Italy for Herbstferien (Fall Break)

Main Piazza, Verona

 

With Covid-19 spiking up again in Europe, we knew that going anywhere for the kid's Fall Break was dicey. Original plan was Montenegro, but it turned into a "Risk Area" by the German gov't before we left. You can still go to Risk Areas, but you have to home quarantine for two weeks after your return. In addition, you must face up to the questionable wisdom of going to a place that is already seeing an outbreak.

But Italy was still open, so we took one of the last flights out of Berlin's historic Tegel Airport (due to close this month with the long-awaited opening of the Berlin-Brandenburg airport). From Venice we rented a car and drove to an AirBnB house on Lake Garda that we nabbed for 100 Euro/night. We stayed almost two weeks in Italy hiking the hills, visiting strangely-quiet towns, and staying with our friends in Friuli before taking the all-night train back to Berlin from Venice. 

The day after we returned to Berlin all of Italy was designated a risk area. A few days later all of Germany went into another lockdown, so we are happy to have snuck in one more trip before things get closed in for a bit. And at 101 photos in this post maybe we are relishing the trip just a little too much, but it will be the last one for awhile. You have been warned!

Anyway, here's northern Italy.

Getting There

Easyjet from a deserted Tegel airport. Masks in use everywhere. You keep them on for the whole flight too, which is not as fun as it sounds.

In Venice we received an upgrade: BMW X1. An advantage of Covid travel is that the lines are usually short and there are plenty of cars available.

Where Are These Places

Environs of the trip were in the north, split between the different federal states of Friuli, Veneto, Trentino and Lombardia.

We flew into Venice and went counter-clockwise around the map below, ending up back in Mestre for the all-night train north to Munich. Started in Verona.

Verona

Town of Shakespeare fame, it figured as a suitable midway stop on the way between Venice and Lake Garda. I'd never thought about it as a destination previously, but as always happens, you hit these random places which suddenly impress you and you start having conversations like "Maybe we could move here next.."

The first thing you do in Verona is go visit Juliet's Balcony. You could also pull down your masks for a second to be suitably amorous! Don't de-mask for long though: right now in Italy you get a fine starting at 400 Euro for not having a mask on, even outdoors. 

The upstairs floor of an embroidery shop is strategically located to the balcony. Typically it would be packed with people since it offers a different view to the famous courtyard. 

This suspended thing is a whale rib, which supposedly has hung from this arch since the 1700's or earlier. No one knows why. But everyone talks about it so of course you must go see it.

The first view of a cafe in Italy compels anyone, no matter who they are, to immediately take a picture of it. This is because no one can do the cafe scene like Italians, and the cafes are heart-breakingly beautiful.

In addition to suspended whale bones and Shakespearean balconies, Verona has a beautiful Roman Colosseum. It is in quite good shape and they run events here. (Pre-Covid they ran events here)

The kids with Gelato ice headaches.

Walking a slightly different route back through the old town you come to a river and some amazing ramparts. The Christmas Card picture!

Lago di Garda

After Verona we drove another two hours to Lake Garda, one of the series of long skinny lakes at the southern edge of the Alps formed by the ancient run-off of Swiss glaciers. We rented a house on the steep side of the hill leading down to the lake, set amid an olive grove, just outside the small lake-side village of Torri del Benaco. Sunset over the lake as we drove down the twisting lanes through the terrassed groves was breathtaking.

The following day we spent exploring the surroundings of our hill-side house then went in to Torri del Benaco to see what is going on. Not much as it turns out, most of the northern Europeans who normally would be here jamming the restaurants and cafes are back at home, riding out Covid Wave #2. 

The digs.

Torri del Benaco main piazza.

Empty tables that in a normal autumn afternoon would be hosting orange Campari and Aperol Spritzes catching the afternoon sunlight.  Castle in background.

Castle had extensive exhibits on fishing on Lake Garda and olive oil production in the local area. It is the farthest north region of Italy that can successfully grow olives. Since it is also the wettest region, the growers always have to cut out the soggier parts of the olive tree trunks so fungus doesn't take over. It gives the older trees an unstable, spindly look since much of the trunks have been chopped out over the years.

Castle ramparts. The kids are so completely and utterly sick of visiting castles that we can no longer attempt to get them excited about a new place by proclaiming the existence of a castle. "There are lots of old stone things to climb on," we've started saying.

The small harbor protects some token local fishing boats. The ferry across the lake leaves from just around the corner and drops you at the base of the mountain in background, a trip we took the following day.

Plenty of sunset seating!

Cody braves some old docks on the walk back up the hill to our house.

