This was a bittersweet photo, capturing the picture-perfect bottom half of the world-famous postcard view of the Italian Dolomites, with the idyllic village of St. Magdalena resting like a jewel among lush green subalpine pastures.
But it wasn't quite complete as the top half -- the majestic, vertical rock face of the Geisler peaks, one of the most recognizable symbols of the Dolomites -- was all covered in mist in this unpredictable mountainous microclimate. The pictured Baroque chapel of Ranui is another landmark most often photographed with the Geisler in the background, but it wasn't to be during our 2-night stay in early autumn.
These were our last two days in the Dolomites, as part of our 23-day journey down the full length of Italy from the Austrian border to the heel of the boot, though the scenery would appear more German than Italian to the uninitiated. South Tyrol used to be the southernmost part of Austria until early 20th Century, and everything from the wooden alpine architecture to the "danke schön" from the bus drivers all indicated just how distanced from Rome we were.
On this day we moved from Ladin-speaking Val Gardena to the German-speaking valley of Villnöss, from one of the region's most popular resorts to a sleepy hamlet better known to photographers than to casual tourists. While the two valleys are only 5 km apart on opposite sides of the same mountain, getting from Ortisei to St. Magdalena took us two bus transfers and 90 minutes through some spectacular mountain roads.
Our home base in the valley was the historical village of St. Magdalena, a loose collection of timber houses located at the farthest end of the valley before the paved road zigzagged up towards the alpine meadows. Despite the unpredictable weather we would attempt two easy hikes -- a section of the Adolf Munkel Weg at the foot of Geisler mountain, and the spectacular Panoramaweg, legendary among photographers and the main reason for our stay in Villnöss.
Upon arrival at St. Magdalena we quickly dropped off our bags at a little family-run Pension, having no time to recover from our morning hike at Seceda before setting out for our second of the day. The Panoramaweg from St. Magdalena to St. Peter was supposed to be a short 2 km stroll on a well-maintained path thought to be accomplishable within an hour, which turned out to be a gross underestimation on my part.
Near the trail head of Panoramaweg stood one of the most photographed buildings in the entire Dolomites, the famous steeple of St. Magdalena's village church as featured in numerous promotional brochures for the Villnöss valley and for South Tyrol as a whole. Small and unimposing as this gothic church might appear from up close, its claim to fame would be justified from a different perspective at the opposite hillside.
This was exactly what we came to Villnöss for: the iconic panorama that coined the name Panoramaweg, a view of St Magdalena with its 15th Century church in the warm afternoon glow, surrounded by grassy meadows in the shadow of the Dolomiti peaks of Sass Rigais and Fermeda.
Sadly it turned out to be our only chance to enjoy this spectacle as the entire valley would become shrouded in fog the next day. After spending an awestruck 20 minutes we continued onward in the direction of St. Peter, taking the Panoramaweg for part of the journey and switching to the lower Sonnseitenweg (sunset way) in the second half of the hike.
The mid section of the hike traveled through some heavy woods before the slopes opened up into subalpine pastures teeming with the locally prominent Brillenschaf sheep. What was anticipated to be a 60 minute stroll turned into 130 minutes, and it was 18:00 when we finally reached the outskirts of St. Peter.
Under a golden sunset we finished our hike at the baroque parish church of St. Peter, the valley's largest village and perhaps a more convenient base for our hikes than St. Magdalena in retrospect. I would have loved to spend more time to explore, but we had to hurry up for dinner before catching the last bus of the day at 19:50 back to St. Magdalena.
The best surprise of the day came from an outstanding local restaurant at this remote corner of the Dolomites. This wasn't ritzy Cortina d'Ampezzo or even Ortisei -- this was middle-of-nowhere in Italian or even Austrian terms where nobody would expect a restaurant of this calibre.
Pitzock
On St. Peter's main road, near the chapel of St. Michael
Prior to our trip I had heard of this restaurant being described as pretentious or expensive by other reviewers. But if you trust my tastebuds, I would venture to say that it served excellent food at fitting prices -- not cheap, but reasonable for the quality of ingredients presented.
