a. |.

Georgia

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Childhood by Harry Crews
The Twelve-Mile Straight by Eleanor Henderson
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers ****
Atlanta
1. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
2. Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
3. The End of October by Lawrence Wright
4. The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar
5. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
6. Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn by Gary M. Pomerantz
7. The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Greene
8. Peachtree Road by Anne Rivers Siddons

Books set in Georgia

Georgia map, Guidebook & my journal

Texas

by Mary Karr ****
by Paulette Jiles ****
The Color of Lighting by Paulette Jiles
Whisper Network by Chandler Baker ***
God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright (currently reading)
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore (Odessa, TX) *****
by Sandra Cisneros ***
by Cormac McCarthy ****
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Dead Man’s Walk (Lonesome Dove prequel #1) by Larry McMurtry
Comanche Moon (Lonesome Dove prequel #2) by Larry McMurtry
by Larry McMurtry *****
Streets of Laredo (Lonesome Dove sequel #4) by Larry McMurtry
Moving On by Larry McMurtry
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers by Larry McMurtry
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry
Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry
Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry
In a Narrow Grave by Larry McMurtry (essays)
The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
Old Buildings in North Texas by Jen Waldo
Why Stuff Matters by Jen Waldo
Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge
The Way Back to Happiness by Elizabeth Bass
Playing Dead by Julia Heaberlin
Jam on the Vine by LaShondra Katrice Barnett
Texas by James A. Michener
Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler
The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook
The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel
Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place by Susan Wittig Albert
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Goodbye to a River by John Graves
Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce
The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan
Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
Friendswood by René Steinke
Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation by John Phillip Santos
Armadillos and Old Lace by Kinky Friedman
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Oprah Book Club)
The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black
The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt
Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan-Lori Parks
All the Land to Hold Us by Rick Bass
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Brownsville by Oscar Casares
The Gay Place by Billy Lee Brammer
George Washington Gómez by Américo Paredes
The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña by Dagoberto Gilb (around El Paso)
Strange Peaches by Edwin Shrake
The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
Nothing Happened and Then It Did by Jake Silverstein
Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson
Stardust by Carla Stewart
The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy
The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (memoir)
Before the Rain Falls by Camille Di Maio
Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (non-fiction)
Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart
Norwood by Charles Portis (also Arkansas)
Giant by Edna Ferber
Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (east Texas)
Lonely Planet Texas (2014)
Houston
1. by Alicia Erian ****
Austin
1. by Mary Helen Specht ****
2. Waterloo by Karen Olsson

Books set in Texas

Texas map and guidebook

New Mexico

by Denise Chavez
by Willa Cather
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (currently reading)
by Kirstin Valdez Quade
by Goldberry Long
The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob (& India & Seattle)
by Tony Hillerman
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
The Wailing Wood by Tony Hillerman
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli ***
Cities of the Plain (Border Trilogy #3) by Cormac McCarthy
The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church *****
The Painter by Peter Heller
The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter
The Milagro Bean Field War by John Nichols
The Nirvana Blues by John Nichols
Georgia O’Keefe: 100 Flowers
The Woman at Otowi Crossing by Frank Waters
The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook
Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (Manhattan Project)
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford
Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon
Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone
American Elsewhere by Robert Bennett
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn by John Nichols
Bone Horses by Lesley Poling-Kempes
Moon New Mexico: Outdoor Adventures, Road Trips, Local Culture (Travel Guide) by Steven Horak ****
Moon Santa Fe, Taos, & Albuquerque by Steven Horak (currently reading)

New Mexico magazines & guidebooks

books set in New Mexico

There are also endless numbers of movies set in these states. I won’t list them all here, but you can find them on my page: movies | u.s.a. |. The list below includes only the movies I’ve seen.

Georgia

Gone With the Wind (1939) *****
Deliverance (1972) *****
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) *****
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) *****
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) ****
Catch Me If You Can (2002) ***
Footloose (2011) ****

Texas

Old Yeller (1957) *****
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) ****
True Grit (1969) ****
The Last Picture Show (1971) ****
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) ****
Smoky and the Bandit (1977) ****
Lonesome Dove (TV miniseries 1989) *****
All the Pretty Horses (2000) ****
Miss Congeniality (2000) ****
Friday Night Lights (2004) ****
No Country for Old Men (2007) ***
Crazy Heart (2009) ****
True Grit (2010) ****
Jackie (2016) ****
News of the World (2020) ***

New Mexico

The Tao of Steve (2000) ***
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) *****
Georgia O’Keefe (2009) ****
Crazy Heart (2009) ****
Oppenheimer (2023) *****

Various resources:

As always, I hope all goes according to plan. And if there are surprises along the way, I hope they are good ones!

verona: city of churches, bridges & summertime opera

wanderessence1025 September 20, 2023

Wednesday, June 28: We checked into our roomy Airbnb apartment in Verona, dibbed “Casa Teatro Ristori,” after we drove down the Alto Adige Wine Road from Bolzano. It was in a quiet neighborhood not far from the old town. Our terrace overlooked the Teatro Ristori, a cozy theater used for intimate performances.

the view from our terrace in Verona

Casa Teatro Ristori Airbnb

Teatro Ristori – the view from our terrace

We had a fabulous dinner at Bistro Con Amore right around the corner from our apartment. The restaurant was run by Christian from Romania and his wife Ina from Moldova. Christian was lively and passionate about his restaurant and about opera. He broke into song several times as I drank a Hugo and Mike enjoyed an Aperol Spritz. I had spaghetti with prawns and Mike had a delectable Eggplant Parmesan with Pugliese Burrata and fresh basil. We sat beside the nicest Italian couple, Lorenzo and Cosette (which, according to her, means “a little thing”). They were there eating cicchetti (Italian tapas) before they went to their home around the corner for dinner. We had a long chat with them about different parts of Italy (where they were from), the geography and rivers, and our travel plans in their decent English and our faltering Italian.

Bistro Con Amore

me with Christian of Bistro Con Amore

Mike with his Aperol Spritz and my Hugo in the foreground

Mike’s Eggplant Parmesan

my spaghetti with prawns

After dinner we strolled around town, heading for the domineering Castelvecchio, built in the 1350s by Cangrande II della Scala. We walked across the asymmetrical brick bridge, Ponte di Castel Vecchio, a triple-arched fortified bridge in Verona which straddles the Adige River. It was built (most likely in 1354-1356) by Cangrande II to enable him to safely escape from the attached castle in the event the population rebelled against his tyrannical rule.

The bridge was totally destroyed, along with the Ponte Pietra, by the retreating German troops on April 24, 1945. The bridge’s reconstruction by architect Libero Cecchini began in 1949 and was completed in 1951, except for the left tower.

Castelvecchio

a lively restaurant in Verona

Ponte di Castel Vecchio

Arca dei Gavi

Ponte di Castel Vecchio

me on the Ponte di Castel Vecchio

Mike on the Ponte di Castel Vecchio

Ponte di Castel Vecchio

locks on the Ponte di Castel Vecchio

Steps: 8,476; Miles 3.59. Verona’s High: 84°, Low 66°. Mostly sunny.

