Bolzano - Otzi Rides Again - Poking Around Europe 5.0

September 6, 2018

Bolzano - Otzi Rides Again

Merano to Bolzano

We have had quite the day. Our breakfast in the Grand Hotel Belvedere was terrific. I loved the unlimited cappuccinos. If the proprietors had any idea of my capacity for cappuccinos they might put a strict limit on them, but they seem happy to keep bringing me more. We had some laughs over breakfast. Keith and I are not young, but we were bringing the average age in the breakfast room down. We felt positively youthful. There were a couple of bus tours in the hotel and the average age was well north of 80 for sure. I told Keith how wonderful I thought it was that they are all still traveling and he pointed out that it is not that far away for us. Yikes!

We started out and had some immediate drama. The CN, concentrating deeply on his Galileo app failed to hear the warning bells or see the arm coming down in front of the railway tracks. It was only me yelling that narrowly averted him being conked on the head. But now he was on the wrong side of the barrier, stubbornly staying his ground, despite the kind bystander and the respectful railway workers telling him to move to the other side. His wife was being a little more emphatic and a little less nice about it, but he didn’t listen to me either. He knew he was fine, but...

The barriers didn’t go up as a second train was coming. This time it was no more Mr. Nice Guy from the railway workers. They made him move and I thanked them profusely in three languages. That made them laugh. The CN had more room than it looks here.

The correct side of the barricade. You can see here he could be confident about his safety, but I prefer him on the other side.

It really does look closer than it was but it was still too close for me. However, he was fine and knew he would be. We both had a good laugh. That is the second time in two years we have had an incident with a railway barrier. The first time it was both of us who didn’t see it. We heard the bells and stopped in precisely the wrong place. We both realized at the last second, just in time to back up in a quick hurry.

We carried on and took the mountain goat route out of town. The views were tremendous. I was wearing my new favourite bike jersey today and when I whined just a little, Keith reminded me that anyone wearing a Stelvio jersey wasn’t allowed to whine about an unexpected and mercifully short but steep hill. That really made me laugh.

The CN told me to smile, and as you can see, I didn’t.

Looking back at Merano from the top of the hill.

We had an awesome ride down the Via Claudia Augusta although there was some navigating required until we hit the river...then it was river on the right? Check. The apple orchards were stunning again today. The sheer number of apple trees is hard to comprehend, and we are starting to see vineyards. Castles too. This is such a beautiful part of Italy.

The weather has been perfect. Just so deliciously warm. We are cycling in shirtsleeves, the better to show off my new jersey I might add, and palm trees are making an appearance. We were approaching Bolzano before we knew it. We have decided to spend three nights here and do some exploring. Our hotel is just outside of town and it is so quiet and peaceful. There is an Education Research Conference taking place in Bolzano this weekend which has made the town very busy, with 3000 people attending the conference. We are happy in our quiet little corner.

The old on the left and the new on the right.

The Rathaus. I have always loved that name for City Hall.

Tomorrow the plan is the wine route and the Messner Mountain Museum. It should be wonderful.

https://www.relive.cc/view/1823481028

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 567 km (352 miles)

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