Old flame never dies! (South Tirol)

Member Name: sun-is-shining

Product:	South Tirol
Date:	28/05/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good food, great mountains, nice hikes

Disadvantages: none :-)

South Tirol or Alto Adige in Italian is a region in Italy's north and shares borders with Austria and Switzerland. Unsurprisingly German (70%) is more wildly spoken than Italian. I remember spending hours studying Italian before one of our holidays just to find out that nobody in our Guesthouse understood a word.
South Tirol is fighting for independence and you can feel slight anti-Italian tendencies from time to time.
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The mountains:

The entire region is situated in the Alps, this area is called the Dolomites and is one of the most impressive areas in Europe. You can find all sorts of hiking possibilities there, from easy walks to hard rock climbing tours. The highest peaks reach up to 13000 feet (4000m).

You can go on day trips by yourself or book longer hikes with any travel agency.

Winter sport is great as well, you'll find there the best skiing facilities in Italy. In my opinion they are a bit cheaper than in Austria and Switzerland.
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What to do:

- See our ancestor! Visit Ötzi the man from the ice in Bolzano (capital of the region) in the Museum of Archeology. Ötzi is a well-preserved mummy found found in a glacier in Ötz valley in 1991.
I've seen Ötzi several times as a child and must say that it was a impressive sight! But to be fair, you don't really see much. He is in a chilled room in the museum and you can look and see him through a small window. The Museum centres very much around him and is well worth a visit! Don't miss this unique change to see a 4000 year old mummy so close.

- Go and collect mushrooms. If you go in spring or autumn try to join a mushroom tour. A knowledgeable guide will take you on a walk back to nature, revealing secrets how to find mushrooms and - of course - how to prepare them.

- Slide down a hill at night! If you go to Bruneco ask for the sliding restaurant. It's a restaurant situated on top of a hill just outside the town centre. Follow the curvy part up hill - it's roughly one hour and can be quite steep from time to time. But you'll get rewarded with a delicious meal and lots of wine. The best part comes after the last Schnapps with the owner. You get your slide and a head torch - you can slide the same way you followed up before down now - it's great fun.
(We were a group of 30 and you can imagine how much fun we had)

- Find garnet stones. If you go on a hike to a mountain lake remember to bring a small hammer. You are likely to find some and it makes a nice break. I think my parents were happy when I spend hours looking for garnets while they had some time to relax.
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Food:

The typical starter of the region is a big plate of Speck, Salami, Pickles and Schüttelbrot - a dry bread with cumin. It is usually shared between several people and served on a big wooden plate.

Dumplings with meet or spinach and cheese filling either eaten with a creamy sauce or in a light soup are a popular first dish.

The main dish is most of the time some hearty stew, often cooked in a red wine sauce with mushrooms.

The typical desserts perfectly displays the diversity of this region; strudel from Austria in combination with delicious Italian ice cream is so yummy!

Expect to have a Schnapps with your pudding. You'll probably have the choice between many noble brandies (most if them will be homemade). My favourite is the 'Hoellerschnapps', a noble brandy made from black elderflower.

Forget the Dolomites, the hikes and mountain lakes - come here because of the food!

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Some helpful websites to plan your trip:

http://www.suedtirol.info/What_to_See_-_Do/holida y.html
http://www.south-tirol.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2001/iceman. shtml
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%BCttelbrot (It's in german but it has a photo of the local bread

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Have fun and Grützi Gott (meaning Greet God - a typical way of saying hello/goodbye)

Summary: If you are looking for a relaxing holiday, this could be the solution.