Bolzano: A-wander

The drive to Bolzano was uneventful. Twisty-turny and scenic, to be sure.

Returning the rental car to Sixt … well, that was a different matter. Long story short … yes, Sixt emails instructions for the return, but it needs to include some additional details. The provided address takes you to a building adjacent to the parking structure entrance that is down a ramp. No signs anywhere to direct drivers to take the ramp. Anyway, we eventually figured it all out … with the help of the Sixt AI Assistant providing specifics.

Putting that behind us … onward with the story of our day.

With the car returned, we rolled our bags over to the train station — a few blocks from the parking structure. Our plan was to leave our bags at the luggage storage facility at the station so that we could freely wander around Bolzano until it was time for our train to Bologna.

That done, our first stop was at Loacker, an Italian confectionery established in Bolzano in 1925. What started out as a small, Austrian family-owned local bakery has apparently grown to global recognition with its products sold in over 110 countries. To be honest, I had not heard of Loacker until fellow-FindPenguiner C’est parti mon kiki suggested we check them out.

Walking through Walther Park, we easily found the Loacker shop in Piazza Walther near the duomo … and lucked out with a table in the shade. At that early hour, we just wanted a cappuccino & cornetto. They were out of the cornettos — cream-filled or otherwise. Instead, we each got a Südtiroler Buchtein … a yeast pastry … soft, slightly sweet, and delicious. In our case, we ordered it with a vanilla dipping cream, though chocolate was an option as well.

Loacker is particularly known for its bite-sized Quadratini (cube-shaped wafers). Our cappuccinos came with a sample, but we opted not to buy any to take home today.

From Loacker, we headed off to visit a church and a museum. I’ll leave those for their own footprints and continue with lunch and the rest of our day.

When we were planning out the order of our stops in Bolzano, we had found a restaurant — Wirtshaus Vögele … not far from the museum. It was well after 1:00p when we arrived at the place. There was a two-top on the sidewalk … in the shade to boot. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, grateful for the clouds that filtered out the hot sun. In fact, we had some rain while we were eating … luckily, no wind to blow it toward us or we would have had to move inside.

Mui ordered the beef fillet with peppercorn sauce … served with potatoes prepared au gratin style. I ordered the Milanese … served with German-style potato salad and mirtilli rossi (cranberry) chutney/sauce. For dessert, we decided to each order our own … primarily because Mui wanted the Vögele Affogato … an espresso coffee with walnut ice cream and cinnamon whipped cream. I ordered the sorbetto … expecting a sorbet garnished with local strawberries … got strawberries garnished with a basil sorbet. Delicious. I ordered hot tea to wrap up while we waited for the rain to end … a good time for people watching.

By the time we paid the bill, the rain was history. The sun was out, creating extra humidity. What to do now? Siesta time meant that the civic museum was closed, so we headed over to the duomo instead.

We’d noticed the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta (Assumption of Our Lady Cathedral) when we had our coffee break at Loacker on arrival in Bolzano. What really caught my attention was the roof — covered in colored polychrome tiles installed in a geometric pattern … reminiscent of some of the places of worship we saw in Vienna and Budapest a few years ago. I later read that the similarity is due to shared architectural traditions rather than direct copying.

The duomo sits on the site of an early Christian basilica and Romanesque church. Today's Gothic cathedral was built during the 13th-14th century. The 213-foot (65m) high church tower, with its open-work spire, was built by skilled workers from Lombardia and Swabia between 1501 and 1519.

Due to its proximity to the train station, the duomo was heavily damaged during WWII bombing raids. While the frescoes (except for some remnants), the stained glass windows, and the altarpiece were lost, the Gothic pulpit was rebuilt.

The visit to the duomo was more or less a quick in and out. Back on the street, we took a stroll around the centro, delving into back streets, searching out a garden for which we saw a sign … the gate locked today.

Our steps next took us to Palais Campofranco … a complex of three houses that were remodeled into a single unit back in 1342. Just over 400 years later, the building was converted into a Baroque-style palace. Over the years, it was further renovated and eventually came into the hands of Archduke Heinrich … uncle of Austria’s Empress Sisi.

Today, the property is a courtyard with underground shops and eateries . The ginkgo-biloba tree that was a gift from Sisi to her uncle in 1889 was carefully worked around and saved during the renovation — the roots enclosed in a multi-floor ‘tree pot’ around which an underground staircase was built … leaving the tree itself in the courtyard that is essentially a terrace …. though you wouldn’t know that unless you visit the underground facilities. Ingenious, really.

The ginkgo-biloba tree, by the way, is on the endangered plants list. It is considered a “… symbol of love, friendship, longevity, durability, hope, peace, productivity, vitality, adaptability, invincibility. …” It was declared “Tree of the Millennium” in 2000.

(On our 2023 world cruise, we saw the ginkgo-biloba tree in Hiroshima that survived the atomic bomb that was dropped on the city. The temple near it was less than a mile from the hypocenter and was totally destroyed, but the tree continues to bud without any major deformations. In fact, six ginkgo-biloba tress survived the atomic blast … adding to the species being regarded as a “bearer of hope.”)

Eventually — with still nearly two hours to go before our train — we sat down at a restaurant that was still serving. Not that we were looking for food, mind you. We just wanted to rest our feet and enjoy a cold drink … people-watching as we did so. A pleasant way to end our exploration of Bolzano.Baca lagi