Monte Cas Hike. Day started with the ferry across the lake and a drive up the West side to Piovere, where the road began climbing into the mountainous folds. We parked just behind the bulk of Mt Castelle (Mt Cas for short) and hiked up the ridge for some high views of the lake. Up there are also caves and remains of old artillery emplacements as the front line of WW1 ran straight across the lake near this point. On the way down from the summit there is a chapel with the attendant cafe and more killer views of the lake. 

Lake Garda ferry.

Looking south along the west side of the Lake Garda shoreline. Building is the Madonna of Monte Castello chapel.

Reinforced cave that once held a mountain howitzer. Italian position.

The first major outlook once you get out of the forest. Looking north into the Dolomiti Alps.



Right next to the outlook is a cave/bunker connected to the defensive works on the summit. Endless exploring possibilities, although Jasper mentioned he is not a big fan of the bats that sometimes you find in these bunkers.

Near the top of Mt. Cas is a concrete spotter's bunker. They would direct the artillery fire from here. Hard to see how they'd do this now since it is overgrown. Cody and I climbed down inside it: the structure is a long vertical shaft with a couple side rooms and a horizontal access tunnel 30 meters down, with an entry on the lower trail.

Second lookout, just before the hike heads back into the forest. Chapel is seen just below us.

The drop just to the left of Cassandra's knee essentially went straight down to the lake.

View from the chapel. Built in 802 on the remains of an earlier castle and contains a well-preserved 14th century fresco. For religious pilgrims this is a key stopping point on Lake Garda.

Back in Torri, we went shopping with clean hands.

Tibetan Bridge/Olive Groves. The last full day at Lake Garda broke overcast and misty. We took a hike straight out from the house along the small lanes and olive groves heading north to an area where Garda's ancient residents had left petroglyphs on large smooth sheets of glacier-scoured rock.

Lanes, old walls and olive trees. Happy!

The glyphs, most of which are still a mystery. Although you can discern horse and ladders.

Mid-hike we came across a small village.

Hotspot!

On the bright side, the Salamander population seemed to be booming. This guy was about 7 inches.

Drainage from the nearby Mt Baldo ridgeline has created a series of deep ravines down to the lake. Over this one, 40 meters deep, the locals built a suspension bridge modelled after designs of similar ones in Tibet.

These "pole" ladders have been used for centuries to harvest olives. They have a spike at the base to aid in stability when you push them into the ground.

Rovereto

On Friday we left Garda and drove across Veneto into Friuli to our friend's place outside of Udine. But we made a stop on the way to hike the Trail of the 52 Tunnels. What, pray tell, would create such a hiking trail? WWI would.

This trail sits near the front lines of 1917 between the Italians and Austro-Hungarians on the flanks of the hugely-strategic Mount Pasubio. As hostilities commenced, both sides raced into the mountains to occupy as many of the peaks before the other guys could. Certain peaks were better suited to bombard the valleys and potential invasion routes going either direction, and Pasubio was one of them. Prior to the war a road existed on the northern side, but after the opposing forces staked their claims and dug their trenches, that road was exposed to Austrian artillery and observation. Every time the Italians tried to send up supplies to reinforce their troops on the summit they'd get shelled.

The Italians then got to work on the other side of the hill, digging 52 galleries through the bedrock and linking them all with a mule path winding above the abysses. This they accomplished with rock drills and dynamite in eight months in a true feat of engineering. The full trail is 4 miles long, with tunnels accounting for nearly 1.5 miles of it. We made it about halfway up, to the mouth of tunnel #27, where we found a snowdrift and the kids had a snowball fight.

There was fog in the mountains this day, so the last half of our hike was in the clouds. Walking through the tunnels with our headlamps we could see the tiny water droplets in the air currents drifting at us. The wind was basically pulling the fog through the galleries. Very chilly.

On a clearer day and with some more time you'd complete the 4 miles then turn about and hike back down to the pass on the old military road that the Austrians were so fond of shelling. From what we could see, the scenery must be stunning on top.

Outside of Rovereto the Veneto "Pre-Alps" begin.

Lower flanks of Mt Pasubio. A former village town hall, now deserted.

Entry to the first tunnel. This one had the most majestic entrance.

This is what most looked like: dark grottoes punched through the limestone. 

Getting higher and higher, this is around 1700 meters. The track was designed to be wide enough for two mules laden with supplies to pass each other without one of them falling off the mountain.

The exposure on some of the turns was impressive. Some of the galleries were used in the fighting, making you wonder about the mental state of people who not only had to fight for their lives, but also avoid freezing to death, and making sure to not fall off the edge all the time.

Tunnel exit.

The turn-around point: tunnel 27. We could have gone higher but the views would not have changed.

In a couple of the tunnels the local tourist board had installed some light fixtures to project the organization's logo on the walls.

