Europe - Alpine Adventures
Crossing the border into Italy, our highlight was visiting the Novacella Monastery, dating back more than 900 years, run by Augustine monks.
Like Gottweig Abbey they own vast vineyards and make excellent wines. Here we could visit the library, filled with ancient tomes.
We passed through the Chinese Room - the walls decorated with finely detailed wall murals from the rococo period. Can you believe these frescoes were only discovered during Covid when 6 layers of plaster was removed.
The basilica was a particular thrill, not only for its extravagant interior in Bavarian baroque style, with beautiful frescoes and 300 chubby cheeked angels, we were lucky enough to hear the organ being played - a rich deep sound in a much smaller church than in Passau. Our local guide was quite surprised as she’d rarely heard this organ played. A special moment.
An unusual element on some frescoes include a 3 dimensional sculptured section -quite intriguing.
We continued on to Lake Misurina - framed by the Dolomite Mountain range, which you can see on the first image of this post in all its glory. We arrived to rain and mist, so for us the mountains were completely obscured. A keen artist was capturing the lake with a reflection of the nearby hotel.
Our overnight stop was Cortina d’Ampezzo - some interesting art works in the shops and a few classy boutiques - it was still raining and very quiet on the streets in the town centre. A cup of tea in a cosy café was the best option.
Cortina is a pretty town located in Ampezzo Valley also surrounded by the Dolomite mountains. I was surprised to read we are only two hours north of Venice.
Cortina was among the first Alpine destinations to host explorers and scientists, then royals and aristocrats. It hosted Italy’s first Winter Olympic Games in 1956 and today remains a playground to the rich and famous.
Our hotel was surrounded by fir trees, perched above Cortina at an elevation of 1800m and a popular ski resort.
We’ve been travelling through the magnificent dolomite mountains since Innsbruck - known for jagged peaks and plunging ravines creating a dramatic landscape formed millions of years ago from dolomitic limestone.
The Earth’s history is literally carved into these mountains — the clearly defined layers of pale rock outcrops once sat at the bottom of a tropical sea when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Le Corbusier, the famous French naturalised Swiss architect, town planner, painter and designer, called them the most beautiful architectural work in the world.
We set out the next day to rain and thick cloud, our coach negotiating dozens of tight switchbacks through these magically mountainous misty landscapes - climbing over 1,000m in less than an hour.
Down one mountainside and up another into the clouds - seemingly headed for heaven - emerging again to pockets of clear basins where towns nestle in bucolic valleys. Then rising to even higher slopes, dusted with fresh snow.
We arrived at our morning tea stop in a blizzard - an elevation of 2,330m and a mere 6 degrees. Thankfully our driver was excellent driver who was used to snow covered roads - not a journey for the faint-hearted.
We reached Bolzano at lunchtime, a colourful town with clearer skies. In South Tyrol province, Bolzano is set in a valley amid hilly vineyards, a gateway to the Dolomites with a medieval city centre dominated by Duomo di Bolzano Cathedral with its Romanesque and Gothic architecture - once again with a colourful tiled roof.
Before leaving Italy, on our way to Switzerland we stopped for morning coffee in Glorenza a tiny fortified medieval town surrounded by the hills of the South Tyrol - it’s officially classed as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.
Tubs of poppies lines the main square, cobblestone streets and even in such a tiny town, two churches.
We are excited to know our next place to visit was the swanky town of St Moritz in Switzerland, so keep an eye out for this post in the coming days.
Editor's Comment
In the meantime, tomorrow Julie is introuducing us to a young English artist who follows a very ancient method of painting scenes on the side of books. Many of her scenes from famous books are as mystical as the photos Jane has taken of the Dolomite Mountains as seen above.