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Bad weather forces me to change my schedule and I’m jumping on the cities of Trentino
In my program was already the idea of visiting the cities of Trentino, but due to bad weather I devoted more time to it.
As normally happens in the mountains, even in the Dolomites in summer, it rains often. In Cortina, as always happens to me, I caught 3 nights camping under the deluge. I spent an afternoon in the car parked next to my tent so that I would not be lying down for a thousand hours.
I had to change my plans, which also included another night in a refuge to be reached on foot in Val Gardena, so I gave more space to the cities: Belluno, Bolzano and Trento. I really enjoyed them, especially the last 2; in addition to wandering the streets, squares and churches, I also visited the science museum(Muse) in Trento.
Unfortunately, I remember them mostly for 2 uncultural facts. One was pleasant in Bolzano (fabulous store of a well-known cookie brand), the other unpleasant: I get robbed on the road.
Theft of the brand new bike
Prejudices lead us to associate delinquency and in this case theft with southern regions. In my case, even as a child I had to associate it with Trentino-Alto Adige. I remember the drama I experienced as a little boy returning from a trek: we found a car window smashed. My despair was because our can of a well-known soft drink was stolen. I must say that it was not the first time I was robbed while traveling, but it is never pleasant.
I had taken advantage of the bike bonus, and still paid 200 euros for a great folding bike to keep in the car just in case.
After a nice ride, I went to the hotel to shower and then back to downtown Trent for dinner and a glass of one of my favorite wines, Traminer. I was craving some exercise after evenings in the cute but duller mountain towns. I valued my brand new bike very much, used very little and for the first time at night. I chained it to a rack in the main square, right in front of the cathedral.
The various restaurants were full; I stopped at a take-out pizzeria with outdoor tables located behind the cathedral. I had a drink in the same square and decided to return.
They had severed the chain and my beautiful bike was gone. I had been around there all the time and for barely an hour.
Only consolation, new purchase
I was not consoled by the guy in line at the carabinieri’s; he had had one stolen from his garden worth 2000 euros that he used as his only means of locomotion.
To get over my nerves, as soon as I got home I looked for a similar used one on the Internet and immediately went to Bologna. My salesman said I was crazy because I had spent as much on gas and highway as the bike was worth. It was the classic nail-biter to take my mind off the loss.
Difficulties with housing in Trentino cities
On that trip I had difficulties with accommodations in the cities of Trentino but also in Belluno.
Because of the very high prices in Bolzano I found only a decent room in a hostel (perhaps the best one I have ever stayed in), where I met Germans who had biked across the Brenner Pass.
Overall, Bolzano is the city in Trentino Alto Adige (to be precise) that I like the most.
In Belluno I had to change accommodations because, notified in time, where I had booked they had to close for urgent restoration work.
While in Trento the ones where I had booked, 2 days before wrote me that they were sorry but they had made a mistake and had no more room. In these cases, unfortunately, I think badly and especially in Italy I feel discriminated against as a single traveler. In my opinion they had had a larger demand than me. I understand the reasons for the piggy bank, but if you accept a reservation that must be law, also because then you risk getting the missed guest in trouble.
I found a second accommodation, but after a few hours, realizing the bad weather forecast and having to vary the itinerary, I asked if I could stay there for two nights; no, they had no room! So I had to cancel and find another place, a bit out of the way and from which I went downtown with my bike, which they later stole.
Vajont disaster
A separate chapter deserves the detour I took to go to the Vajont Lake area, the site of the great tragedy that occurred in 1963.
I don’t know if conditioned by what I had read and seen about it, but it touched me a lot walking through those places. I had a strange feeling, and from the village below the dam (Longarone) it makes an impression to see it and it is easy to imagine the wave jumping the dam and destroying everything as it did then.
1910 people died that cursed night; for those who want to learn more about the subject I recommend the film but even more so the theatrical monologue by Marco Paolini .
Previous stop Summer Dolomites, Swiss mountaineer
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Countries visited in my travel stories
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