Val Badia

After two days of clouds, we awoke this morning to bright sunshine and clear, blue skies. For the first time, we could see the snow-capped Dolomites through the. windows as we ate breakfast.

A coach took us about an hour's drive into the mountains with spectacular views all the way. Entering Parco Naturale Puez Odle, we stopped at a rather prosperous-looking ski village where we met Manuella, a member of the Ladin community. 

Ladin is a language distinct from Italian or German. Its Latin roots go back to Roman times, but it is a synthesis of Latin and an ancient local language. The Ladins as an ethnic group were here long before other ethnic groups, but only about 35,000 Ladin speakers remain. Almost all of them continue to reside in three valleys in the Dolomites.

Manuella took us on the longest, slowest nature walk ever. She was incapable of talking and walking at the same time, so we stopped every few feet. Since we aren't into botany or homeopathic medicines, her trivia about wildflowers was frustratingly excessive. The scenery was gorgeous, but we could have seen so much more of it had we moved along.

Finally back on the bus, we drove on through breathtaking mountains to the next valley, Val Gardena, which is also inhabited primarily by Ladins. Because the road was too narrow for the coach, we were dropped about a quarter mile from our destination, a Ladin "masso" or traditional farmhouse.

Klaus, our host, explained that the house is more than 400 years old and has been in his family for ten generations. Four generations live there now: Klaus's father, Klaus and his wife, two of their daughters, and four of his grandchildren.

Before modern development came to the valley (the ski industry has made these valleys very prosperous), it was home to four unrelated Ladin families with a total of up to 44 persons. Families lived communally in order to survive the harsh mountain winters and to eke out a living by farming in the short growing season.

To this day, Klaus explained through our tour leader's translation, he and his family follow the Ladin tradition of only eating meat twice a year, when animals are slaughtered. In between, the diet is primarily potatoes, cabbage, and hard bread.

Our meal featured these ingredients, which sounds pretty awful, but was actually very good and very filling. We sat at large wooden tables in one of two large rooms, or "stubbe," on the main floor.

Among the unique features of the masso was a large stone oven built into the kitchen wall. Another was lots of wood carvings, including a large crucifix in the corner of the room (most Catholics place these on a wall, not in a corner) and a wooden dove (symbolizing the Holy Spirit) "flying" on the ceiling in the center of the room.

Back on the bus, we returned to Brixen where about half the group got off at an Augustinian abbey on the north end of town. While the rest of the group remained on the bus and returned to the hotel, those of us who went to the abbey had to move quickly. We only had a half hour until closing time!

The abbey, established in 1142 C.E., was a large complex of Medieval and Renaissance buildings. The cloister featured well-preserved frescoes, and took us to a door marked "basilica." 

Behind that door was a most amazing Baroque church. Sadly, we had to rush through quickly, but some of the side altars were more ornate than the main altars in some cathedrals we have visited. The main altar was almost overwhelming.

From there, we rushed through the abbey museum, which filled many rooms and included artworks of impressive quality. A library and a large room that had probably been a scriptorium were near the end of the tour.

The abbey was preparing several different displays that would be part of the WaterLights Festival beginning in Brixen this evening. We got to see a few of them in preview mode, which was very cool. But it also meant that the scriptorium was very dark as the lights were being adjusted.

This abbey has long been famous for its vineyards and wines, and the wine shop remained open after the abbey itself had closed to visitors. They had an automated system for wine tasting. One purchased a plastic card for whatever amount desired, and then inserted the card into a machine in order to select a wine to taste. The machine distributed a taste into your glass and deducted a half Euro, Euro, or two Euros from your card, depending on which wine was chosen.

We shared a €5 card and focused on €0.50 samples -- nothing but the best for wine conosuires such as ourselves! Other group members joined in with cards of their own. It was a fun activity, and some of the others purchased wine to take home.

The way home was a walk of about 2 miles along the river trail. Once we left the frustratingly slow group behind and moved at our own pace, it was a delightful walk on a beautiful day.

In the evening we ventured out to see what the beginning of the WaterLights Festival would look like. It was limited. Most were constantly moving artwork projected onto the walls of buildings with powerful video projectors. 

A few others were static displays, while others faded from color to color. Most were accompanied by "space music" played from nearby loudspeakers. A few had technical problems on this first night of the festival, and weren't working at all. But it was a pleasant evening, so we didn't mind the walk.