Wednesday, September 23, 2009

2009.9.2-21 Hike in South Tyrol and Dolomites

Hiking in South Tyrol and east Dolomites + brief sightseeing in Poland (Warsaw, Krakow), Austria (Melk, Grossglockner Rd., Vienna), Slovakia (Bratislava, Trnava), Hungary (Esztergom, Visegrad, Budapest). Saw too many places, completely saturated :(

This is a lo...ong post. Please click the show more link at each section.

General comments:
  • Vienna & Budapest are extremely handsome. Lots of things to see and do (more so in Vienna). Tons of tourists, but there are enough locals to retain a genuine air. However, I found smaller towns more endearing, because of our gracious host in Eppan, a jolly waiter in St. Gilgen who doesn't speak English, two strangers in Bratislava whose faces I've already forgotten.
  • Alps is NOT wild. Full of people and grazing animals, beautiful, but too noisy (at least in summer, or when there is a bus load of school kids). Flowers bloom longer, no mosquitoes, grass cut evenly. Lots of larch trees. I wonder what would it be like when they all turn yellow. No camping other than in camp grounds near a town, filled with trailers and tents larger than my apartment.
  • Saw many retired people hiking, and they are in perfect shape: a testament to western Europe's excellent social / pension benefit.
  • Trails are well maintained and marked (white / red paint with trail number). Every step has a lovely refuge that offers expensive food and inexpensive shared lodging. It'll be interesting to follow part of Via Alpina for multiple days.
  • Litter on trail. A lot of tissue paper, and some plastic food wrappers.
  • Prices (this blog is based on €1 ~ $1.47): expensive museum entrance fees (~€10, even a small one that you can walk through in 5 minutes.), audio guide (sometimes a floor map, or photo permission) means extra cost. As a simple measure: a bus ticket costs €0.5 (0.7 for transfer within 60 min) in Bratislava, 2.4zl (~€0.8) in Warsaw, 300ft (€1.1, not transferable) in Budapest, €1.7 in Vienna.
  • Food: strong flavors and generous use of spices (less so in Italy). Fresh ingredient and simple taste is not in fashion. Lots of pickled vegetables, all sorts of paprika and sausages. The eastern block has good milk products like kefir, semtana and many kinds of soft fresh or smoked cheese. Coffee is excellent in Italy and Austria. Alcohol is much cheaper than in US (domestic beer is €0.5~1 for 0.5l). Pastry and cakes are often short of my expectation. Fruit drinks diluted with water, yet powered by chemicals seem to be popular. (I've tried two, both have unpleasant metallic taste). Drinking fountain is rare. Lousy fast food joints are everywhere: McDonald's are full of people (all tourists?). Home cooking is always the best (my Polish friend's mom cooks the best bigos).
  • Being completely illiterate has some benefit: got to try some unknown food (unfortunately, they remain unknown). Traveling alone has some benefit too: 1) I was able to find hosts in 4 cities, so had a glimpse of the local life (except one American ex-patriot, thanks to their hospitality.). 2) I received 2 ride offers to Budapest, and one to the sculpture park outside of Budapest. Too bad, schedule conflict.
  • Truly understood what luggage means. Lugging them from city to city is tiring.

Sept. 2-4, Poland. Wednesday.
No toilet paper in Warsaw's international airport! I only spent ~4 hours in Warszawa. Lazienki Park is lovely: large, baroque, outfitted with a "roman" stage and silly boats, many locals (on this Wednesday afternoon). The leafy blvd. Aleje Ujazdowskie bordering the park is lined with embassies & ministries. Its north end leads to the charming old town (Stare Miasto, meticulously rebuilt after WWII), the royal castle, Red brick Barbican tower. Many restaurants along the way, full of tourists. Warsaw University is also here. A guy was blowing giant soap bubbles in the middle of the old town square (faithful to its 1701 version). Benches available for anyone to sit and enjoy. St John cathedral merits a short stop: nice door and stain glass windows. Castle square is bigger, centered around a column of Sigismund 3. Monument of Warsaw uprising is nearby. show more

Sept 5th. Saturday. Drove with my Polish friend and her 3 year old schnauzer Seti from Katowice, Poland to Bolzano, Italy. Visited Stift Melk (€7.7) about half way. The 18th century abbey complex sits on a hill overlooking the Danube. Looks like it was painted yesterday. The abbey dates from 1089. The interior is baroque gone mad. Its church is gilded to the teeth. I cannot imagine how the monks-in-training contemplate the earthly splendor. My favorite is the library, with hundred manuscripts before 1500, some from 12th century. The ground is large and well maintained, with a garden pavilion. English guided tour is offered twice a day. Bus loads of tourists. show more

Sept. 6-11. Hiking.
These are stunningly beautiful areas: little villages full of flower-bedecked windows. Rolling hills with flowering meadows. View of mountains all around. Südtirol is one of the largest apple producing regions in Europe. Many vineyards and other fruit orchards. German speaking. Cortina area is much more touristy. Dramatic dolomite formations, large larch forest. Italian speaking.

