Tom`s travels: Weekend in the mountains, Bolzano, Egna (10-12/02/2018)

After leaving Vicenza with my parents and brother, we reached our aunt's house in Chienes, South Tyrol. Still not feeling to sure to ski after dislocating my shoulder in December I opted to hike instead, while my brother and parents went skiing. So after looking at the map and several options, I decided to hike up a nearby mountain called Cime di Pozzo or Putzenhöhe. My walk started in front of our house, and after going uphill I passed the hamlet of Lago di Issengo. From there I then took a path leading through a forest which granted me a nice view towards the Castel Schöneck a 12th-century castle which was once home to the famous troubadour Oswald von Wolkenstein. After walking further I then passed some typical wooden farmhouses and reached the beginning of the trail up to the mountain. It was a nice sunny day and there was a lot of snow on the ground making the hike up to the peak relatively hard due to the extra effort I had to put for each stride despite having snowshoes for support. As I walked uphill I passed by some huts, passed by a small lake completely covered in snow, and then made it to the top by climbing a steep slope on the last part. All around me the landscape was wholly white, with not a single patch of stone or ground. The view from the peak was amazing and I could spot several mountain ranges on all sides. Not too far I could easily discern the Plan de Corones, a skiing resort close to Brunico, while on the northern side, as so close I could almost touch them, were the Fundres mountains and the much taller Alpi Aurine, or Zillertal Alps, right behind. After admiring the view and soaking up on some sun, I descended back down, trodding the same paths I did as I came up.
The following morning, my brother had decided to ski in the town of Cortina so we all headed there by car. As he skied, my dad, mom and I decided to walk instead, opting for a walk up the Cristallo mountain. The walk was relatively easy and close to the slopes, however, due to the high amount of snow, we had to proceed quite slowly. At one point my mom decided she was tired and wished to head back; she told us we could go on but we decided to stay with her and head back instead. So after reaching the bottom once again, we headed to the ski hut next to the slopes and had a pleasant lunch while sun-tanning and waiting for my brother to finish skiing. We then got back in the car and drove down to the city center of Cortina where, after having parked, we strolled around the streets for a while. It was then time for my dad and brother to head back to Vicenza, while my mom and I went back to our aunt's house in Chienes as we had an extra free day. We stopped briefly in Brunico to walk around and then have a tasty meal in a restaurant in the city center.
The day after we then decided to drive back to Vicenza and on the way stop to see a few places. We headed first to Bolzano, where after having parked, we found out the car was not locking properly and thus my mom was forced to stay inside while I quickly visited the city center. I had been there before so I went to see a few things I had not seen on the previous occasion. I started out with the Franciscan Friary, originally built during the 13th century, however, its present form is mostly from the 14th century. It was bombed during WWII and thus partly rebuilt, losing many of its interior frescoes. It features a nice Gothic altar by Hans Klocker, and a really nice Gothic cloister from the 14th century with many frescoes still intact. From there I walked through the pretty old town streets and reached the large Piazza Walther, the city's main square, which I had previously visited during Christmas time with its nice Christmas market. To the south of it is the Duomo, which despite having been inside before, I decided to visit it again to admire its great Gothic architecture. Nearby I then visited, the church of the Dominicans, which having been bombed during WWII suffered damage to its Gothic architecture and was partly rebuilt in a more modern style. The chapel of St John though was fortunately spared and hosts an impressive cycle of frescoes by the school of Giotto completely filling the chapel and featuring the stories of St John, those of Mary and those of St Nicholas, including a beautiful rendering of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Heading back to the car, I then passed by the Piazza delle Erbe, a narrow and long square which features the daily market and a beautiful 18th-century fountain with the statue of Neptune god of the sea. Once in the car, we then drove a little outside the city center and reached the Muri-Gries abbey. This impressive building features a 14th century part which used to be a princely castle and was then transformed into monastery changing the main tower keep into a bell tower. Viewed from above it as in fact a circular shape and large thick walls. Annexed to that part, on the northern side, is the Church of St Augustine built during the 18th century in the Baroque style it had a really nice interior. It was also the only part of the monastery which could be visited as the rest is still occupied by the Benedictine monks. Back in the car we then drove on and reached several kilometers later the small town of Egna, or Neumarkt in German. After parking the car, we first headed to a restaurant called Ristorante Piazzetta as we were famished. We were the only ones there and were served with really good and tasty food. Then we were off to explore. The small town of Egna is part of the club the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy and features a small yet incredibly pretty old town characterized by impressive porticoes which large and low arches crossing the whole city center. Starting from the southern side of the town we passed by the Gothic church of St Nicholas and crossed through the main street walking sometimes out, and sometimes under the beautiful porticoes. After the short stroll, we exit the old town to the north, got back in the car and headed for Vicenza.