A tale of two languages - Alto Adige / Sud Tirol
Trip Start
Jul 01, 2007
1
23
29
Trip End
Nov 25, 2007
Bolzano,
Italy
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Bolzano (Bozen in German) is in the district of Alto Adige (Sud Tirol in German). The reason I am giving you the German names also is that the area if officially bi-lingual. It has a long and complex history, with a largely Italian influence up to about 1000/1200AD, which was largely superseded by a German influence up to the end of the first World War, after which it was transferred to Italy.
Mussolini encouraged a significant Italian migration into the region and tried to forcibly assimilate the German-speaking people living there, but there was considerable resistance, and after Hitler intervened many of them moved to Germany. However quite a few remained and in 1957 there was significant political agitation and they were powerful enough to negotiate a great deal of regional autonomy within the Italian state, such that there are separate Italian and German-speaking schools (they of course teach the other language to all their students)
On the way to Bolzano
.This model of provincial autonomy has been proposed by Reinhold Messner, the famous mountaineer from this region (about whom more later), as a model for China to follow with Tibet.
It's quite fun trying to guess the native language (the one spoken at home) of people you meet, and of also how they see you, eg in shops and bars I was invariably spoken to in Italian straight off (that's easy because I'm dark and swarthy :), but lots of people could be either. According to a 2002 census 71% of people speak Italian as their first language, and 28% speak German (to me it seemed a lot more, but that may be because there were hordes of Austrian/German tourists - it's a favourite area for them to visit in autumn).
Bolzano is situated at 262 metres above sea level, has around 100,000 inhabitants and bills itself as the doorway to the Dolomites, a spectacular area in the Italian Alps. It's a very wealthy area with virtually no unemployment and lives off tourism and agriculture - 30% of Italy's apples are grown in the region, but there's also pears, persimmons, berries and chestnuts.
My first afternoon I had a look around town and went to the Ethnographic Museum, whose star exhibit is Otzi the Iceman. He was found, frozen and in almost perfect condition in 1991 on the border of Italy and Austria at a height of around 3000 metres
Otzi the Iceman
. It is believed he died around 3,300 BC, probably from loss of blood from an arrow wound. He was around 45 years old, 1.6 metres tall and weighed around 50kg. His clothes were in fairly good condition and consisted of loincloth, leather leggings held up by suspenders (seems like there's been men in suspenders for an awfully long time - well before some British politicians and assorted other men :), bearskin hat, a long garment sewn from deer skins, a grass cloak, shoes made from skin and padded with grass for warmth, backpack with frame, and bow and arrows in the process of being made - in short, an almost complete picture of what a typical man in that area at that time posessed, and a murder to boot. It really is fascinating to see how ingenious humanity is in adapting to their environment.That night I ate at the Batzenhausl (the oldest resaturant in Bolzano, since mid-1400's)- primo of handmade chestnut pappardelle (type of wide ribbon pasta) with ragout of deer and topped with fresh mirtilli (cranberries), secondo is carpaccio of smoked pork with white cabbage, and more mirtilli, and dolce is semifreddo of chestnuts on persimmon sauce - everything local and perfectly in season. I have a glass of Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir), followed by a Lagrein (a local red grape variety), then a grappa infused with Mugo, some sort of essence made from a particular type of local pine tree.
The next day I take a bus to the Messner Mountain Museum at Castel Firmiano, a little way out of town and a half hour climb past apple orchards (I eat a couple straight off the tree - crisp and flavoursome) and through a forest.
Reinhold Messner is considered by many to be the greatest mountaineer of all time, being the first to climb Everest without oxygen in 1978 (which many considered impossible), and climb all 14 mountains in the world that are over 8,000 metres
Main piazza Bolzano
. His museum (he has 3 others scattered around northern Italy) is set within the walls of Castel Firmiano, which was first mentioned in writing in 945 AD. I spent several hours looking around - there are sections on South Tyrolean autonomy and how it provides a model for Tibet/China (he is a very strong advocate for the rights of Tibet), an extensive collection of Tibetan art, a section on other religions, and sections on mountains and mountaineering. I finished with a plate of cheeses and smoked meats and a glass of local wine on the sunny terrace outside looking out over the mountains, and to top it all off even bought Messner Mountain Moments Natural Herbs Cleaning Milk for my face (mallow, peppermint and thyme - really makes my face tingle).I then caught another bus and a funicular to San Genesio at 1,008 metres, around 5.30pm. It was clear (more than 300 sunny days a year) but cold, and there was a fantastic view of the Dolomites at sunset.
