Italy: Val di Funes

On our day of departure from Bolzano, the weather was better, so we went for a planned hike. The idea is to head up Val di Funes by (valley) by bus to the Zannes parking lot. Then walk a part of the Adolf Munkel Weg which is a trail at the southern base of the Odle Group, along the edge of the scree. There are numerous permutations. We opted for one going by the three farmsteads(alms)/mountain huts/refugios.

On the way back to Bolzano, we stopped in Brixen to switch from bus to train. While Brixen shared a similar fortune as Bolzano, Brixen was the seat of the bishopric and has more medieval vestiges than Bolzano, therefore more atmospheric. We could have based ourselves in Brixen.

Beginning the day at the Bolzano Railway Station. We will ride this very red OBB Austrian Railway train north to Brixen, then bus east to Zannes.


In this part of Italy, there are many small, industrial sawmills like this one we spotted from the bus.




And more than several modern commercial apple orchards.


At the Zannes bus stop we see some high jagged stone peaks in the distance. Woohoo!


And in a few minutes the southern face of the Odle Group is right above us.




At Malga Glatsch Mountain Hut we turn left towards the Odle Group.






Fairy tale mushrooms.


The trail along the edge of the scree.






Near the Malga Gschnagenhardt Alpine Hut




Cathedral of Brixen with frescoes and cloister. Look for an ostrich in the one fresco.








And we headed home to Bolzano via the Brexin Railway Station (below).

Bolzano, Italy (Gateway to the Dolomites)

From Dublin we flew to Venice - as luck would have it, in the middle of an Italian train strike - and ended up spending half of a day busing from Venice to Bolzano, managing to reach Bolzano before dark. If I hadn't happened to notice the strike two days before, I don't know where we would have spent the night.

First morning in Bolzano it rained all morning. Our trip is having a rough start. When the rain stopped and the sun came out, everyone was in the streets, as if there was a festival going on. Bolzano seems rather prosperous. Having come through the Adige Valley on the bus, we could see the area has many other commercial and agricultural activities, in addition to tourism. Historically Bolzano was the trade link between the Italian speaking world to the south and the German speaking world to the north. Even though Bolzano is supposed to be more German than Italian, the highlight for me was 100% Italian; that is, St John's Chapel in the Dominican Church, modeled after Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel in Padua which we missed (needed a reservation) when we were there.

The second day in Bolzano = more bad weather. I stumbled upon a short program at the last minute. We took the bus up the Ega/Eggental valley to the beautiful Lago di Carezza with the backdrop of the Latemar Group, and had a short walk. I was so pleased - I finally felt I was in the Dolomites.

Waiting for the 4:30am Bus 24 to take us to the Dublin Airport.






Great view of the Corbassière Glacier as we fly over the Austrian/Italian border on our way to Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE). Plus,just before we land, a view of the canals outside Venice.




Our flight left Dublin 30 minutes late, but lucky for us we made up 15 minutes in the air, jumped to the front of the EU immigration line by mistake (really), spotted our bags on the conveyor belt as we walked up, and got on the Flixbus with one minute to spare. The bus was mostly empty when it left the airport, but after stopping at Venezia Santa Lucia, and then Venezia Mestre, we were full.




The double-decker Flixbus headed west to Verona, and then up the amazing Adige River Valley to Bolzano.




Arriving at Bolzano Sud Railway Station, we took local bus 10B towards our accommodation. See below the view of Bolzano from 10B below.


The next day we strolled around the very busy-with-tourists Bolzano. Below is Piazza Walther and the very German Cathedral.


Next door to the ho-hum Cathedral sits the Dominican Church. Inside is the narrow St John's Chapel with amazing 14th-century Giottesque frescoes; the figures show movement and the faces show realistic emotions. And the stars in the blue sky!








Streets in the city center were busy each time we walked through town.








One day we made a day trip to Lago di Carezza at 5000 feet elevation. The skies started out sunny when we boarded the bus in Bolzano, but soon turned cloudy with drizzle soon after we arrived at the most beautiful lake. We walked the 4km loop trail and then headed back to Bolzano.










Take-out pizza for dinner.

Ireland: Dublin Revisited (We Walk to Bray Head)

After Glasgow we spent two weeks in Ireland, we didn't have time to blog that part of the trip, which also happened to be the least remarkable part of our spring trip. We went home for July and August on a roundtrip ticket from Dublin. Now we are back in Dublin for one night before going to the Dolomites. As our flight arrived in Dublin in the early morning, we had time to take the suburban train to Bray, built in the 1800s that was supposed to rival Brighton, though it reminded me more of Llandudno, Wales.

We ascended the hill at the end of town. The coast walk to Greystones was mostly closed. They were fixing a rock slide; nevertheless, a very good outing. Back in town, Dublin seemed much busier than when we were here at the end of June/beginning of July. For one thing, all the university students are back, though Dublin remains underwhelming for me.

After an uneventful direct flight (with a tasty Veg Meal) from RDU to DUB, TFI Bus 24 brought us right to Dublin city center, just a 10 minute walk from our room.






As we walked from our room to Tara Street Railway Station, there was still evidence in the Temple Bar district of last weekend's UNC vs TCU NCAA football game.


The DART train, in a retro olive card livery, delivered us to Bray (Daly) Station.


And we headed directly over to the Bray Seafront Promenade.






Soon we were walking up to the Stone Cross atop Bray Head.






After a short rest and admiring the view from the Stone Cross, we plunged/scrambled down a "rogue" trail to the Bray Greystones Cliff Walk down below, just above the Irish Sea.






The scramble down to the seaside trail left us energized, dirty, and tousled. ;-)


The Cliff Walk path was closed to Greystones, bummer, but we saw a passing train as we headed back to Bray, cool, and a ferry out at sea.






On the way back to Bray we passed an "Elvis, Metal Storm, and Vixen" trail signpost. Haha.


And soon we were back at the promenade, then over the footbridge to the station.