Thursday, June 29: Our first full day in Verona, we headed first to the Roman Arena, an open-air amphitheater in Piazza Bra built in 30 AD. It survived a 12th century earthquake and is now internationally famous for its legendary large-scale opera performances.

The Arena, the eighth largest in the Roman Empire, predates the Colosseum in Rome. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind. In ancient times, the arena’s capacity was nearly 30,000 people. The stage for concerts and opera performances decreases the available places to a maximum of 22,000.

The first 20th-century operatic production at the arena, a staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, took place on August 10, 1913 to mark the birth of Verdi 100 years before in 1813. Since then, summer seasons of opera have been mounted continually at the Arena, except in 1915–18 and 1940–45, when Europe was embroiled in war.

After wandering through the Arena and watching the work crews setting up the stage, we decided to buy tickets to Thursday night’s performance, which happened to be Aida, the first opera performed at the venue in the 20th century.

on the way to the Arena

Piazza Bra

Verona’s Roman Arena

Mike at Verona’s Roman Arena

Verona’s Roman Arena

view of Piazza Bra from the Arena

part of the Roman Arena

We dropped into a church not far from the Arena, San Nicolò all’ Arena, a Roman Catholic parish church dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It was built in the Baroque style between 1627-1683, although the façade wasn’t completed at the time. The neoclassical façade of the Church of San Sebastiano was relocated to San Nicolò in the 1950s, after the former church was destroyed during World War II. The interesting sculpture in front is Frutto Oggetto (“Fruit Object”) by Gino Bogoni, 1990.

streets of Verona

San Nicolò all’ Arena

Of course we had to drop by the Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s House), a fictional place created by a city capitalizing on the fame of Shakespeare’s fictional Romeo & Juliet. In the 1930s the city authorities picked a house in Via Cappello as Juliet’s and added a 14th-century-style balcony and a bronze statue of the heroine. We stopped to touch Juliet’s breast, as it is believed caressing her breast brings good fortune in love. We looked up at the balcony and checked out the love locks, and then we were out of there. I wasn’t dressed for the occasion but I did capture a beautiful young lady dressed to the hilt for the photo op.

Casa di Giulietta

Mike holding Juliet’s breast

me caressing Juliet’s breast

a stylish woman with Juliet

locks at Casa di Giulietta

Casa di Giulietta

We stopped for cappuccino and croissants 🥐, our normal mid-morning routine. After our coffee break we wandered somewhat aimlessly while making our way slowly to the Torre dei Lamberti. We saw many enticing sweet treats and cool ancient buildings along the way. We found a sculpture of poet Berto Barbarani at Piazza Erbe, but we would have had to wait a long time to get the little girl posing out of the picture. I also bought myself another dress that was the exact style (but different color and pattern) as the one I bought in Venice for 70€; the one at a kiosk here was 25€. Live and learn.

coffee & croissant break

our little pasticceria

pretzels

macaroons

cute shop display

macaroons

popsicles

Piazza Erbe

statue of poet Berto Barbarani

Piazza Erbe

Onward and upward we went to the Torre dei Lamberti. The 84m-high watchtower offered panoramic views of Verona and nearby mountains. Begun in the 12th century and finished in 1463, it has an octagonal bell tower. I took the lift up 2/3 of the way, while Mike climbed the stairs, and we walked up the remaining 1/3rd for the views.

Torre dei Lamberti

view from Torre dei Lamberti

We then climbed the Scala Della Ragione (Stairs of Reason) to the Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti, the city’s modern art museum. Its collection of paintings spans 1840-1940 and includes many influential Italian artists. We loved the art in this museum, especially the paintings.

Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti

Piazza Erbe, Carlo Ferrari detto Ferrarin (1813-1871)

I portoni della Bra by Ettore Beraldini (1887-1965)

Ritratto di Emilia Vignola by Alfredo Savini (1868-1924)

Panorama di Verona by Baldassarre Longoni (1876-1956)

Il pesco fiorito by Baldassarre Longoni (1876-1956)

Notre vespertine by Francesco Danieli (1852-1922)

Ponte di Veja in Lessinia veronese by Ettore Beraldini (1887-1965)

La mia sorellina by Guido Trentini (1889-1975)

Ritratto di ragazza seduta vestita di rosso by Guido Trentini (1889-1975)

Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti

Piccola descrizione asolana n. 2 by Gino Rossi (1884-1947)

La preghiera by Felice Casorati (1883-1963)

Ritratto di bambina. La figlia sul colle San Felice by Alfredo Savini (1868-1924)

Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti

Natività: omaggio al Bassano by Filippo de Pisis (1896-1956)

Palude, Porto Buso by Renato Birolli (1905-1959)

Paese selvatico by Renato Birolli (1905-1959)

Composizione by Tancredi (Tancredi Parmeggiani 1927-1964)

Cappella dei Notai

Il canneto by Eugenio Degani (1923-2000)

me in front of Il canneto

Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti

Vendemmia a Soave by Adolfo Mattielli (1883-1966)

Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti

We walked through the Piazza Signori, lined with elegant Renaissance palazzi. A famous statue of Dante sits in the middle. Slightly off the Piazza is the Arche Scaligere, the ornate Gothic funerary monuments of the Della Scala family. They were the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262-1387, a total of 125 years. The family’s rule was marked by wars, cruel and tyrannical governance, and fratricide, offset by some beautification projects in Verona: palaces, aqueducts, bridges and a treasury.

Dante at Piazza dei Signori

Piazza dei Signori

Dante at Piazza dei Signori

Piazza dei Signori

Arche Scaligere

By this time we were hungry for lunch so we stopped at a restaurant, Osteria Sottoriva, where we shared a table with two Brits from York, Andy and Shirley. It was a long leisurely lunch, where Mike enjoyed an Insalata d’Orzo and I had an Eggplant Parmesan that wasn’t nearly as tasty as the one Mike had Wednesday night. Mike and Andy talked sports, especially their favorite football clubs. Andy’s was Newcastle, his hometown, and Mike’s Liverpool. We chatted about our travel itineraries. Andy and Shirley planned to stay at Lake Garda for a week after they left Verona. They had taken a day trip to Venice the day before by train, and when they arrived back late at night, around 10:00 p.m., some of the people who had disembarked were trying to get a taxi to their hotels in Lake Garda, but the taxi drivers refused to take them. Later, I would experience similar taxi frustrations during my walk on the Via Francigena. As Italy doesn’t allow Uber, taxi drivers have no competition and thus are inflexible, expensive, and even tyrannical.

streets of Verona

Verona

random flowery restaurant

Osteria Sottoriva

menu at Osteria Sottoriva

my Eggplant Parmesan

Mike’s Insalata d’Orzo

Finally we visited the Italian Gothic Basilica di Sant’ Anastasia. Dating from the 13th-15th centuries, it features an elegantly decorated vaulted ceiling. This is Verona’s largest church with an overwhelming number of frescoes. We saw the beautiful fresco of St. George and the Princess by Pisanello above the entrance to the Pellegrini Chapel. Pisanello is known for his ability to evoke a fantastic chivalrous world.

