Follow Your Arrow

The church bells in Oberbozen ring at mostly random times, never on the hour and occasionally on a particular set of minutes. They ring regularly at 7:10 and 7:22 in the morning and then throughout the day at varying times. The bells have been a source of amusement over the five days we spent here in this northern Italian town that feels more like Austria than Italy. After 10 days in Bologna, Cremona and Parma – the “classic” Italy, with its renaissance art, grandiose cathedrals, and windy cobblestoned old town – this piece of northern Italy in the Dolomites, feels dramatically different. The landscape is indeed dramatic, which looks like an AI generated background for a movie scene; but I assure you – this is the real thing.

Oberbozen (in German) or Soprabolzano (in Italian) was our base for exploring this area. We feel fortunate to have chosen this spot – 1220 metres high – sitting “above” Bozen/Bolzano, the larger, fancier city below. It’s been a place to rejuvenate. Just over 1000 people live in Oberbozen, which feels like a close-knit small town. We stayed at the Gasthaus Babsi – owned and operated by the same family for 40 years. Mom settled us into our apartment, Dad helps tend bar, Philip, the older son runs the restaurant, and Benjamin is in charge of the guesthouse and also helps out in the restaurant. Philip makes everyone feel welcome, as if this restaurant is their restaurant. At the end of the meal, he offers everyone a shot of grappa or limoncello – on the house.

Across the street from the Babsi is the Weissensteiner butcher shop, which is much more than a place to get your meat. They offer up excellent pastries – the cheese danish was a big hit – and they brew up some fine cappuccinos. Need fresh bread, yogurt, fresh milk? Children’s books? They have you covered.

The Trentino-Alto Adige region, which borders Austria to the north, is home to a blend of people and culture. Here, all the signage is in German, Italian and sometimes Ladin, a Romance language unique to this corner of the world. In the province of Balzano that lies within the region of Trentino-Alto Adige – almost 70% of the population declare German as their native language. (This is good for me since my next best language after English is German). It is not uncommon to see men wearing lederhosen. The cuisine you find in restaurants might be filled pasta, like the kind you would find in Bologna, or spätzle, rustic egg and flour irregularly shaped dumplings commonly found in Austria and southern Germany, or knödel, large round bread dumplings – a südtirol specialty.

The modern history of this place reflects this back and forth between Italy and Austria. As part of the land trading that happened with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, Italy annexed this area of South Tyrol. Later when Mussolini and Hitler formed their bond through fascism, and Hitler was directing Austrian politics, they gave the German speaking people in this area the choice to either move to Austria and continue to speak their language or stay in the region and learn to speak Italian. While walking the trails around here we saw way-marking signs with the Italian place names marked out with black paint – a reflection, perhaps, of the lingering bitterness of being forced to speak a language that is not your own.

We added the Alto Adige area to our Italian itinerary because of its natural beauty and our interest in hiking. And it did not disappoint. The area is filled with hiking trails of all levels, from easy family walks to steep and technical climbs and descents. We chose “moderate” hikes on three of our days there. The most spectacular hike was a four hour trek across grassy meadows, through farmers’ fields, along rushing streams, following red and white way-marking signs up to Pemmern at 1538 metres above sea level. At the halfway point we stopped to refresh with our packed lunch of sandwiches, strawberries and one of the local wines we discovered – Lagrein. At Pemmern we caught the funicular up to Swarzseespitze, which sits at 2070 metres – where we found ourselves immersed in a semi circle of mountain peaks, a herd of bell-wearing goats nearby adding a soundscape. Here the trees are no more than 6 feet tall; we were just below where the tree line ends. The views, the views!

Of the 5 days we spent in this area, we spent just one day in Bozen/Bolzano. And that was enough. Bolzano is a very nice place to visit – with a charming old town filled with plenty of good restaurants, cafes, and an open market – but the quiet of the mountains was more of what we wanted than another city. So after a lunch of more spätzle and knödel (this would be our last), we took the funicular back up to our temporary home in Oberbozen for another restful night.

We loved our time in this northern corner of Italy. It was so very different than the other pieces of Italy we have come to know and love. And then, we were on the road again – by train to Innsbruck, Austria, just a sweet two hours away.