Ponte di Legno (4-5/12/2015)

My brother and I decided to join Davide, our aunt's boyfriend, on a ski trip to Ponte di Legno. Even though it had been sunny and dry all month we were hoping the artificial snow would be also good. After arriving Friday night we had a quick dinner and the hotel we were staying at in the small village of Temú and went straight to bed. The next day we woke up early at 7am to start skiing right away. After a quick but filling breakfast we headed to the nearby slopes and started skiing. Most of Temú's slopes were in the shade so the snow wasn't bad, however we decided to use the well connected lifts that took us through Ponte di Legno and eastwards in Passo del Tonale which was really bad since it was completely under the sun and the snow was already mushy in just two hours after the opening of the slopes. We then decided to head all the way up to the Presena Glacier, which reaching a height of 3000m was the only spot with real snow. The slope there was amazing, but it was just one and not too long, so after 4 times we descended it we then went back to Temú's slopes. We had a nice lunch outside while sunbathing and then decided to head back to the hotel since we were getting tired and the slopes weren't skiable anymore by how much mushy the snow had become. So after waiting a few minutes for Davide, we got in the car and headed for Ponte di Legno to walk a bit, around its town center. The town looked really nice with some old buildings remaining and some really nice wooden bridges spanning a small river, probably those from which the town took its name from. Being it dark already it was really nice to see the many lights and decorations all around town which had been set up and ready for the incoming Christmas holidays. After a relaxing stroll around we headed back to our hotel and had a plentiful dinner with the delicious local food. The next day we woke up early again but this time decided to hike rather than ski due to the mushy snow we did not enjoy the day before. The owner of our hotel suggested to us a nice hike which would take us to some WWI trenches nearby. So we set off and passed the small village of Villa Dalegno, and after heading up a steep path which led us through forest first, the open fields and finally up the rocky side of the mountain to our destination: the Bocchette di Val Massa. Where two mountains made of different types of rock met, there was a narrow pass that seemed of strategical importance during world war I when the italian army decided to build what seemed to be a small Great Wall similar to that in China but obviously much smaller in size. It was nonetheless breathtaking to look at since it wiggled its way up the side of the snow capped mountain and making us wonder how much it must have taken the soldiers to construct it. It was also particular in that it was entirely made in schist which was taken form the nearby mountain and surely contrasted with the rock from the other mountain it sat on. We walked the full length of it, looking through the machine gun positions and the tunnels and huts built by the soldiers who took shelter in such a cold and unpredictable environment. After a quick and unsatisfying sandwich we decided to start heading back down, after a couple of hours we reached Villa Dalegno again we luckily found a restaurant which was still open and decided to eat there being still very hungry. We were then back in Temú where Davided had just come back, ready to leave and go back home in Vicenza, after a pleasant yet quite tiring 5 hour hike. 

The Presena Glacier

Ponte di Legno

View from Villa Dalegno

The hiking path

View of the Adamello mountains

View from the top of the trenches

View of the complex of the trenches

Alto Adige/South Tyrol (27-29/12/2014)

We left early on the 27th at around 8am, 2 of my friends, my brother and I, and reached Bressanone, our first stop, at 10:30. We parked the car and headed for the main square, Piazza del Duomo, the main and most beautiful square of this little town. Since it was during the Christmas holidays, the square looked even better with all the traditional Christmas markets and lights. After looking through the stalls, we headed inside the Duomo, first built in the 10th century, what we now see dates from the 18th century, in the Baroque style with beautiful frescoes, decorations and glassware. From there we got to the cloister, the only Gothic part remaining of the cathedral, with wonderful frescoes dating from the 10th and 15th centuries. Feeling a little hungry we headed to the heart of the city center through its small winding streets to find a restaurant. After checking out a few of them we settled for one called Fink, which was well rated on Tripadvisor and Foursquare; in fact the canederli or knoedel there were fantastic and probably the best I ever had! After lunch we walked around some more, entered the St Michael's church and then walked along the streets seeing the two main town gates and passing by the Seminary. We then headed to the Bishop's Palace or Hofsburg, that used to be the local Bishop's residence; a beautiful Renaissance building with loggias, now a museum and one of the most important in Europe regarding nativity scenes. Once out it has started snowing, which made the main square even prettier especially since it was now dark and the lights where shining creating a perfect Christmas atmosphere. It was now time to leave so we went back to the parking lot and back in the car headed towards Brunico, where we would spend the night at my aunt's house. Since we were a bit tired to cook, we decided to eat at a restaurant close to the house in Chienes; the food wasn't bad, though not the best either, but we were tired so it was alright and we went to bed immediately after. The next day we tried waking up and leave early but we only managed at 10am. We then headed for Lake Braies with me driving. After 40 minutes we reached the destination: a lake standing at 1496m above sea level, surrounded by beautiful mountain peaks such as the Croda del Becco. That day, being really cold, the lake was completely frozen so we walked all the way to the middle and then around it too. After a while we decided to have lunch and at the restaurant on the lake's shore, the food was decent and definitely better than the night before. We then headed for Brunico but first dropped our friend home cause he didn't feel very well. We then went back into Brunico and walked around the town and the nice christmas market, which I think was bigger and better than the one in Bressanone. After sunset we decided to head back home after having walked up to the castle. Once home we then went to Petra's restaurant to have dinner; I thought my canederlu had too much garlic in them. The next day we dropped my 2 friends at Plan de Corones, the ski resort, since they had never seen it, however just going up and down cost 17,50€, so my brother and I decided not to go, since we always went there to ski, and headed into Brunico instead to buy a coffee pot that my friend had burned. We had lunch at Klostereck a small place that had really good food right outside the town walls. After lunch we went back to pick up the others and then to the house to pack the things and leave. After driving for 40 minutes we reached Bolzano, parked the car and headed for the main square that like the other towns had the Christmas market too. We then went inside the Duomo, already an early christian church, the church now dates to the 16th century in the Gothic style, and it quite pretty. We also visited the Dominicans' church; the church dating from the 13th century doesn't seem much from the outside, but once inside there is the amazing fully frescoed medieval chapel of St John. To end our journey we went to the Loacker shop near the cathedral and bought some tasty chocolate to bring home, and after a 2 hour drive we were back in Vicenza for dinner.