Dinner again at Batzenhausl - horseradish soup with hotcakes of grano saraceno (buckwheat), then 4 types of canederli (round dumplings - meat, spinach, cheese, beetroot), each with it's own sauce.
Friday is the big day - I have made 3 previous abortive attempts to climb mountains (Etna, Stromboli, Triglov), which haven't worked out (because I started too late you are probably thinking - which is true)
Night scene Bolzano
.So this time I am determined to make it so I catch the 7.30am bus to Siusi (1,000 metres), cablecar to Compatsch (1,825 metres), and a bus which meanders along and drops me off at Saltria at around 1,700 metres, from where I start the climb around 9.30am.
Well, it's not really a climb at this stage, more a reasonably steep walk up a track to Williamshutte (2,100 metres) and Rifugio Piatto Sasso (2,300 metres), then the real climb starts up to the summit (2,955 metres). As usual, it's really hard to follow the track over the steep and rocky terrain - it's almost a cloudless sky but there's a strong breeze blowing and at this height it's freezing cold. No, I'm not wearing shorts, and yes, I am wearing a shirt (and a polar top) and I have gloves in my rucksack, but in the rush to get to the bus I forgot my Goretex jacket (well, I got up at 6.30 so I'm not at my best). But, compared to my usual standards I've done quite well and I reach the summit at 12.30 (can you believe it, normally I've only just set out about now).
It is really freezing up here - my ears and nose and hands are completely frozen and have no feeling in them (in fact I fleetingly think 'is it cold enough for me to get frostbite?'), and I try and get my gloves out of my rucksack (yes, I know it's stupid but I haven't put them on yet). I have to unbuckle the stomach strap and chest strap on my rucksack, the buckle on top and then zip it open - it's almost impossible with frozen hands as I can barely move them and can't apply any strength - this is while standing on a steep mountainside at nearly 3,000 metres with a strong wind blowing. I finally manage it, take a few more pictures, and head down.
I don't know the exact temperature up there but according to the weather map in the newspaper next day the temperature at 3,000 metres was -13 degrees (I don't know if that includes windchill factor)
Chestnut pappardelle & ragout of deer
. No wonder I was so bloody cold. Apart from the cold it was a relatively easy climb as there was little snow about and there was little danger of getting lost as I could see the huts below - much easier than Triglav in Slovenia. I join a group of jolly German-speakers at Saltner Hutte and drink wine and grappa with them - I have thawed out and it's a warm 6 degrees.
My last day I take the train to the lovely little town of Merano where they are having the Traubenfest (Festival of Grapes). Mid-October to late November is the time of 'Torggelen' which derives from a Latin word which refers to wine that is still in fermentation. The tradition is to walk, or ride horses, in the countryside and partake of the 'new' wine, chestnuts, and local country foods such as cheese, bread and speck (similar to prosciutto crudo but stronger in flavour, firmer textured and smoked in juniper wood).
I wander the narrow streets and the promenade by the river, which are crowded with jolly, mainly German-speaking people, looking for things to try at the stalls. I start with a fresh and light red wine as an aperitif, which I drank with a fatty, jellied patè on rye bread, then 6 mixed krapfen (deep fried dough balls filled with chestnut, apricot and poppy seed paste), freshly squeezed grape juice, roasted chestnuts, then a side trip to Claudia's Wine Bar for a Pinot Noir and a Lagrein while listening to Southern Italian pop music from the 50's and 60's, with all Germans in there with walking boots and Goretex jackets, then bratwurst in a roll with horseradish, and finished off with a glass of must (fermented grape juice) - I know it all sounds without any rhyme or reason and how can my stomach possibly cope, but that's what happens when you just wander around trying a bit of everything, and fortunately I feel fine after it all
Batzenhausl restaurant - open since 15th cent
.As you can imagine I can't eat that night and get a relatively early night as I am leaving for Rimini early the next morning.
My time in the Alto Adige regon has been enjoyable and fascinating because of the history of the area and seeing how two very distinctive cultures both co-exist and mingle in the same area (although they also have much in common) - and it's been done without bloodshed (I believe a similar situation exists with the Italian Val d'Aosta adjoining France, and possibly a couple of other areas). You get a real feel for how arbitrary the lines on the map are and how humans have migrated and settled in ways that don't always fit in well with the concept of the nation state. I don't want to say there are no problems at all but it's been working for 50 years with no bloodshed, and a good deal of intermingling of the cultures, so it is a much better approach for many areas that are significantly ethnically and culturally different from the majority culture (that's why Reinhold Messner is promoting it for Tibet), when you consider the bloodshed during the breakup of Yugoslavia, India and Pakistan, and all those minorities in other countries that have been persecuted or killed.