Down lower the clouds parted and we got the views back!

Mountain howitzer, re-assembled in place.

Buja.

We arrived at Elena's around 9pm and of course they fed us. Their boys Luca and Fabio, who we'd known as squirts when the family came to visit us when we lived in Chile in 2005, are now big as tree trunks. Fabio just graduated from college and Luca is in his first year. 

The next day we went foraging in the woods for chestnuts. The kids became experts in finding and then ripping apart the spiny crusts to get at the shiny brown goodies inside. With bags full of them we returned and settled at the Ravascletto with Elena's dad Marino to roast them in the fireplace then peel and stuff ourselves.

What is a Ravascletto? This is a word that was given to the stone and wood structure that sits in the backyard of Elena's house, which has quite a history. This part of Italy in 1976 was hit with two major earthquakes that levelled many of the towns. Elena's family was forced to move out of their real house and live in a tent for the summer while her dad Marino, who ran a construction company, built a stone structure adjoining the portable container living units that Austrian aid agencies were able to ship to Buia. In the fall they moved in to this temporary house, just as the second quake hit. They called it Ravascletto.

The family ended up living in Ravascletto for around five years before moving back into the rebuilt and refurbished main house on the property. Over the years Ravascletto served many purposes: kid slumber parties, New Years Eve celebrations, storage depot. Marino built on it and continually upgraded it over time. A few weeks before we arrived Fabio held his college graduation celebration there. The front room has a pocket kitchen and several big tables, anchored by a big stone fireplace on the north wall. Local cartography books, decades-old knick knacks and woodpiles up the cozy-factor of the place.

 

So it was a treat to come to Buia and find out that we'd be roasting chestnuts in Ravascletto with Marino. Family members came and went while we tore into the hot chestnuts. Presently the homemade wine came out, made from grapes on the arbors that stretch behind the house.

Monte Festa/Tolmezzo.

The following day we took another hike, this one about 45 minutes up the Autostrada to the small town of Interneppo. From the edge of town an old military road rises into the mountains to terminate, 8 km later, at the 1000 meter summit of Monte Festa where the ruins of an Italian fort still lie. The easy proximity in northern Italy to spectacular mountains and crazy history consistently melts my heart.

So what happened at this fort? The geography made Monte Festa an ideal spot for controlling the Tagliamento River floodplain, one of the main routes that invaders could use to threaten the large cities on the Italian Piedmont. Many of the peaks in this area also had structures on their summits as kind of a third line of defence against the Austro-Hungarians in WWI. The front lines had been dug in much further into the mountains at the edge of the frontiers, so outposts like Monte Festa were the "just in case" defences.

That contingency arrived in October 1917 when the Italians were routed in the disastrous battle of Caporetto, a small town that sits in a mountain valley on the Slovenian border. The entire Italian front collapsed as German and Austro-Hungarian units overran the Italian positions and dashed down out of the mountains. Italian forts on the many summits suddenly found  themselves behind the lines since they had lost the river valleys below them to the enemy.

Monte Festa was equipped with four 150mm cannon and about 200 soldiers, many rushed to the fort after the news of Caporetto reached them. They barely had time to prepare before the Austrian columns appeared in the distance, charging down the Tagliamento valley at them. Monte Festa's guns went into action and for a week they succeeded in holding back the invaders. Finally Festa ran out of shells and the order was given to blow up the guns and abandon the fort.

The garrison joined the rest of the Italian army on the retreat to the new defensive line on the Piave River in front of Venice. For more on this, check out A Farewell To Arms.

The military road is the main trail, but a steeper one was built that saves you running out lots of switchbacks. You also get to walk up cool 100 year old staircases built by the master masons of their day (before they got drafted into the army I guess).

Summit/Roof of the Fort.

Lago Cavazzo in the valley.

One of the gun pits where the mounts stood for the 150mm cannons.

Fort ruins, interior.

Remains of a barracks complex built down the hill a bit from the main fort.

Ordnance cave. They stored the shells down here then hauled them up to the guns on the fort using a system quite similar to a Dumb Waiter.

Cass and Elena and the Tagliamento floodplain where the Austrians came down.

Same view, except taking a few steps way back.

The return trip down to Interneppo on the supply road, which also came with its complement of old tunnels.

The next day we took a respite from the hiking and went up to Tarcento to check out a cave system. This part of Italy sits on lots of limestone (Karst) and as water eats away at limestone, you have lots of natural caves. Elena found a local guide who would meet us at the cave and walk us through it, giving a chat in English. Cassandra had a busy schedule of calls today so we left her and went up here with Elena and Fabio.

Waiting at the access tunnel. 

After a hike down the road we came across another cave, and explored some old cars along the way.

