Now that the whole world has awaken to and accepted (to various degrees) the Brexit news, we were spending those peaceful five days in north Italy, called South Tyrol (or Sud Tirol). We had booked this trip back in February without thinking much of the EU Referendum but turns out the timing was pretty good! We have not heard of this place before and what happened was - we were looking to book our first getaway for the year, and K suggested checking out Voyage Prive, a (free) members only package deal offers. We saw this wellness resort in South Tyrol, Italy and the deal included flights from London Gatwick, plus meals were provided. We briefly googled the place and K being the avid lover of mountains and lakes, proposed booking this package. I couldn't vote against all the beautiful pictures we saw online and so that was how it was decided.
Looking back, I'm so glad we went to this gem of a place and I am pretty convinced we are moving to South Tyrol and own some cows. Note to self: time to start learning German. Yes German.
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| Cultivating my love for these animals.. moo... |
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Beyond these mountains are Austria. This is as far north as you can get in Italy.
I thought that was pretty cool. |
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| Yippee! |
We flew 1.5h into Innsbruck, Austria and with our rented car, drove 2h across the Brenner pass into northern Italy. (Note to self: no border control between the two countries, we barely realised when we crossed into Italy - one of the benefits of the EU). Throughout the journey, we couldn't stop admiring the beautiful mountains - some still snow capped - and the lucious greenery all around. Rivers with sparkling waters were flowing and it reminded me of how God described in the bible "the land of milk and honey". We thought we had entered God's painting - is how I would describe it. K, though he chides me for being the typical Asian tourist with my camera clicking away, couldn't resist doing it himself this trip - aha! - and even promptly started a Facebook album with real time pictures sharing. It is all too beautiful not to share!
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| Sparkling rivers everywhere |
I love how traveling broadens your horizons and knowledge. We have been so captivated by the pristine, perfect beauty of the place that we started reading up their history. Why is this Italian region speaking German? Hmm TV channels are in German too. No pizza on the menus?
Based on our research, South Tyrol used to be part of Austro-Hungarian empire but was annexed by Italy in 1918 after WWI. Mussolini tried to Italianise this region by prohibiting German to be spoken here, but the people fought for their freedom through the years. Today it is peaceful and boasts being the richest region in the country, thriving mainly on tourism, services, industries (we noted countless huge trucks on the highway everyday.. some serious transportation is going on here!) and agriculture. Most people are bilingual although German is spoken more commonly. Many of the older folks still dream of the day they rejoin Austria.
Read more here if you are interested. I find all these reads fascinating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Tyrol
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/30/south-tyrol-live-in-italy-feel-austrian
http://www.thelocal.it/20150930/south-tyrol-where-italians-still-lack-identity
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| All hiking trails are marked by the South Tyrollean flag which looks very similar to the Austrian flag |
To do justice to this place I've decided to do it in a few posts.
On the first day we arrived at 7pm, in time for dinner. It's quite interesting - there is a changing 5 course menu everyday and you need to choose what you want. Only thing is, we barely finish it. (By day 4, the waiter knew us and would ask "too much?" whenever he collected our half eaten plates.) Our breakfast and dinner table was also fixed so we had the same neighbours at mealtimes. On our second day, we noticed this older Italian couple beside us observing us and I could hear them trying to interpret certain English words we were using. We soon turned to one another and started this
rojak conversation of Italian - English - even French (some of the words are similar to Italian and since I understand some French, they resorted to speaking broken French with me lol). They couldn't speak English much but could tell they were very friendly and wanted to know more about us. In fact one of their first questions was "How did you choose to come to South Tyrol?" We chatted with them for the few days and we spoke about Brexit, about our work and they told us they own a stationery shop in a school back in their Italian town (which we think is so cute btw). They said they will make a point to learn English so that next year when they go on holiday they can converse with diners next to them.
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Our suite. Had no idea this package deal was for a suite. Double win.
We had our duvets folded into a heart every day for us, how sweet.
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| Our hotel in the Ahrntal Valley |
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| View from our balcony. Everything looked so perfect here. |
We had also decided that this would be a hiking trip and so, yes I had to step out of my comfort zone (for those who know me well!) to be a sporty Bel. lol - we had to stop by a sports store the weekend before to get some hiking gear for me. Everywhere you stop in this region is peppered with hiking routes - from easy to moderate to advanced. And it doesn't matter which route because they are all supremely scenic. And for the 5 days here, we have not seen any other Asian tourists, which means we have been a bit of exhibits ourselves - people stop and stare at these two Asian tourists in surprise. It felt a little uncomfortable at times.. we would smile at them and carry on. In fact the hotel receptionist, in her limited English, said we were the first Singaporeans to this hotel and she couldn't help taking a second look at our passports during registration.
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| Our first hike in Casere in summer temperatures of 30deg |
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| We came prepared, well sort of ;) |
Based on the hotel's recommendation, we drove to Casere for an easy hike. We noticed that popular hiking routes had well maintained paths, some pram friendly even. Feels like they want to make hiking friendly for all, regardless of age. It was hot and sunny and we started walking into the alpine meadow - we saw cows (with bells on), another stream, a small church, a few resting huts which now double as food places operated by farmers in the area. And of course, fellow hikers of all ages.
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"I think it's that direction!"
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| Don't worry, the map is with me! |
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| Come, follow me... I won't bring you to Austria |
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| Balancing act |
In the afternoon we drove another direction and hiked to see two waterfalls.
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| Walked about 15min to see this waterfall |
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| And another 15min steep walk up to see this powerful second waterfall |
After a full day of adventure we drove back to the hotel to freshen up, ready for our 5 course dinner.
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