Bressanone old town

The Cathedral of Bressanone

Inside of the Cathedral

Street in Bressanone

The Gothic cloister

Detail of a frescoe

The cloister

Piazza del Duomo under the snow

Another view of the Piazza del Duomo

Lake Braies

Lake Braies with the boat launch

The castle in Brunico

Bolzano

Salamanca (07/12/2014)

Another trip organized by Quebra Tour; we left Coimbra quite early, around 7:20 since the trip by bus would take around 4 hours. They decided to stop in Ciudad Rodrigo on the way, which I though was nice to see but we had only hour to see and was not worth the lost time for Salamanca. Though a small town, Ciudad Rodrigo has several interesting monuments, very noteworthy are the thick walls completely encircling the town with the Castillo de Enrique II protecting the southern part. Then we quickly saw the Plaza Mayor and finally the beautiful Cathedral, built between the 12th and 14th centuries and close by the Capilla de Cerralbo built in the 16th century which due to its size looks more like a church. So after this quick stop we got back on the bus and headed on towards Salamanca. We reached the city around 1pm and had a brief tour of the main monuments from the outside including the Cathedral and University. I then told my friends that we could just split off from the group and go by ourselves. We decided to see the Cathedrals first since they are the main monument of the city. Ticket cost was 4€ for students and included both cathedrals, old and new. They now look like one single church but actually, they are separate, the old one having been constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries in the Romanesque/Gothic styles while the new one, attached to the old one but much larger was built between the 16th and 18th centuries in Late Gothic/Baroque styles. We began by visiting the Old Cathedral first, that had numerous frescoes all around and many different chapels, rooms and tombs, including a small cloister; particular was the Capilla de los Anaya with beautiful tombs. Then we moved on to the New Cathedral, immense and beautiful, with various chapels and thick columns supporting the vaulted ceiling. The whole visit took us nearly 2 hours and once outside we were surprised to learn that even here the damages of the 1755 Lisbon eathquake had been felt, and in fact the façade of the Cathedral, following several restorations, had received new sculptures such as a dragon with an ice cream and an astronaut added in 1999. From there we walked through the city streets and ended up in Plaza Mayor, one of the most beautiful in Spain. We were then hungry so we decided to look around for a nice place to eat tapas. I also asked a few locals for some nice and cheap places around, and we eventually settled for a tapas bar whose name I can't remember. It was actually a really great place cause the tapas were quite cheap around 1,20€ each and were quite big too, plus once in a while the waiters would bring out hot plates of tapas which tasted really good so 5 stars for me. After eating we didn't really have time to visit anything else so we just went back to the bus while looking at churches and building from the outside. Once we reached the bus I spoke, in portuguese, to the bus driver who told me he used to live near Verona and would drive to Liguria very often. After heading back to Coimbra we did a brief stop at the border between Spain and Portugal to buy a few souvenirs and then continued on. On both ways since the guy from Quebra Tour knew I spoke portuguese, had me translate on the bus' microphone all the info for the non portuuguese speakers such as the plan of visit etc. A bit embarrassing but fun too. Overall I was quite disappointed not having been able to see much but I will definitely go back to such a wonderful city, especially for Patanegra!

Cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo

The Cathedral in Salamanca

The Plaza Mayor

View of Salamanca from the bus

Serra da Estrela (06/12/2014)

I found a guy on Blablacar, Antonio, that was going up to the Serra da Estrela for a ski trip so I contacted him and got 2 seats for Jurgis and I. Antonio was also a student in Coimbra and told me he would more trips in the future. Waking up early on the 6th we waited for Antonio to pick us up and were introduced to two other passengers, two Brazilian girls. We left Coimbra at 8 and reached the mountain at around 10. The first stop was at the ski slopes, the only ones in Portugal, where they were just starting to shoot artificial snow because even though it had snowed the week before the snow had already melted and there was only some still remaining in shaded areas. We then got back in the car and headed up to the highest point of the mountain range, at 1993m, that tanks to a tower of 7m made it to 2000m. At the spot there were a few mini markets which sold various things such as cheese and ham of the area, clothes that kept warm and other touristy objects. I had to buy a woolen hat because despite the hot sun the air was very cold and windy and my ears had started to freeze. We then headed east and down the mountain on the other side stopping at Lago do Viriato, an artificial but really pretty lake with views across the plateau and towards Torre (due to the tower) the highest point. We then got back in the car and traveled further heading down the glacial valley of Zezere, the only part of the Serra range that has trees and really ancient ones too. Then further down we stopped at the camping site of Covao d'Ametade with a small creek running through and birch trees all around with beautifully coloured autumn yellow leaves. After that we moved on to our next stop passing by the town of Manteigas where we took a right and followed the road to reach the Poço do Inferno or Hell's Well, a small but nice waterfall. After that we headed all the way back up to Torre where Jurgis and I walked around the plateau while the two girls with Antonio went to try skiing for their first time. We took a few pics and had fun, then around 3:30 we got back in the car and headed back to Coimbra marking the end of our trip.

The Lake Viriato

Going down the Zezere Valley

View from the camping site

The Covao d'Ametade camping site

The Zezere Valley

The plateau

The ski slopes