We also made the acquaintance of the hunchback holding up the 1495 holy water font; he was carved by Gabriele Caliari. It is said that touching a hunchback on the hump brings good luck.

Basilica di Sant’ Anastasia

hunchback holding water font

Basilica di Sant’ Anastasia

St. George and the Princess by Pisanello

Basilica di Sant’ Anastasia

At the end of our day, we stopped for gelato at Gelateria La Romano. It was a refreshing way to end our day. After resting a bit, we made some delicious pasta in our apartment with green beans and sun dried tomatoes before going back to the Arena to see the opera Aida.

pretty Verona

more colorful macaroons

a pretty hidden square

me enjoying my gelato

Gelateria La Romano

pasta with green beans and sun-dried tomatoes

The opera Aida started at 9:15 and was scheduled to go a full 3 1/2 hours. I doubted my ability to stay up that late, so I told Mike I might want to leave early if I felt like it. He agreed, and off we went.

On our way to the opera we met our Italian “friends,” Lorenzo and Cosette. Holding our seat cushions under our arms, we told them we were on our way to see Aida. They were thrilled for us, gushing with enthusiasm over the opera.

our view from our balcony

me ready for the opera

Lorenzo and Cosette

Piazza Bar

me at Piazza Bar

Mike and I going to the opera

Mike going to the opera

The Arena

Aida is one of the most mythical operas to be performed every year at the Arena di Verona. The series of 16 performances began this summer on June 16. The production by Franco Zeffirelli brought ancient Egypt to the stage in a modernistic way, with costumes created by Anna Anni, and a cutting-edge stage design, which featured a huge ghostlike hand that moved slowly up and down; the performance boasted a black, white and red color motif.

Detailed information on Aida:

Venue: Arena di Verona

Duration: 3 hours and a half approximately

Book by: Antonio Ghislanzoni

Music composed by: Giuseppe Verdi

Language: Italian

Directed and staged by: Franco Zeffirelli

Costume design by: Anna Anni

Aida, an opera in four acts set in ancient Egypt, was commissioned to celebrate the opening of the Khedivial Opera House in El Cairo, where it premiered in December 1871. It is among the most performed operas in history. For instance, it has been performed over a thousand times at the Metropolitan Opera of New York since 1886.

The story revolves around the Ethiopian princess Aida, who is captured and sent to Egypt as a slave. At her arrival, Radames enters the scene. He is a commander for the Pharaoh who falls in love with Aida and will have to struggle between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. The plot thickens when Amneris, daughter of the Pharaoh, demands the love of Radames, leading to a love triangle.

We left after 2 hours because I was so uncomfortable sitting on the concrete slabs of the Arena and also felt trapped because it’s frowned upon to get up at any time except intermission, which was between Act 2 and Act 3.

Aida at the Arena di Verona

Here is a short video of some scenes from the opera.

Steps: 16,443; Miles: 6.97. High 87°, Low 66°. Partly cloudy.

Friday, June 30: On Friday morning, our last day in Verona, we ventured out to see some of the famous churches. First stop was Chiesa di San Fermo. The church was built in the 5th century in honor of saints Fermo and Rustico, who became martyrs in 304 AD. Here one church is built over another: Franciscan monks raised the 13th-C Gothic church right over an original 11th-C Romanesque structure. Inside the main Gothic church we admired the larch timber ceiling which resembles an upturned boat’s hull. Some 14th-C frescoes depict the life of St. Francis.

Chiesa di San Fermo

We stopped at the Duchi Café and then walked along the river. We didn’t get far because it started raining 🌧️ ☔️ and we hadn’t brought our raincoats or umbrellas. We ducked under the umbrellas of another cafe to eat the panini we had bought earlier, along with a bowl of bean soup we bought at the café. We enjoyed two Aperol Spritzes while waiting for the rain to stop.

Ponte Pietra over the Fiume Adige

Duchi Café

ancient Roman ruins

Roman ruins

horseman

another pretty storefront

me along the Fiume Adige

a cozy respite from the rain

Mike and his sandwich

me with Aperol Spritz

bean soup

When the rain abated, we crossed the Ponte Pietra at the northern end of the city center. Two of the bridge’s arches date from the Roman Republican era in the 1st century BC, while the other three were replaced in the 13th century. The ancient bridge remained largely intact until 1945 when retreating German troops blew it up. Locals fished the pieces out of the river and painstakingly rebuilt the bridge stone by stone in the 1950s.

hills along the river

postal vehicle

walking to Ponte Pietra

the River Adige

hills to the north of Verona

the River Adige

Ponte Pietra

Mike and me on Ponte Pietra

hills around Verona

streets of Verona

cute car in Verona

Finally we went to the Cattedrale Santa Maria Matricolare, also known as the Duomo di Verona, Verona’s 12th century cathedral. It was built after an earthquake destroyed two Palaeo-Christian churches on the same site in 1117. The Romanesque-style cathedral was consecrated on September 13, 1187. The structure was later modified by several renovations, although the plan has remained unchanged. The interior was extravagantly frescoed in the 16th-17th centuries.

Cattedrale Santa Maria Matricolare

back of Cattedrale Santa Maria Matricolare

Because of the damp weather and because we were tired from so much walking, we headed back to the apartment to relax and nap. It rained off and on all afternoon.

We went out in the evening to our favorite neighborhood restaurant, Bistro Con Amore Cicchetteria, where we sampled a delectable assembly of Italian tapas (cicchetti) accompanied by opera music. Of course I had to have my Hugo!

me on our balcony

Mike on our balcony

cicchetti at Bistro Con Amore Cicchetteria

Tiramisu at Bistro Con Amore Cicchetteria

cicchetti at Bistro Con Amore Cicchetteria

more Roman arches in Verona

Steps: 11,705; Miles 4.96. High 81°, Low 65°. Cloudy and some rain.

After leaving Verona on Saturday morning, we would head to Lake Garda and on to Bergamo.

the alto adige wine road

wanderessence1025 September 13, 2023

Wednesday, June 28: On our way to Verona, we made a little detour along the Alto Adige Wine Road, with a growing area of about 4,249 hectares and an impressive variety of wines. The individual wineries here form a complex mosaic. Due to the varying altitudes of between 200 and 1,000 meters, wine growers have a wide range of microclimates and soils. The local variety Gewürztraminer and vines of international reputation like Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir are grown here.

We made our first stop in Termeno. All around us were vineyards, cypresses, fig trees and lemon trees. The town was the home of the internationally renowned Gewürztraminer wine. We only stopped in this cute town for coffees and croissants as it was a bit early to start drinking wine. 😋

Termeno

me doing what I love best- shopping!

Termeno

We drove through a few other towns and then made a brief stop to look at the sprawling St. Valentin Church and cemetery. We continued through a few more towns looking for the perfect winery to make a stop.

