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Trento is a Renaissance town in the Alps between Garda and the Dolomites and Venice/Verona and Bolzano/Innsbruck. The town has a definite Roman flavor with the Castle Buonconsiglio, the Duomo and houses decorated by frescoes. We arrived in Trento in early May, 2002 hoping to visit Alessandro Zorat (a chap we had met at a motorcycle meeting in Kandel, Germany last May) and see some of the surrounding area - The Dolomites.
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We arrived on a Thursday in a rain storm forecasted to last through Sunday. After getting the bikes unloaded and settled in the room we set off to locate the local tourist office and then do a bit of exploring. The town is home of the University of Trento and has a result there are many young people to be seen out and about. The central part of the town has been turned into a pedestrian only area which makes for a very nice place to stroll about and visit the numerous shops. We were really quite surprised at the number of shops and the diversity of choice that is available to the consumer - a little something for everyone! Although as Alessandro notes, there are no longer any “useful” shops such as a good hardware store.
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We awoke the second day to yet more rain so we donned our hiking boots and set off in search of the Castle Buonconsiglio (above, right). We found it easily on the northwest side of town. It is a large structure built in the first half of the 13th century and became the residence of the Trento bishops. In the late 15th century the internal courtyard was renovated with multilevel porticos and decorated with friezes (left), some were festooned garlands while others depicted Charles the Great being enthroned (at top of picture), as well as portraits of the bishops of Trento before AD1000 (the line of portraits below Charles, and continuing around 3 walls. There is also a quantity of artwork displayed within the castle as well as a collection of ceramic stoves used to heat these massive stone rooms (and we are sure it never really got warm).
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From the top loggia, there is a great view out over the city of Trento and the hills beyond. Above, right, is Verna standing in front of the graceful marble arches. Unfortunately, the weather was still very rainy, so it was difficult to get any distance in the picture.
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We also spent quite a bit of time wandering around the town, enjoying peaceful surroundings. There is a large cathedral in the center of town which was being restored at the time we were there, so it wasn’t very photogenic. It sits on the side of a large piazza, and in the center is a fountain of Neptune (above, left). The tower at left in the photo is one of the several towers of the Duomo (cathedral) with its copper top. Two other sides of the square have covered sidewalks and shops so it is an easy and interesting stroll, even in the rain. When we returned in May 2003, the previous Duomo renovation was completed and this time we could see all but the tower with the copper top (which was now under renovation). As you can see at right, the weather was a bit nicer on this visit. It was warm and sunny. The piazza, was filled with greenery, a temporary garden that was created for the summer season. All over town smaller gardens appeared, each with a slightly different theme. All were quite interesting and gave a nice touch to the town.
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Trento itself sits in the Adige River valley, a long narrow valley at about 600 feet in elevation. However, the valley is surrounded by mountains and in the winter you can be skiing within a 1/2 hour. If you follow the valley north, you will be in the Alps. If you drive northeast, you will soon be in the Dolomites. The area is surrounded by great motorcycle roads and lots of interesting resorts, some located at nearby lakes. The resorts offer hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, health and beauty spas, and courses in Italian, cooking, riding, mountaineering and windsurfing. Seems to be a little bit for everyone.
Although the weather was less than perfect while we were there in May, 2002, you can get a glimpse of the nearby mountains as the cloudy mist is rolling in (above). Then in May on our return, we could get a much better view of the mountains along the Adige River, as shown at right.
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Overall, we found Trento to be a delightful surprise. It is not a top visitor attraction at this time, but our guess is that will change as more people discover its wonderful attributes. Of course, we spent many enjoyable hours with Alessandro and his wife Susan in their home (pictured at left in their great kitchen), which made our stay even that more enjoyable. They invited us to share several wonderful meals which we eagerly accepted, as long as we could provide the desert. They even allowed Verna to take over their kitchen for a bit to bake a chocolate torte - now that’s hospitality! And of course, many glasses of local wine, grappa and lemoncello were consumed in the name of “learning about Italy.” Thank you again, Alessandro and Susan for the warm hospitality.
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The Dolomites
Leaving Trento, we climbed quickly and were soon in the Dolomites. These massive granite peaks are spectacular, when they are visible from the clouds (which unfortunately wasn’t often on the day we drove through). We headed east toward Cortina and had to climb 2 high passes before getting there. The first was about 7300 feet (2200 meters) with about 28 tornanti (switch backs) going up and 31 coming down (and yes, they number each one!). As it was raining and then snowing, we never got out of 2nd gear. The few other motorcycles we saw along the way were taking it just as easy! We finally found an area where we could stop and take a picture (Jim with bikes below right). Luckily, the roads stayed clear through our entire journey (whew!).
As we descended from the second pass, we got a great view of Cortina sitting in the valley below (left). It is a wonderful alpine town that is really bustling in the winter (for skiing) and the summer months. We arrived between seasons, so it was very quiet. Many of the hotels and guesthouses didn’t appear to be open. As it was Sunday, it was especially quiet as none of the shops were open either. But we finally found a warm restaurant and warmed ourselves up with a hot plate of lasagna.
We headed north up a spectacular high valley, then west along a wide open basin, verdant green, with the mighty Dolomites towering on either side. We stopped in the town of Bruneck in the center of the Pustertal Valley. The Sunshine Hotel was our home for the night and as we checked in we realized it was 5 May - which reminded us that it was Cinco de Mayo about 15 years ago when we got caught in an unusual snowfall in Yosemite on the bikes. Hmmm, we must have something about 5 May and motorcycling in the snow.
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Around dinner time, we found the hotel was the local favorite for pizza dinner as the locals came crowding in (the place was packed). We chose to be the oddballs and not have pizza, but tried the fresh white asparagus with shrimp, tomatoes and a lovely light mustard sauce. It was absolutely superb and we stuffed ourselves to the limit. Of course, because we are so close to Germany, Jim was able to get his favorite Heffe Weisen (wheat beer). A perfect way to end the day. Now if it would only stop raining....
The next morning we awoke to this lovely sight of blue sky and puffy white clouds as seen from our room - along with a view of the bell tower that rang throughout the night (every 1/4 hour it chimed and bonged on the hours). And there was no sleeping in as it banged away for several minutes at 7 am.
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Heading west out of the Dolomites we entered into the Italian Alps as it got colder and colder and we climbed higher and higher. Only about 6 miles (10 km) from the Swiss border, we happened upon the medieval town of Glorenza. This was quite a surprise as all of a sudden we drove through a well-preserved stone gatehouse and we were inside the walls of this quaint old town that appears to still have the outer walls intact and very little development out side the walls. We were routed out of town to the north as they were doing some road work in town, but we stopped a little way down the road for a great view of the Italian Alps with Glorenza sitting in the valley below (above).
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