Sept. 6. Sunday. Armed with topo maps and direction, apples and plums (all provided by our host), blessed with blue sky, we hiked Schlern, 40 minutes NE towards Blumau -> Fiè allo Sciliar / Völs. Parked at Volser Weiher Lake at 1096 m (€3 parking). Water seems cloudy. There're a couple of hotels and restaurants. A few guests were fishing when we came back from the hike. Followed trail #1, easy walk to Tuffalm, a beautiful restaurant, at 1274 m, with a meadow full of purple crocus. Then trail #3, until Schaufelesteig at 2143 m. By the time I reached the plateau where I could see Rifuge Bolzano / Schlernhaus (2450 m, spotless restrooms!), I was out of breath. There, lying in front of me, was one fat cow! Many more after her. I took a nap too, in between piles of cow dung! This is one giant pasture, with 360 degree view of the distant mountains. Seiseralm/Alpe di Siusi boasts "the largest alpine meadow in Europe". Absolutely beautiful. Many people here from different trails or lifts. I continued to the peak Petz / Pez close by at 2563 m. A cross on top. Loose rocks.
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Sept. 9. Drove to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Took SS241 -> SS48: Val d'Ega -> Val di Fassa -> ... Stopped briefly at the emerald Lago di Carezza / Karersee, 1520 m. Passed the ski town of Canazei, 30+ turns of Passo Podoi (2239 m). Very scenic all the way. show more

Sept. 12-13, to Vienna. Very scenic all the way except on Hwy 1 close to Vienna. Grossglockner Alpine Road (€28 toll) was a product of the depression era of 1930s, following a Roman route for trade and slaves. 3000 men worked for 5 years to build this spectacular road (which I can only imagine). Franz Joseph had a nice house (now a restaurant) here overlooking the LONG and dirty glacier. Cold and high. Grass was yellow (probably should come here in late June?). Lots of marmots. Too cloudy to see the peaks. When we reached the highest point on the road, Hochtor at 2504 m, we could only see fellow tourists. Displays of nature and history were installed at almost each stop, to tell us what we were supposed to marvel at. show more

Sept. 13-16. Vienna.
My Polish friend dropped me off in Vienna around 3pm on Sunday. Had a snack (just to cool off after walking with 2 bags), dropped my luggage at my American host's home in Margareten Plaza. Rushed to Vienna State Opera (about 20 minutes' walk). Gounod's Faust was to play from 19:00 till 22:15 (one intermission). Sold out. Many young sales men in 18th costumes peddling classical concert tickets right in front of the opera house. Standing tickets are available 80 minutes before curtain: €4 for orchestra level, and €3 for gallery level. Conductor: de Billy. Singers: Isokoski, Selinger, Kushpler; Beczala, Youn, Eröd, Kammerer. Musikverein wasn't playing anything, because the season of Vienna Philharmonic doesn't start until October. Two days later, I watched the premier of Neue Welt des Balletts here, conducted by Eberle, choreographed by Myriam Naisy, András Lukács, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián. The last two pieces, by Kylián, were pretty funny. The moves are more stable, and the girls are prettier and more shapely (compared to regional ballet companies like PNB). Nonetheless, I fell asleep for awhile. The strange thing is that a couple of the dances were accompanied by recorded music, while musicians sitting in the pit. show more

Sept 16 - 17. Bratislava, Slovakia, is an easy (every 30 min) slow (1 hr for 64km) train ride east of Vienna (€14, same price for round trip ticket if return on the same day). It was the capital of Hungary from 1536 after its defeat by the Turks. Even after the capital moved to Budapest, Hungarian kings and queens were still crowned here at St. Martin's Cathedral until 1830. The train station is north of the old town, ~20 - 30 min walk. A lovely town, small enough to get my bearings quickly. Many ornate Baroque buildings, red roofs, medieval Michael's Gate, a cute Art Deco blue church, a Soviet style WWII memorial, Slavín, up on a hill half way between the train station and old town. Lively streets. Friendly people. Wifi hot spot in the middle of every square in the old town. Bratislava castle was being renovated, but you can walk up the castle hill and look around. Good view over the old town and the flying sauce bridge. Quite some other buildings are being cleaned up. One of these had posters boarding up window slots, as a colorful temporary solution. On this Thursday, a wind band called SPOKAR played on Hviezdoslavovo nam 5pm - 6pm. About 16 musicians standing on the small platform. An attractive street to its own right: wide and clean, public benches under trees, fountains and drinking fountains at every block, multicolor pavement, leading to the opera house. show

Sept 18, Friday. To Hungary.
bridge to Esztergom Train to Sturovo. Walked over Danube to Esztergom, capital of Hungary from 1000 to 1256, seat of the primate of Hungarian Roman Catholic Church. Its neoclassic basilica is one of the largest in the world, and its green dome can been seen from miles away. (From the sturovo train station, it's ~1 hour to the bridge. Lugging my junk under the sun was no fun. Should have taken some local bus, as the town center is close to the bridge. But I didn't know.). Dedicated in 1856, it's grand, but a bit empty inside. No stainless glass windows. The view from the castle hill is very nice. Széchenyi square is clean and pretty, but no people. The streets and the market are bustling. Lots of school kids. Behind the market is the local long distance bus depot. show more

Sept 19-21. Budapest, capital of Hungary since 1361. In the 1st century, it was the Roman capital of Lower Pannonnia. The large Roman ruin Aquincum can be easily visited by HEV (the only suburban rail line) from Buda at Batthyány Square. Now, this is a hustling bustling place, for the locals. This weekend, a green fair on Andrássy út (with display like a giant ball made of plastic bottles) blocked all moto vehicles. It also happened to be some patrimony day. Not only some museums were free (albeit some sections were closed because of that), the president's office at Sándor Palace was open to public. Just a long line (~1 hr under the sun). Parquet floor, white gilded ceiling, French style furniture. English description only in the hallway about the site. Many guards. show more

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Disclaimer: many images used here are not mine.