St. Valentin Church & cemetery

vineyards near St. Valentin

St. Valentin cemetery

church in another wine town

We stopped at Tiefenbrunner Winery for a cold lunch and wine. We spent a long time lingering over a Bistroteller – Charcuterie board: finely sliced speck, various South Tyrolean cheeses, air-dried salami, kaminwurze, olives and horseradish. I enjoyed a glass of Gewürtztrammer and Mike had a Pinot Grigio.

Tiefenbrunner Winery

grottoes at Tiefenbrunner Winery

Tiefenbrunner Winery

pond and grottoes at Tiefenbrunner Winery

view from Tiefenbrunner Winery

Tiefenbrunner Winery

garden in Tiefenbrunner Winery

Tiefenbrunner Winery

selfie at Tiefenbrunner Winery

wines at Tiefenbrunner Winery

Bistroteller – Charcuterie board

me at Tiefenbrunner Winery

garden at Tiefenbrunner Winery

We got the idea to explore the Alto Adige Wine Road from our German neighbors at the farmhouse, Tim and Silke. If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t have known anything about it.

After our lunch, we headed south to Verona, where we would stay three nights.

dolomites points west: around & about renon

wanderessence1025 September 6, 2023

Saturday, June 24: As we were leaving Cinque Torri, we found on our GPS that the Great Dolomites Road was closed at the pass, so we had to reroute and couldn’t take our scenic route to Bolzano. We ended up backtracking all the way to Cortina d’Ampezzo and to Dobbiaco and Brunico and then eventually toward Bolzano on the A12 autostrada.

The Renon Plateau: Kinig Farm

Just before Bolzano we were instructed to take a windy road up and up a very steep mountain. It felt very perilous! There were many steep drop-offs and the road eventually narrowed to just over one lane wide. Switchback after switchback led us eventually to the “town” of Signato on the Renon plateau and to a farm called Kinig, where Werner (the father of the Airbnb host Franz Maria) greeted us. We had reserved an apartment on this high mountain farm for 4 nights. It was a charming little place!

Kinig farmhouse

urinal with painted spider that fooled both of us!

kitchen in Kinig farmhouse

Kinig farmhouse

view of Bolzano from the farmhouse

Soprabolzano/Oberbozen

Luckily, though the road ended at a gate, we were given a pass to open the gate so we could drive a few kilometers further up to the town of Soprabolzano/Oberbozen. Neither of us were thrilled about having to drive that winding road back down the mountain to go to dinner or get groceries in Bolzano, so that gate-opening card was truly the magic ticket. We were also given a free gondola card which we could use for the gondola down to Bolzano.

After checking into our farmhouse Airbnb apartment, we drove up the mountain to Soprabolzano. Here we stocked up on groceries for our 4 night stay in Renon, then we went to eat dinner at the lively and friendly Gasthaus Babsi, recommended by the friendly check-out lady at the supermarket. It was a cool place with a friendly staff and old American tunes playing. We shared a Rucola and Brie pizza and I had the most delightful drink called a Hugo that had Prosecco, lime, fresh mint, seltzer, and elderberry liqueur. Mike had an Estivo: white wine, soda and lemon.For dessert we shared a buckwheat cake with lingonberry jam and whipped cream. Before we left the place, the bartender gave us each complimentary limoncellos.

We took an after-dinner stroll on the lower edge of the town, where we saw beautiful views of the jagged Dolomites against a foreground of alpine meadow. The town also had a community swimming pool which we had access to. From the town, there was a large cable car 🚠 that went down into the valley to the city of Bolzano. We planned to take that down one day to avoid the harrowing drive up to our farmhouse apartment.

We admired the charming Parrocchia Maria Assunta di Soprabolzano with its fetching onion dome in the waning sunlight.

Gasthaus Babsi

me with a Hugo at Gasthaus Babsi

Mike at Gasthaus Babsi

buckwheat cake with lingonberry jam and whipped cream

signs in Soprabolzano

Soprabolzano

cable car at Soprabolzano

little lambs in Soprabolzano

Hotel Post in Soprabolzano

Parrocchia Maria Assunta di Soprabolzano

Steps: 12,253; Miles 5.19. High 77°, Low 52°. Sunny.

Val di Funes: the Panoramaweg & Sunnseitnweg Circuit Hike

Sunday, June 25: On Sunday morning, we drove about an hour from Renon to Val di Funes to hike the Panorama Trail (“Panoramaweg” in German) and the Sunny-side Trail (“Sunnseitnweg”), which when linked together creates an easy, scenic circuit hike.

We started in Santa Maddalena/ St. Magdalena, a village in Val di Funes (Villnösstal) in South Tyrol. This small mountain village is home to the historic Santa Maddalena Church, which is one of the most popular photo spots in the region. The church dedicated to Santa Magdalena is located where pagan rituals once took place. The first building was mentioned in 1394 documents; today only the church tower remains of that original church. The interior has Baroque elements. The altar features a contrite St. Magdalena, patron saint of the church. Next to her are sculptures of St. Peter, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and Jerome.

The Santa Maddalena Panorama trail led us through meadows, pockets of forest, and historic Tyrolean farmsteads along narrow footpaths as well as low-trafficked paved roads.

We enjoyed grand views of the Odle/Geisler Peaks, which form the dramatic backdrop of Santa Maddalena Church and the tidy farmhouses set in the lovely green valley.

a church near our farmhouse in Renon

Val di Funes

Panoramaweg & Sunnseitnweg

the start of the Panoramaweg

Santa Maddalena Church

Val di Funes

Panoramaweg

Santa Maddalena Church set against the Odle/Geisler Peaks

me in Val di Funes

Val di Funes

trail markers in Val di Funes

Mike in Val di Funes

Val di Funes

cute little bench

tractor set up

Sunnseitnweg

Santa Maddalena Church set against the Odle/Geisler Peaks

Val di Funes

Santa Maddalena Church set against the Odle/Geisler Peaks

me on the Sunnseitnweg

returning to Santa Maddalena

cemetery at Santa Maddalena Church

interior of Santa Maddalena Church

Santa Maddalena Church

After our hike, which was about 4.5 miles and took us about 3 hours of leisurely walking, we visited the tiny and picturesque onion-steepled Chiesetta di San Giovanni/ St. Johann Church nearby. It is one of the Dolomites’ most iconic photo-ops. The small Baroque church, founded by Michael von Jenner and built in 1744, sits alone in a meadow, part of the Ranuihof Farm, below the spiky peaks of the Odle mountain group. We paid to park plus a 4€ entrance fee to visit. Because of the way it was blocked off and because of the entrance fee, it felt a bit too staged for us.

Chiesetta di San Giovanni/ St. Johann Church

Sunday evening after our hike at Val di Funes, we returned to our farmhouse Airbnb and enjoyed wine, bread and cheese at a picnic table in the shade. We made an asparagus and cheese pappardelle that was quite delicious. We spent the evening relaxing in our charming apartment.

airplane in front of Kinig farmhouse

me enjoying a wine at Kinig farmhouse

Kinig farmhouse

table set for dinner

asparagus pappardelle

Steps: 13,119; Miles: 5.56. High 83°, Low 55°. Sunny.