Even after two hikes all it took to fill our stomachs were one Antipasto, one Suppe, two Primi, and of course some crispy homemade wafers which went exceptionally well with herbed cream cheese from the local Brillenschaf sheep. Even better was the soft and succulent sheep ham, so delicate and unoffensive in flavor that my wife couldn't detect any trace of the gaminess typical of lamb. The Schinkenspeck was also top notch in an Antipasto that, despite its relatively high price tag of 12.5 euros, wouldn't be considered overpriced in similar restaurants in Bolzano or Verona.
The next course became my wife's favorite soup of our entire trip, a Cappuccino of Porcini dominating with the robust, woody flavor of wild harvested Boletus and topped with a delicious Porcini foam. While the portion was arguably small for 8 euros, no mushroom fan should be able to complain about the depth of flavor in this little cup of concentrated creaminess.
My own favorite was this porcini-infused Mushroom Risotto, served with some deep-fried Chanterelle and a towering crisp of cheese that tasted somewhat of Parmigiano but was more likely locally sourced. I would have loved a grilled rack of Brillenschaf lamb, except we were running dangerously close to the departure of the last bus. For this reason alone I would have preferred to stay at St. Peter instead of the sleepier St. Magdalena, just to have a proper 3 hour dinner at Pitzock, the way the locals do.
Bill for Two Persons
| Speck with Lammschinken | 12.5 Euros |
| Steinpilzcappuccinno | 8.0 Euros |
| Schwammerlrisotto x 2 | 23.0 Euros |
| Glass of Mueller-Thurgau | 3.2 Euros |
| Glass of Prosecco | 3.0 Euros |
| Bottle of Mineral Water | 4.0 Euros |
| Coperto x 2 | 3.0 Euros |
| TOTAL | 56.7 Euros (CAD$79.4) |
The next morning we took our fourth and final hike of our four days in South Tyrol, taking the morning bus up to Zanser Alm at 1680 m above sea level. Our initial plan was to start out from Zanser Alm, hike to Tschantschenon Alm and take the popular Adolf Munkel Weg to Geisler Alm before hiking back down to Zanser Alm.
Except this alpine weather was so changeable that the brilliant sunshine from the previous afternoon had completely given way to heavy cloud covers amid a temperature drop of nearly 10 degrees. For safety reasons we shortened our hiking route, cutting the 9.4 km hike by a third and enjoying only a small section of Adolf Munkel Weg.
Starting from 1680 m we hiked up to the 1900 m alpine meadows of Glatschalm, a patch of grassy pasture dotted with the typical Tyrolean grey cattle and centred by a rustic mountain Rifugio. At 38 euros per person per night this would be ideal for a relaxing weekend stay, except for the 40 minute uphill hike to get there.
Taking Trail 36 to Glatschalm, we kept traveling southward towards the intersection with Adolf Munkel Weg (Trail 35) where we turned left towards Tschantschenon Alm. Upon reaching Tschantschenon Alm we would turn north again and walk downhill back to Zanser Alm.
Despite the inclement weather we did hike a portion of the dramatic Adolf Munkel Weg almost directly beneath the majestic 3100 m peak of Sass Rigais. Venturing too close to the slopes wouldn't be smart however due to frequent rockslides underneath these crumbling limestone peaks.
The cloud-covered peaks of the Geisler mountains would have been spectacular on a clear day as I have often seen from fellow travelers' photos. This was an easy hike of 6.4 km with only 270 m of elevation gain along some gentle slopes, which we finished in a little over two hours in light drizzles.
At 12:45 we arrived in time for lunch at the homey little alpine inn of Zanser Alm, a working farm with its own pastures, a cattle pen and a rabbit enclosure, conveniently located between the bus terminal and the Adolf Munkel Weg.