Jasper launches a tree limb into the river. There was endless stick playing today on the hike.

Super cool flower growing on the walls near the house.

A touching photo showing how technology brings everyone together...Cody shows Luca's girlfriend Teresa some pics from the cave.

The Giro.

A few days after arriving in Buia we heard that the Giro d'Italia, the country's most famous bike race, was coming nearby. As in, one block away from Elena's house! So, we commenced our preparations. Day of the race we walked over to Buia's main street with our sidewalk chalk and started decorating the asphalt of the route. 

Intersection of Via Tarcentina and Via Caspigello

Promo vans tear up the road 30 mins ahead of the cyclists, stopping and selling merchandise to the fan groups scattered along the road. We got ourselves suitably outfitted. This year's color theme: PINK

Here they come! Each team has their own water handlers spaced out along the route. The water bottles became an object of fascination as soon as the boys realized that the riders simply discard used ones along the road. 

Slovene Jan Platnik, the day's stage winner, at the top of Ragogna Hill. Yes it is normal for all the motorbikes, press and support vehicles to follow so closely.

One of Elena's friends called her after spotting her on the TV coverage of the race. I'm standing on the wall and missed becoming a local celebrity unlike Cass and Cody.

Jasper positioned himself on the other side of the street, next to the guy handing out the Maclaren/Bahrain team racing bottles. (he managed to get three)

The excitement of the approaching peloton overtakes Cody!!

The group passes by and takes on Ragogna hill.

Post race the clean-up starts immediately. They barely wait for the last rider. All these barricades need to be reconstructed for tomorrow's stage, in yet another part of Italy. The road was only closed to traffic for about two hours, then it was right back to normal, as if nothing ever happened!

Walking down Ragogna hill after the race. 

Pontebba/Fusine.

There was one more hike. This one was just outside the small town of Pontebba, which used to sit on the pre-WWI border between Italy and Austria. When the war started each side established their lines on the hills facing each other over the town, which straddled the Pontebbanna creek and the Fella river. "Pontebba" comes from the Italian word "Ponte" for bridge. 

Today we visited the remains of the Austrian positions at Bombaschgraben, the first line of defence in case of an Italian attack. In 2015 an open-air museum opened up here after a local volunteer organization did a pile of work rebuilding old trenches and dugouts.

The restored part of the line is exhausted pretty quickly, but we soon saw that old trenches continued to climb up the side of the ridge into the forests above us. Probably they go much higher up the mountain. Inspections of the trenches in this "unrestored" area yielded discoveries of old rusty sardine cans, a couple shell fragments and a coil of barbed wire.

Reconstruction of the Austrian telegraph house and officer quarters.

Old lanterns hang in the bunker caves (shocking) and even had candles in them. So we lit them for the ambiance.

One of the restored front line trenches. Roof at the end covers a vertical shaft that goes down to meet another trench below on the hillside.

Rusty bits encountered during the restoration activities.

Two artillery positions and the field kitchen were built into the rock face on the left. Trench lines started at the top of the hill behind the sign and continued up to the right.

Someone's sardine snack from 100 years ago.

Reinforced embrasure facing the Italian line across the valley.

Above the restored section, this is what the mountain looks like. Lots of strange gouges and ditches criss cross the ridge.

Another look at the Pontebba valley.

100 years ago this area would have been devoid of trees and snow-bound for half the year.

It would have looked like this: snowy hillsides, tangles of barbed wire and a clear view of Pontebba in the valley. The lights are searchlights on the Italian side: they used to shine searchlights at each other to aid in artillery fire targeting or just to play with their opponents' heads. From the Austrian Kriegspress archives.

One last stop: we drove 20 mins up the road past Tarvisio to the tiny village of Valbruna where we stopped for a Cafe and Kuchen at a small shop Elena knew about (Irma's Sweets).  Cass did a work call from the car while Fabio, Jasper and Cody and I found a football pitch and played a game. After the call we drove up beyond Tarvisio to the Fusine Lakes where we did a short loop hike around the lake (above).

SO FINALLY WE LEFT 

Dropping the X1 back at the Sixt drop-off at Venice Airport. Unoccupied.

Mestre train station outside Venice. We boarded at 9:30pm and crammed into the tiny four-bunk cabin.

Kids took the upper bunks. Bundespolizei woke us up at 4:30am to show our documents. Not the best night sleep I can remember since the train cars were coupling and de-coupling with other trains as we worked our way across Italy and Austria.

High speed train from Munich. Left at 6:10am, the car was largely empty until a couple hours later and the Berlin-bound traffic started coming on.

Back in Berlin, the trees turned while we were gone. We still have a week of color. Then, winter awaits. UFF.

View from the living room. Nice to be back...And healthy!