Bolzano/Bozen

Monday, June 26: Monday morning we took the cable car 🚠 (a 12-minute ride) from Soprabolzano, not far from our farmhouse, to Bolzano down in the valley.

taking the cable car down to Bolzano

Bolzano/Bozen is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol. In the 2020 version of the annual ranking of quality of life in Italian cities, Bolzano was ranked joint first for quality of life alongside Bologna.

Bolzano is considered a bridge between Northern Europe and Southern Europe due to the three spoken languages in South Tyrol (Italian, German, and Ladin) and the confluence of Italian and German-Austrian culture.

Being located at multiple climate borders, Bolzano features a humid subtropical climate with hot summers and very cold winters by Italian standards.Because of its low altitude in a valley south of the main alps, Bolzano is sheltered from cool winds during daytime, ensuring much warmer temperatures year-round than in similar valley cities north of the range. It was in the mid-90s on the day we went down while it was in the low 80s on the Renon plateau.

We enjoyed wandering around the town. We walked around Waltherplatz, the main square in Bolzano. Walther von der Vogelweide, the square’s namesake, towers as a white statue in the middle of the square. We stopped at a favorite store we keep running into in various Italian towns, OVS. Mike was looking for some t-shirts and shorts and I bought a dress 👗. 😂

We had a lovely lunch in a shady and breezy alley. I had a burrata and tomato salad that was super refreshing. Mike had a tuna salad. As always in Italian towns, we love to watch the fashionable people strolling by. After lunch, we happened upon a lively flower market.

After strolling around a bit more, we made our way to the cable car and took it back up the mountain to Renon.

Bolzano/Bozen

cute orange bicycle

Bolzano/Bozen

burrata and tomato salad

flower market in Bolzano/Bozen

window decor

Bolzano/Bozen

Taking the cable car back up to Renon

a view of our farmhouse from the cable car

returning to Soprabolzano

The Renon/Ritten Plateau

After Bolzano, we spent the rest of our day on the Renon/Ritten Plateau, home to our farmhouse apartment. We drove to the town of Collalbo/Klobenstein and wandered around. Not much was happening there as it was in the heat of the afternoon, so we settled inside the only cafe in town to enjoy a very skimpy serving of gelato 🍧. It was refreshing but not quite enough to sooth our souls.

Collalbo/Klobenstein

gelato in Collalbo/Klobenstein

a church near Collalbo/Klobenstein

view from the church

a church near Collalbo/Klobenstein

We reached the peak at Rittner Horn, at an altitude of 2260 meters, by taking the gondola from Pemmern/Tre Vie to Schwarzseepitze. From there it’s about an hour hike up to the top, but we didn’t take the hike. We could see excellent views of the mountains all around.

gondola to Rittner Horn

view from Rittner Horn

me at Rittner Horn

view from Rittner Horn

horses seen from the gondola ride back down

After our day taking the cable car to Bolzano and exploring some of the Renon/Ritten plateau, we stayed at the farmhouse and cooked some Bratwurst and some leftover pasta with zucchini. It was nice to spend a slower day simply enjoying our home town area.

dinner in the farmhouse

Steps: 11, 706; Miles 4.96. High 97°, Low 64°. Sunny.

The High Alpine hikes of Alpe di Siusi

Tuesday, June 27: With a size of 56 square kilometers, the Alpe di Siusi in South Tyrol is the largest high alpine pasture in Europe. On Tuesday, we drove about an hour from Renon to Ortesei/St. Ulrich where we took the Mont Sëuc cable car to the alpine meadow. There we spent much of the day, about 5 1/2 hours, hiking all over the meadow, about 6 1/2 miles.

We started by following Trail 9 to Saltria, which was a long slow descent. We passed alongside pastures of grazing horses and sprawling fields of colorful wildflowers. Many people posed amidst the wildflowers for pictures.

Saltria is a small village on Alpe di Siusi, located at an elevation of 1675 meters. It’s also the lowest point of the plateau. We had amazing views of the Catinaccio/Rosengarten range as we descended. We stopped at a hotel in Saltria for a cappuccino and an apple strudel.

As we crossed the rolling Alpe di Siusi meadows, Sassolungo and Sasso Piatto dominated the view to the southeast and the Catinaccio and Sciliar mountains dominated the views directly south and to the southwest. To the north, views extend to Monte Pic, Seceda, and the Geisler Group.

Of course what goes down must come up, so we hiked a long uphill out of the valley through the Römer mountain pasture, where cattle grazed freely.

Mont Sëuc cable car

first views of the Alpe di Siusi

me at Alpe di Siusi

Alpe di Siusi

stream at Alpe di Siusi

Alpe di Siusi

greenery at Alpe di Siusi

wildflowers

selfie 🙂

me with Mike at Alpe di Siusi

wildflowers at Alpe di Siusi

Alpe di Siusi

me in the wildflowers

Alpe di Siusi

horses at Alpe di Siusi

Alpe di Siusi

wildflowers

Alpe di Siusi

more wildflowers

Mike at Alpe di Siusi

wildflowers

Alpe di Siusi

wildflowers

cows at Römer mountain pasture

Römer mountain pasture

Mike and his cow friends

me at Alpe di Siusi

Alpe di Siusi

Römer mountain pasture

Alpe di Siusi

greeter at Alpe di Siusi

Alpe di Siusi

We headed toward Compaccio but stopped for a restroom break at Rauchhütte before venturing back to our starting point. We originally intended to go to the town of Compaccio but decided not to go all the way into town.

We made another stop, this time at Sanon Hütte/Baita Sanon where Mike had a beer and I had my new favorite drink, a Hugo (Prosecco, mint and elderflower liqueur). Yum.

After we left the hut we enjoyed more beautiful views of the mountains. Looking north, we saw Monte Pic, the Geisler Peaks, Monte Stevia, Piz Duleda, and Col dala Pieres.

We had paid the extra 5 euros for the gondola from Sole Lake back up to the Mont Sëuc cable car, and we were happy we did as it saved us a long uphill slog at the end. What a gorgeous hike!

wood carvings on the way to Rauchhütte

carved bench near Rauchhütte

Rauchhütte

bathroom sign at Rauchhütte

Seiser Alm, view from Rauchhütte

leaving Rauchhütte

Alpe di Siusi

Mike at Sanon Hütte/Baita Sanon

Sanon Hütte/Baita Sanon

me at Sanon Hütte/Baita Sanon with my Hugo

bathroom signs at Sanon Hütte/Baita Sanon

Alpe di Siusi

more wildflowers

Alpe di Siusi

riding the cable car back to Mont Sëuc

Ortesei/St. Ulrich

After our hike at Alpe di Siusi, we took a short wander around the town of Ortesei/St. Ulrich. This is in Val Gardena where many people stay when they come to the Dolomites. The town looked appealing, but we were happy with our little mountain farmhouse in Renon.

