Vagabundo del Mundo

There is some conversation to be had in discussing the difference between travel and vacation. The first two weeks of this trip were definately vacation. What followed was starting to feel much more like travel.

I made up my mind Friday night that some time in the mountains would be just what the doctor ordered to clear my mind and provide the relaxing atmosphere I was looking for. I absolutely found it in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. I knew from the first 20 minutes of the train ride that I had made the right choice. The window of the train could not have really done the view justice but it was breathtaking nonetheless. We passed through old Italian villages carved into the rocky mountainside, vineyards as far as the eye could see. Then everything started to change.

I knew I wasn't in Italy anymore when I started to recognize the distintly Bavavrian architecture. The signs were all in German now. We passed by a lake, and families of blonde haired fair skinned children were chasing eachother around the shores. I didn't know anything about South Tyrol before I got there, but I was about discover an ironic example of colonization in modern day Western Europe.

The people of South Tyrol used to have their own quiet settlement at the foothills of the Austrian Alps near Switzerland, but that was 400 years ago. They were eventually assigned to Austria, and then after World War 2 to Italy. A brief trip to Bolzano will reveal that they don't consider themselves Italian at all, they don't even recognize the language. Italians even told me they don't feel welcome there, and the Tyrolese are desperately clinging to the remnanats of their culture. The town of Bolzano is losing the battle, but the nearby mountains have still preserved what they can. I took a visit to see for myself.

On Sunday I took the cable car up to the top of nearby Mt. Rittenbaun. There were men dressed in customary green vest and hats and women in traditional overall style farm dresses returning home form Church. The restaurants were serving uo sausages and rump roast, and white wine was staple drink of the afternoon. All along the mountainside are vineyards, not professional but private. These vineyards are for the families that occupy the land and their guest. A few restauranteers have started bottling their own wine as well, but it is mostly private.

The mountains surrounding Bolzano or Bolzen are littered with ruins of old Bavarian castles, hiking trails, lush green valleys, land pyramids, and breathtaking views of the Dolomites. I have limited storage space, but I've posted a couple photos here.

After two relaxing days in South Tyrol I decided to move on to Verona. I had plans to spend another week in Italy travelling the Adriatic Coast but that was all about to change. I discovered a book store in Verona selling Lonely Planet travel guides for Croatia. After some reading I went to bed early and made my plans to head for the coast in the morning. After a hearty breakfast and some good conversation with the owner of the bed and breakfast I was on my way. I arrived in Ancona in the afternoon and caught the next ferry boat across the Adriatic to Croatia. I was leaving Italy and heading to Croatia. All of the sudden my dreary day of train travel and endless walking took a new turn into optomism.