This secluded Gasthof would have been a perfect home base in better weather, perhaps in the warmer months of July or August, to sleep in the midst of nature for a very reasonable 30 Euros per person, or 45 for half-board. The Adolf Munkel Weg is just 20 minutes uphill, and it's even possible to hike up to Seceda or Rasciesa and take the cable car / funicular to Ortisei in the neighboring valley.
Perhaps it was the hiking in cool weather, but we worked up enough appetite to dare taking on one large soup, one pasta, one dish of Knoedels AND a Bauerntoast on top of everything. Our feast started with this wonderful Cremesoupe of autumn squash, so creamy and sweet with the flavor of organic pumpkin that we rarely taste in the cities.
Our first Primo came in the form of Penne with Wild Mushrooms and Speck. While this wasn't the Porcini that I was hoping for, I had to appreciate the availability of wild harvested mushrooms at such an out-of-the-way mountain lodge.
Next came perhaps the most famous of all Tyrolean dishes, three fist-sized, old-fashioned fried Knoedels to fill our guts after a full morning's hike. In a twist of patriotism (or political mockery?) the three Knoedels, or Canederli in Italian, came unabashedly in green, white and red -- spinach, herbs and beets.
The Italian colours on our plate came as an amusement at this German-speaking, former Austrian province at the northeastern corner of Italy, less than an hour's drive from the border. Political observations aside my favorite flavor was spinach, followed by beets, in a dish of Knoedels / Knedliky / Knedli better than anything I ever came across in Central Europe (Knoedelland, as a friend of mine would say). Seriously I had never once finished a dish of Knoedels, mainly due to their sheer mass rather than any suggestion of unpalatability, until this meal.
And the Bauerntoast you ask? We barely finished a quarter and packed up the rest back to our hotel room. That's the inconvenience of staying at the tiny village of St. Magdalena -- only one walk-in restaurant remained open in the off-season, and the excellent Pitzock at the neighboring town of St. Peter was closed on Sundays. This filling rye bread with layers of delectable Tyrolean Speck and Cheese would become our dinner for the night.
Bill for Two Persons
| Cremesuppe with Squash | 5.5 Euros |
| Penne with Wild Mushrooms, Speck and Tomatoes | 8.0 Euros |
| Canederli Tricolore | 8.0 Euros |
| Bauerntoast with Speck and Cheese | 9.5 Euros |
| Weissbier x 2 | 9.0 Euros |
| TOTAL | 40.0 Euros (CAD$56.0) |
On the way back we got off the bus one stop early to visit St. Magdalena's other famous landmark, the private church of Johanneskapelle with its Baroque spire and 17th Century frescoes. We made an attempt, 7 months in advance, to book a two-night stay at the historic Ranuihof which owns this chapel, but never received a reply and settled for a small Pension closer to the village centre.
But we certainly couldn't complain about the warm hospitality from Haus Florian, a 4-room operation run by the friendly Heinrich and his family, despite my terrible spoken Italian and even worse German. For two nights we enjoyed a comfy room with a balcony facing the quiet side of the house, and notably Satellite TV with more Austrian and Bavarian TV channels than Italian ones.
The convenience of a 3 minute walk from the bus stop was indispensable, and needless to say one could always count on ginormous Austrian-style breakfasts to be served in subalpine South Tyrol. However as I pointed out, St. Magdalena wasn't an ideal base in retrospect due to the lack of a supermarket at the village centre, and that the only walk-in restaurant (Edelweiss) apparently stops serving food around 19:30, based on our experience of walking in one night looking for dessert.
That said, we did thoroughly enjoy our time in the serene valley of Villnöss, worlds away from our 9-to-5 job in the city. Passing by St. Magdalena's fire station I came across the most beautiful vintage fire engine, in pristine condition and probably still ready for action if called upon. Is that a Mack? Please leave me a comment if anyone knows the history of this vehicle.
This concludes our four easy hikes in four days in the Dolomites, certainly one of my favorites among the outspread and distinct regions of Italy. The next morning we would begin another segment of our 23-day journey with a 3.5 hour train trip from German-speaking Brixen to the Italian heartland of Emilia-Romagna, spending the next 3 nights in historic Bologna.
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