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| Germany: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | South Tyrol: 12 | 13 | Germany: 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Trip Notes | Ray's Pics |
Bicycle Tour Adventure #39: South Tyrol, Italy, Day 13
Above Right: Tomatoes from the field. There were apples too. Oh so fresh and good, one could smell it before it arrived to the mouth.
Bike Tour, Loop: Lana - Bozen/Bolzano - Kalterer See (Cauldron Lake) - Lana
Above Right: Ray's Recumbent (his slow one). Ray's fast recumbent has a Wind Shield.
Above Right: Ray F on the recumbent; Dennis and Terry Struck on the tandem; Picture by Letizia.
Above Right: We're on the road. This is Ray. Long shadows still. It takes about twenty minutes to get used to one another. We've both been independent riders for a while, it does not take long to remember to use stop, slowing, and warning signals.
We are going to follow the Adige River downstream. There is a wonderful bike trail between the rail road tracks and the river. There are just a few pedestrians near towns or villages (just like in the USA) but there are a lot more serious road bikers in groups than found in the USA. We get stares from almost everyone, but Ray gets more attention. His recumbent setup is very sleek looking, almost like Easy Rider.
Above Right: Cyclists out for a ride.
Above Right: View of mountains across the Adige River.
Above Right: Dennis and Terry and the Bee on the Adige River.
Above Right: We're in Apple Country; Castle on the ridgeline.
Above Right: The bright digital numbers tell how many parking spaces are available at each Parking Lot - This being Sunday morning, there are plenty of spaces available in the down town parking areas.
The German Language is the core language of Austria (Österreich). South Tyrol, being a former Austrian State, is an area where only German was spoken at the end of WWI when Südtirol was ceded to Italy. Click for Details. In the 1960s-70s the International Court of Justice in The Hague decreed that both languages (and cultures) had to be accepted. The result is that, the German Word and Italian Word must both listed on road signs (and in government documents), for example Bozen/Bolzano. The order of the German and Italian word listing, seems to be mixed.Above Right: Road signs; we're turning to the Zentrum.
Above Right: Bike Lane, in town, got to watch out for unaware pedestrians.
Above Right: This is the 'Tyrol Annexation Victory Monument', discussed on the previous web page that stirs up the ire of the local, formerly Austrian, residents. Benito Mussolini had the monument made, supposedly to celebrate the unification if Italy but most people believe it was just a fascist monument made for himself; even the Soldier's Heads on the side of the monument are said to look like Mussolini. The monument is always under attack; even here it is under renovation from a previous destruction attempt.
Above Right: Same bridge, other side.
Above Right: The BAS Democrazia movement is alive and well in Bozen - No one is alarmed, worried, making an effort to call the polizia, or to take down the protest symbol.
Above Right: Walther von der Vogelweide (c 1170 - c 1230): He was the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets, a singer, a knight who probably earned his rank in battle (versus birthright) more than once, who had no land to his name, who was very opinionated, a sincere Catholic who practiced what was preached, pro German in a time when lands changed hands and countries frequently, who supported various noblemen (some of whom died for various causes [Land Battles, Crusade, ..]) in their rise to power (Frederick II was one of the last supported), who was documented as given a Diamond by the Emperor and a Fur Coat by a Bishop.
He seemed to float through history being at the right place or history changing event at the right time, frequently. He was popular and these are just the highlights - His story is a lifetime Movie and/or Novel waiting to happen. In his later years, the Emperor gave him a small fiefdom in Franconia and he may have been a tutor to the Emperor's son Henry VII (this is disputed but he could have possibly been like an Uncle figure). [Wikipedia] - Composite Foto by Dennis.
Above Right: Terry and Ray. Immediate questions about his bike.
Above Right: Keep on Biking.
Above Right: Leaving urban Bozen for the burbs (south). We probably have about 12-13 kilometers to our turnoff for the Kalterer See. Do note that the Adige River water is glacial silt and that in Bozen/Bolzano, two more rivers have merged into the Adige.
Above Right: Crossing the Adige River from the west bank to the east bank. We will cross one more time in another kilometer or so.
Above Right: Heading south in rich farm land; castle on the hill top.
Above Right: Here, we are crossing the Adige River and heading west for 1-2 K until we reach the resort on the Kalterer See (for a travel snack break).
Above Right: Arsenal fencing on the right side.
Above Right: Via Campi al Lago.
Above Right: Two of the coolest bikes in the world.
Above Right: Ray is helping Terry read German.
Above Right: The climb is behind us and grapes are in front of us; we're about to be riding though vineyards.
Above Right: Ray is leading (always) and the town of San Giuseppe al Lago is on the hillside ahead.
Above Right: San Giuseppe al Lago.
Above Right: A little too close to Ray: We are now in new terrain; we're on narrow back roads and will eventually find an old rail road bed converted to a bike and hike trail.
Above Right: This is NOT photo-shopped, it is an accidentally blurred picture that looks interesting.
Above Right: Old train tunnel and it is lighted.
Reinhold Messner (born September 17, 1944) is an Italian mountaineer and explorer from Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol 'whose astonishing feats on Everest and on peaks throughout the world have earned him the status of the greatest climber in history.' He has climbed 18 mountains over 8,000 meters including Everest (twice) and K2. [Wikipedia]
This is all knowledge that Ray shares with us. Is this all very cool!
Above Right: We are slowly changing course from the old rail road bed to Farm-Market Roads and we are entering the valley that leads to Lana, so our general direction is northwest but will vary between West and North. We are also shifting from hillside vineyards to the valley floor and mostly apple orchards.
Above Right: Apple Processing Plant: Each of those small green boxes is about the size of a small pickup truck's bed.
Above Right: A picture looking back at the size of the Apple Processing Plant; look at the green box mountain.
Above Right: The Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge that brings us back to the west side of the Adige River and valley highway.
Above Right: We are entering the outskirts of Lana from the mountain side of the valley. It is getting more and more difficult to see sunlight because the sun continues to set and it is noteworthy that we have been biking a long time today.
Above Right: Apple orchard estate.
Above Right: The main Promenade of Lana. The streets have something that I have never seen before, a picture of various people who are famous from activities like Movie Acting to activities like Human Rights Activism. BUT the picture is formed by writing their biography and highlighting or dimming the font characters and changing the foreground and background Black and White color tone - See the following pictures:
Above Right: Martin Luther King.
Above Right: Viewing West, further up the Lana Town's Promenade.
Above Right: We park the bikes and thank Ray for the Great Tour of the Adige River and then discuss Dinner Plans - We are driving to our Pension, showering and changing and coming right back. It takes about 45 minutes.
We are eating Dinner at the Cantina Pfefferlechner family restaurant with Ray and Letizia. The German word Pfeffer means Pepper or More Pepper in English (and that is the end of my German understanding). The Pfefferlehenhof in Mitterlana History goes back to 1297 (See History).Above Left: Sealed and temperature controlled Fermenting Vats.
The restaurant is only open seasonally and it is part of a working farm, in fact part of the ambiance is that one can see farm animals through sealed glass windows from the restaurant. There is no limit to farm character and farm humor in its operation. They make/brew Bier here and they make/distil schnapps here. The operation also sells locally produced wines (if I understand what I saw correctly). The restaurant has an open friendly feel that emanates directly from the owners, who happen to be friends of Ray and Letizia.
Above Right: Distillery Operation.
Above Right: Farm Humor.
Above Right: A dining room.
Above Right: Anti Pasta (different cheeses, sausage and smoked ham).
Above Right: Opposite table and wall.