Ortesei/St. Ulrich

Soprabolzano

After we relaxed a bit at our farmhouse apartment, we drove up to Soprabolzano where we had a lovely dinner on the terrace of The Post Hotel overlooking the valley and the cable car. We had intended to go to Gasthaus Babsi again, but it was closed on Tuesdays. We shared Rinderbouillon mit Kräuterfrittaten, a delicious soup with tiny strips of pancake in it. Mike had Hacksteak vomeinheimischen Lamm auf roten Zwiebeln und Röstinchen, a delicious lamb loaf with a potato pancake and red onions; I had Spinatspätzle mit Entenragout, spinach spaetzle with duck ragout.

After dinner we strolled briefly around the town. This would be the last time we’d see our cute little town above the farmhouse.

me at our farmhouse apartment

Mike and the airplane at our farmhouse

me with the Kinig pots & pans

The Post Hotel

me on the terrace of The Post Hotel

Rinderbouillon mit Kräuterfrittaten

Hacksteak vomeinheimischen Lamm auf roten Zwiebeln und Röstinchen

Spinatspätzle mit Entenragout

Babsi

Soprabolzano

Steps: 22,819; Miles 9.68. High 68°, Low 47°. Mostly sunny.

Leaving the Renon Plateau

Wednesday, June 28: Wednesday morning we left our farmhouse apartment in Renon and said goodbye to Werner, the 54-year-old very fit man who gave the farm to his son Franz. Franz, who is about 30, does the farming and Werner runs the apartments and a restaurant that only opens seasonally. Sadly we weren’t there at the right season to partake.

We also said goodbye to our upstairs neighbors Tim and Silke from Berlin. They had their dog named Rala with them. I liked their way of doing a vacation. They stayed in the farmhouse for two weeks; every other day they did a big outing and on the off days, they relaxed. I was envious at their long term stay at this place and their way of vacationing. We always tend to squeeze in too much, although on this trip, we have had more down time than on most. We stayed at the farmhouse 4 nights; I think that needs to be the minimum in each place on future trips. This time we were 4 nights in Venice, but only 3 in Dobbiaco, Verona and Bergamo, and only 2 in Lucca. We’ll get it right one of these days!

last view of our apartment

Werner

Silke & Tim

Tim, Silke, me and Mike

Tim, Silke, Mike and me

view of vineyards from our farmhouse

Zum Signater Hof (near our farmhouse but closed for the season)

church near our farmhouse in Renon

Renon: High: 72°, Low 53°.

Here’s a video of our time in Renon. On Settings (bottom right), hit “Quality: HD” for best experience.

After leaving Renon, we headed down the Alto Adige Wine Road (a suggestion from Tim & Silke) to Verona.

dolomites points east: around & about dobbiaco/toblach

wanderessence1025 August 30, 2023

Wednesday, June 21: We left Venice this morning, taking a taxi to Alamo to rent a Volkswagen T-ROC. It wasn’t long before we were in the Dolomites. We stopped for lunch of panini 🥪 at Bar Torre Due in Longarone, a town that was rebuilt after it was totally destroyed by an “inland tsunami.” At about 10:30 p.m. on October 9, 1963 a huge piece of a mountain broke off in a huge landslide upriver of the Vajont Dam, one of the deepest and narrowest in the world. In 4 minutes, the landslide displaced the water, causing a huge tsunami to overflow the dam, killing 2,000 people, many whose clothes were ripped off by a force two times stronger than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

There was no sign of such mayhem today, so we enjoyed our lunch break, after which we drove through a number of small towns where the jagged peaks of the Dolomites towered all around us.

Ristorante Bar Torre Due in Longarone

Driving north

Our drive through towns

driving north

first views of the Dolomites

Dolomites

Lago di Misurina

We took our first walk at Lago di Misurina. It was a flat, easy walk, about 2 1/2-3 km, but a nice break from our drive to Dobbiaco. We even had glimpses of Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Three Peaks of Lavaredo).

Lake Misurina was where the speed skating events were held during the 1956 Winter Olympics of Cortina d’Ampezzo – the last time Olympic speed skating events were held on natural ice.

Bar at Lago di Misurina

Lago di Misurina

boats at Lago di Misurina

Lago di Misurina

paddle boats at Lago di Misurina

Dobbiaco/Toblach

Late Wednesday afternoon, we checked into B&B Hotel Heidi just outside the little town of Dobbiaco/Toblach (Towns in this area have both Italian/German names since they are so close to Austria). B&B Hotel Heidi, where we stayed three nights, was the only hotel we stayed in during our time in Italy, except when we got to Lucca. Mostly we booked Airbnbs, which we much prefer. This place ended being a lively launching point for active people who were doing multi-day hikes, bike rides, motorcycle rides, or day hikes in the countryside. We ran into crowds of energetic people at breakfast each morning; it was fun to hear of their plans and absorb their enthusiasm.

This area is close to the Austrian border and feels more Austrian than Italian. Most people (95%) speak German. Dobbiaco is not far from the Tre Cime di Lavaredo hike, Lago di Misurina and hikes around Lago di Braies. There were lots more hikes we could have done from here, but we also planned to stay 4 nights in Renon/Ritten near Bolzano/Bozen. There we would do a number of high alpine meadow hikes.

B&B Hotel Heidi

grounds of B&B Hotel Heidi

After checking in, we went into town to look for dinner. We sat outdoors at Ariston Bar Pizzeria & Restaurant. We toasted each other with Forst Beers for our safe arrival in the Dolomites. I had the most delicious Tris di Canederli: speck, spinaci, rape rosse con burro sfuso e grana (dumplings with speck, spinach, beetroot with melted butter and Parmesan cheese). Mike had Maccheroni Ariston con speck, ragù di carnes, pomodoro, prosciutto, champignon e panna (Macaroni with speck, meat ragout, tomato, ham, mushrooms and cream). Speck is a type of cured, lightly smoked ham typically made in South Tyrol. It was all delicious, and very filling!

After dinner, we wandered around the charming town, where we admired a bubbling fountain, a statue of a cloaked Gustav Mahler, Austrian-style buildings shored up with huge stacks of firewood, and the pale green Baroque Parish Church of St. Giovanni Battista, built between 1764-1774 on the foundations of a Roman and later Gothic church. It was completed in 1804 with a 76m-tall bell tower.

Driving back through the countryside, we took a convoluted route in search of a town we could see in the distance which had a pretty church and steeple. We could see it, but we could never find our way to it. We kept driving around in circles until we finally gave up, returned to the hotel and settled in for the night.

Forst Beer

Tris di Canederli

Maccheroni Ariston

Dobbiaco/Toblach

Baroque Parish Church of St. Giovanni Battista

Gustav Mahler

Baroque Parish Church of St. Giovanni Battista

Dobbiaco/Toblach

countryside around Dobbiaco/Toblach

Steps: 10,526; Miles 4.46. High 84°, Low 56°.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Thursday, June 22: Thursday we hiked one of the most popular trails in the Dolomites, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit Trail. It was a 35 minute drive from Dobbiaco. The views were stunning and well worth the effort. The hike is 10-11 km (6.8 miles) and it’s supposed to take 4 hours. It is rated Easy/Moderate with a 300-400 meter elevation gain. The circuit goes all around the Three Peaks of Lavaredo. Surrounding the circuit are the peaks of the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Dolomites. There is a 30€/car entry to the toll road leading to Rifugio Auronzo, where the hike begins.

