Bolzano was the next stop on my European Alpine adventure. Bolzano is a province in the South Tyrol region, located on the northern most tip of Italy. Bolzano is also the gateway to the Dolomites, some of the most stunning mountain ranges and glacial lakes in the world.
Admittedly, I didn’t know much about this region and was very surprised: Bolzano is a living history lesson. The City of Bolzano is the capital of the autonomous Bolzano region, meaning they keep 90% of paid taxes amount along with other pecuniary benefits. Most surprisingly is that Bolzano is not very Italian at all. Am I in the right country? The old part of Bolzano looks mostly like a 19th century German city with small scale medieval roots. The street signs are in German, and more often than not, German, not Italian, is spoken. For good reason. Prior to WWI, Bolzano was part of Austria. But after that war, Mussolini, with the approval of some friends, annexed Bolzano into Italy. Some but not all of the German speaking population accepted Mussolini’s gracious invitation to flee. Italians, including some from southern Sicily, were encouraged by the fascist dictator to relocate here. Austrians who remained were required to Italianize their surnames. Though mostly German speaking, Bolzano is multi-cultural. Italian and to as lessor extent Ladino (a Romance language spoken in northern Italy, mainly in the Dolomite Mountains) is also spoken here. Apparently, locals must choose their language and government resources and jobs are allocated accordingly. Mussolini created a newer part of the city, which is filled with fascist architecture, including the Victory Monument, where they extolled that: Here at the border of the fatherland set down the banner. From this point on we educated the others with language, law and culture.
Unfortunately it was mostly cold and overcast during my stay, making photography hard.
While in Bolzano, I popped into the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, where I formally met Ötzi, a 5300 year old ice man, who was murdered while hiking a glacier. In 1991, Ötzi was discovered in a melting glacier by some hikers. It worked out. Ötzi has become wildly famous and a real money maker. The hikers got a finder’s fee. Professor Silver, one of my traveling companions, remarked that this is a really a ‘cold case’ murder. Silver was also adamant that he had met one of Otzi’s living descendants – a groundskeeper in his community.
On day two, I hiked the Ronon Plateau, overlooking Bolzano City. I took a long long cable car ride to get there, and was able to catch a small train through the countryside back to the cable car. The hiking scenery, including my first views of the Dolomites, was amazing.
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