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.
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