The path goes past the Cappella degli Alpini, a quaint alpine church.

The first pictures are from Rifugio Auronzo to Rifugio Lavaredo.

view from the parking lot at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Mike at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Look closely to see the people on the path!

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit Trail

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

me at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Mike at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

me at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

monument at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

another monument at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Cappella degli Alpini

me at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Rifugio Lavaredo

The next set of pictures is from Rifugio Lavaredo to Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint.

Rifugio Lavaredo to Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint

Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint

Tre Cime di Lavaredo Circuit Viewpoint

Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint

Mike at Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint

me at Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint

This group of pictures is from Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint to Rifugio Locatelli, where we stopped to eat our sandwiches overlooking a couple of small alpine lakes.

Forcella Lavaredo Viewpoint to Rifugio Locatelli

Rifugio Locatelli

map of the trails at Rifugio Locatelli

church near Rifugio Locatelli

view from Rifugio Locatelli

This set of pictures is from Rifugio Locatelli down into the steep and deep valley before ascending out of the valley well before we reached Malga Langalm.

This section is where I’ll add a caveat to the listed information. I would call it moderate/difficult mainly because of the surface of the trails. All surfaces are dirt and slippery gravel; for someone like me who has taken too many falls on surfaces like these, I found the descents not only challenging but disconcerting. I can handle the ascents because I can always get firm footing going uphill. Because of the many tiny steps I took going downhill and the slowness of my descents, the rating for me was more in the difficult range. So the hike took us just under 7 hours, vs the 4 hours estimated. Of course we made many stops for breaks and photos. I had 2,000 steps more than Mike at the end of the day!

The trail is also totally exposed, no shade at all and as temps were in the mid 80s, it was hot except for the breezes we caught now and then.

The worst part was the descent into a deep valley after Rifigio Locatelli and the steep climb on a very rocky surface back out of the valley.

approaching the deep valley after Rifigio Locatelli

interesting rock formations

me at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Mike at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

the valley after Rifigio Locatelli

climbing up the other side of the valley

the long climb upward

up and up

view nearing the top of the valley

This group shows the rest of the way to Malga Langalm, the last rifugio before returning to the beginning of the hike. It was very slow going and a little scary with steep drop-offs but still stunning altogether.

from the valley to Malga Langalm

Malga Langalm

Finally the last section of the hike from Malga Langalm back to Rifugio Auronzo was described as easy, but it did require some effort. I felt a bit uneasy walking on the long trail carved into a huge and steep gravelly mountainside.

We enjoyed the views all around the Three Peaks and the Forcella del Col de Medo viewpoint down into the Puster Valley and to Misurina Lake.

Malga Langalm to Rifugio Auronzo

views of Lake Misurina

The hike was amazing. It is no wonder it’s so popular. It was a great adventure for us as I don’t consider myself much of a mountain climber.

Dobbiaco/Toblach

After hiking Tre Cime di Lavaredo, we showered and relaxed then shared a hamburger in our cute “hometown” of Dobbiaco/Toblach at a place called Eirisch Grill. I don’t know why we couldn’t eat a whole burger after our long hike, but all we could handle was a half each along with wine and beer. The Chris’ Burger had a beef patty, caramelized onions, cheddar, bacon, fried onions, rucola, hot Mayo and BBQ sauce. We also shared French fries even though Mike wanted German-style potato salad, which I’m not keen on.

After our dinner we strolled around the town and then took a drive in the surrounding area, very Austrian in character.

Dobbiaco/Toblach

me in Dobbiaco/Toblach

Dobbiaco/Toblach

church outside of Dobbiaco/Toblach

Steps: 24,678; 10.46 miles. High 85°, Low 57°.

Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee)

Friday, June 23: We arrived at Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee) early on Friday morning, enabling us to beat the crowds. It was threatening rain and was rather overcast but the rain overnight had cooled the area off so it was very pleasant. We parked in P3, closest to the lake, for a small fee. We took the walk around the lake, 2.6 miles, admiring the crystal clear aquamarine lake with its dramatic mountainous backdrop. The trail was easy. We walked clockwise to get the steep part done first; on the right side of the lake, the path is pretty flat. You can rent a rowboat 🚣‍♀️ but we didn’t do so.

Lago di Braies is located within the Fanes-Senes-Baies Nature Park. It’s supposedly one of the most Instagrammable and crowded spots in the Dolomites, but I guess between the clouds and cool weather and our early arrival, we didn’t encounter that many people.

We found beaches with cairns, cows 🐄 with cowbells, and beautiful views all around. Sitting on the shore of the lake was the Marienkapelle chapel, also known as Capella di Maria, a small Catholic chapel built in an alpine architectural style in 1904.

hotel at Lago di Braies

Lago di Braies

Capella di Maria

Lago di Braies

me at Lago di Braies

the path at Lago di Braies

Lago di Braies

me at Lago di Braies

the steep part at Lago di Braies

path at Lago di Braies

cairns at Lago di Braies

Lago di Braies

cows at Lago di Braies

Lago di Braies

Mike at Lago di Braies

boat at Lago di Braies

Lago di Braies

Mike at Lago di Braies

Lago di Braies

Capella di Maria

hotel at Lago di Braies

Brunico/Bruneck

After our hike around Lago di Braies on Friday, we showered and spent the afternoon exploring the towns of the Puster Valley. We started in Brunico/Bruneck, the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. It was about 20 minutes west of where we were staying In Dobbiaco/Toblach, at the confluence of the Ahr with the Reinz, which itself flows into the Eisack River. As of 2011, 83% of the population speak German, 15% Italian, and 2% speak Ladin (a Romance language mainly spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in northern Italy in the provinces of South Tyrol, Trentino and Belluno, by the Ladin people. It has some similarities to Romansh, spoken in Switzerland, as well as Friulian, spoken in northeast Italy).

The town is known for manufacturing and service industries. The ski resort on Kronplatz Mountain is nearby.

We wandered randomly through the town, dipped into shops, looked at local newspapers, and admired the Ursuline Church, built at the start of the 15th century in the Gothic style.

Brunico/Bruneck

me in Brunico

Brunico/Bruneck

Brunico

newspapers in Brunico/Bruneck

Ursuline Church

Brunico/Bruneck

Innichen/San Candido

After Brunico, we drove east toward the Austrian border to Innichen/San Candido. It is located in the Puster Valley on the Drava River, on Italy’s border with Austria. It hosts Italy’s International Snow Sculpture Festival each year. The town sits on the Drava River in the Puster Valley on Italy’s border with Austria. Innichen became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1919. It is still the site of a Franciscan monastery founded in 1691.

In 2011, 85% of the people spoke German, 15% Italian, and 0.3% Ladin.

Innichen/ San Candido is renowned for its ski resorts, and it includes the natural park of Tre Cime. It is quite a charming town. We enjoyed strolling the cobbled streets and admiring the German-style buildings, the Jurassic relief carvings, and Innichen Abbey and its cemetery. The Romanesque-style Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery founded in the 8th century, and rebuilt in the 12th-13th centuries. We also saw the San Michele Parish Church, originally built in the 12th century in the Romanesque style; it was renovated after 1735 in the Baroque style.

