Hiking/Biking near Bolzano/Bozen

This was tough: the path almost gone, I had to clear shrubs and thorns.

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I wonder why I hadn't considered to take the lift.

Bolzano/Bozen - spring in the urban neighborhood

Bolzano - Easter with Glycine

Glycine at the entrance of a very old building on the slope towards Rafenstein.
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Gescheibter Turm/torre tonda

Among the old buildings of Bolzano this tower is still in perfect shape. There is no sure date when it was erected, but some scholar points at the period around 1280 CE assuming it was erected by count Meinhard II. In the picture below you see a very old rural house and there is no way to trace its origins. It's very near to the tower and maybe it's as old as the tower (or even older).
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Update 2007 April 26: this is a picture from yesterday, with better lighting than the other ones; the tower is more than 23 m high, the outer diameter is almost 9 m, the wall is 2.30 m thick.

Bolzano - ban vivisection!

LAV - LegaAntiVisezione campaigning against vivisection
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Hiking in the outskirts of Bolzano

There are steep slopes very near to the city center towards east, north and west. Tiny hamlets, little old churches, manors and ruins can be seen right from the city center.
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(have another view of this ruin -Rafenstein- here : look at the first picture)

St. Oswald (Sciliar)

In the Isarco Valley there is at the foot of the Sciliar (picture above) a tiny hamlet, St. Oswald. Here you'll find in an old barn a little museum on rural life in older times (see pictures below).

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Bolzano - more flowers

This week more blossoms came out in Bolzano, at least a fortnight earlier than the last year: see a corresponding forsythia picture from 2006 march 27 in http://vitaalpina.blogspot.com/2006/04/revolution.html.
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This picture by Mateus (riservaXixuaù-Xiparinà, Amazonia/Brasil) was sent to me just today.

Val di Sella (Valsugana, Trento)

Excursion in the Val di Sella (about 1000 m asl) - see also artesella
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GrandHotel Karersee (Bolzano) - Agatha Christie

Among other famous guests of the GrandHotel Karersee there has been Agatha Christie (in the 1920ties). As the saying goes "The Big Four" took inspiration here.
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Dosso di Costalta (Trento)

Excursion to the Dosso di Costalta (1955m asl): marvellous vantage point in the Dolomites, though today it was rather cloudy and we had a rather icy breeze. In the picture below a glimpse towards the Brenta mountains (3150m asl).
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First flowers 2007

There is still winter in the woods but first buds are opening - very early this year.

... heather has come out
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