Northern Italian Alps (South Tyrol) südtirol

The train trip to Belzano (known as Bozen by the German people here) was an introduction for things to come. The landscape changed from flat agricultural with typically Italian market gardens and villages to my first hint of German regional architecture and the very large houses, usually two to three stories with window shutters and window boxes full of Spring flowers.

The very high mountains simply rise majestically out of the valleys with impressive altitudes here - the snow line was surprisingly low for this time of year.

It was not long before the bike and me were making another exit from a train station and this time straight to the very new and comfortable youth hostel in Belzano/Bozen. I had my own room, breakfast was included and the kitchen and laundry conveniently close.

Just five minutes walk to the town city with a large plaza accommodating plenty of cafes and shops. I knew I had traversed out of southern to central Europe and in a German space because of the consistent conversations in that language.

Today South Tyrol exists as an autonomous Italian province and prosperity here appears more obvious than the south. It was was originally part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until 1918, then annexed by Italy following the defeat in World War I.

This alpine area know as the south Tirol known as südtirol has changed sovereignty between Italy and Austria over some period due to world wars and so on. It is predominantly German but is a good example of where nationalities have found a nice mix and living happily together.

Although it's a predominately German speaking population, the streets signs have Italian and German spelling which took me a while to get adjusted to but I found everything I needed including a visit to the local world famous Archealogical Museum with an impressive exhibit on the Ice Man - known as Otzi.

After this amazing discovery of the Ice Man there had been some debate between the two countries about ownership of this discovery. Otzi was found by a couple who had been trekking in the area and just by chance saw a well preserved body exposed in the snow but metres from the border. Thousands of years ago poor Otzi had been wounded by a enemy's spear which severed an artery in his arm and he bled to death.

The ownership of the mummy finally fell in favour of the Italians but German scientists worked closely with the Italians and other world experts to determine the age which indicates around 5,300 years old. I was so excited to be within a metre from this ancient nomad and such an insight for the scientific world of the life of the stone-age community then, what they wore and what they ate. Apparently Otzi shared some common health issues we see as modern health issues today, such as high cholesterol and other diseases.

I enjoyed my stay here in Belzano and absorbing a another new culture - the ride up to Innsbruck via the Brenner Pass towards Austria was my next stage of the journey.

 

Posted with Blogsy