I also found a sporting goods store where I bought a number of hiking shirts and a pair of hiking shorts. 🙂

Innichen/San Candido

San Michele Parish Church

Innichen/San Candido

Innichen Abbey

Innichen Abbey cemetery

Innichen/San Candido

San Michele Parish Church

Innichen/San Candido

San Michele Parish Church

Innichen/San Candido

Speckstube Eggerhof

We had found the charming Speckstube Eggerhof, an agriturismo with purple umbrellas, as we were leaving Lago di Braies this morning and we thought it was so adorable we made a reservation to come back for dinner in the evening. On our way to dinner we stopped to take a picture of one of the high alpine meadow hikes we’d heard about: Prato Piazza/ Plätzwiese.

At the restaurant, we enjoyed a hearty German meal directly from the farm. I ate a most delicious broccoli soup and three kinds of dumplings (cheese, spinach & chanterelles) with cabbage salad, melted butter and Parmesan cheese. For sure it was way too much food and I couldn’t finish the dumplings. Mike had bacon dumplings with venison goulash. I had a white burgundy and Mike a beer and a Schnapps. We shared a scrumptious rhubarb cake dusted with powdered sugar.

We chatted for a bit with one woman from Milan who translated the dessert because we were having trouble understanding what it was. Another adorable middle-aged couple, a cool-looking woman with flaming red hair and her husband/boyfriend (born in 1974) were eating beside us. They told us they were from Moderna near Bologna and were in the Dolomites for a week. They told us about an alpine hike they’d taken near the restaurant, and it turned out to be the the one we’d photographed before we got there (Prato Piazza/Plätzwiese). They had been to conferences in Seattle and Cleveland, of all places. The guy was a professor in electrical engineering and had earned his Ph.D. at Berkeley, CA and the woman had studied archeology at MIT in Cambridge but didn’t currently work in that field. It was a lovely way to end our time in the Dobbiaco area. We regretted later not taking pictures of them.

Prato Piazza/ Plätzwiese

church near Speckstube Eggerhof

Speckstube Eggerhof

Mike at Speckstube Eggerhof

Broccoli soup

me at Speckstube Eggerhof

Mike with his Schnapps

three kinds of dumplings (cheese, spinach & chanterelles)

bacon dumplings with venison goulash

rhubarb cake

Steps: 15,716; Miles 6.66. High 75°, Low 50°.

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Saturday, June 24: On Saturday morning, we left Dobbiaco and headed to Cortina d’Ampezzo, considered by many to be “The Pearl of the Dolomites.” It is a town and commune in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno. Sitting on the Boite River in an alpine valley, it is a summer and winter resort known for its skiing trails, scenery, accommodation, shops and après ski scene, and for its Italian aristocratic crowd.

We arrived in Cortina d’ Ampezzo in the middle of a long-distance mountain running race called the Lavaredo 120km (74.5 miles). The race had started at 11:00 pm the night before, Friday night, and the winner was about the cross the finish line. This race had an elevation gain of 5,800 meters (19,028 feet). The time limit for the race was 30 hours.

We stopped for a coffee & croissant and got caught up in the hubbub over the race. We heard the winner would be crossing the finish line, so Mike stood on the sidelines to watch while I wandered around the town. In a sporting goods store, I found a cute hiking shirt with a picture of a Japanese lady on the front. I’d use this shirt a lot on the Via Francigena.

Finally, Mike saw Jonas Russi (35-39 year-old age group) from Switzerland cross the finish line; he had finished the race in 12 hours and 13 minutes. The second place runner was 18 minutes behind him, and the third another 23 minutes behind. The top woman finished in 15 hours and 57 minutes.

view from Cortina d’Ampezzo

Mike in Cortina d’Ampezzo

view from Cortina d’Ampezzo

Cortina d’Ampezzo

me in Cortina d’Ampezzo

the Lavaredo 120km

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Cinque Torri

We left town soon after and began our drive toward Bolzano via the scenic Great Dolomites Road (SS48 to SS241), a 2 3/4 hour drive during which we hoped to stop for a couple of short hikes. We drove 25 minutes west on SR48 and parked at Baita Bai de Dones. We took a chairlift up to Rifugio Scoiattoli. There we did a circuit hike of about 1.7 miles at Cinque Torri, one of the most recognizable rock formations in the Dolomites. Not only is it a popular hiking and rock-climbing destination, it is also an open air war museum, with trenches and bunkers remaining from WWI.

During WWI, this was the site of conflict between the Italians and the Austro-Hungarians. Bunkers and trenches were built amidst the Cinque Torre towers. The formations remained after the war.

Cinque Torri is called such because at first glance it seems there are five main pillars. Actually up close there are many more smaller pillars and towers in this rock formation. The largest tower is Torre Grande, with the others being Torre Seconda, Torre Latina, Quarta Terre, and Quinta Inglese. Torre Grande and Torre Seconda have numerous rock-climbing routes.

We saw many people rock climbing, including little children! It was a gorgeous day for a walk, crisp and clear and breezy – perfect hiking weather.

view of Cortina d’Ampezza

a sign to heed 🙂

Cinque Torri

World War I bunker

World War I walls

World War I outdoor museum

Cinque Torri

another WWI shelter

Cinque Torri

rock climber at Cinque Torri

a narrow path through Cinque Torri

rock climbers at Cinque Torri

more rock climbers

Mike at Cinque Torri

me at Cinque Torri

Cinque Torri

me at Cinque Torri

Mike at Cinque Torri

Cinque Torri

man with horse at Cinque Torri

Cinque Torri

Here is a video of our time in the eastern Dolomites. On Settings (bottom right), hit “Quality: HD” for best experience.

Steps: 12,253; Miles 5.19. High 76°, Low 49°.

As we were leaving Cinque Torri, we found on our GPS that the Great Dolomites Road was closed at the Falzarego Pass, so we had to reroute and couldn’t take our scenic route to Bolzano. We were disappointed because it is supposed to be a beautiful route and we had planned to hike around Lago di Carezza. We ended up backtracking all the way to Cortina d’Ampezzo and then to Dobbiaco and Brunico and then eventually toward Bolzano on the A12 autostrada. We were heading to the western Dolomites, where we would stay on the Renon Plateau.

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Lago di Garda

Lago d’Iseo

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The Renon Plateau: Kinig Farm

Soprabolzano/Oberbozen

Val di Funes: the Panoramaweg & Sunnseitnweg Circuit Hike

Bolzano/Bozen

The Renon/Ritten Plateau

The High Alpine hikes of Alpe di Siusi

Ortesei/St. Ulrich

Soprabolzano

Leaving the Renon Plateau

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Lago di Misurina

Dobbiaco/Toblach

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Dobbiaco/Toblach

Lago di Braies (Pragser Wildsee)

Brunico/Bruneck

Innichen/San Candido

Speckstube Eggerhof

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Cinque Torri

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