South Tyrol
by Russell Grant
I love beautiful places so how many places are there on this earth that give me a thrill? I have adored the Alps, and am a lover of lakes and mountains so what better place for both of my planets to flourish and therefore me to feel totally at home than Tyrol .
Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria, you name them and I have often thought of settling down in these places that for me are a celestial Shangri-La. As a lover of history, the Tyrol has always fascinated me, a separate kingdom, bequeathed to the Hapsburgs of Austria and their most loyal subjects and yet at the end of World War 1 handed over lock, stock and smoking barrel to the Italians because they fought on the side of the Allies. I smell Double Standards as President Woodrow Wilson promised that all lands would be given a plebiscite and would belong to where the people wanted, South Tyrol wanted by a massive majority to remain as part of Tyrol but was given over to the Italians so they could have a more stable and secure border against the Huns in the north. What the Allies didn't see was the rise and rise of Mussolini and the Fascists began an ethnic cleansing that would disgrace many a modern nation. But with the European Union came more balance and the harmony between Austria and Italy enabled the Austrian South Tyrol to fuse with the Italian hegemony and gain autonomous region status so the German language was no longer outlawed and the glorious Austrian culture could flourish but with Italian style and food!
This is the background with which I landed in South Tyrol and immediately fell in love with it. And why not? This land is stunning and probably more so because the tourist trail has hardly trodden the alpine meadowlands and the Dolomites retain a mystery which can be seen every night when the sun dips behind the peaks to reveal an alpine Borealis called the Rosengarten the skies are as pink as Barbara Cartland's wardrobe and it's all very, very beautiful.
To get to this gorgeous place in summer isn't easy, we came via Milan and had over three hours in a car to get to our base, the thermal spa town of Meran/Merano everything is dual-language German and Italian. We could have come through Innsbruck but coming from Manchester there were no direct flights. Winter it is so much easier landing at Bozen/Bolzano the capital of the South Tyrol .
But quite frankly I would do it all again via Milan simply because there are few places on earth that weave the kind of mountain magic that I discovered here. Glorious gardens such at Trautmansdorf, acres of natural beauty names the top garden in Italy , and I suppose like our Eden Project as there are species of flora that come from across the globe.
The baths of Meran/Merano are exquisite, newly opened and designed by one of South Tyrol's heroes Matteo Thun who seems to have got his finger in many architectural pies some good, some well a wee bit too modern for me.
I was much more at home in the fabulous Schloss Rubein literally living in a castle that has only three or four suites and you literally live like an Austrian noble waited on by the Countess herself. I was SO happy here. But the second joint, another one of Herr Thun's creation, the Vigilius, fantastic outlook and position as it can only be reached by cable-car, if you are into minimalist hotels with the idea of living in a fallen tree' then this will be right up your forest but not for me.
Another must-see is the story of South Tyrol's very own local hero, Andreas Hofer, an ordinary chap who lived a bucolic life with his herds and friends in a valley not far from Meran, but who ended up defeating the might of Napoleon's forces and Bavarian allies at the Battle of Berg Isel, where the Olympic ski slope now dominates part of Innsbruck. He ended up being betrayed by a local Judas and was shot by the French. His spirit lives on in a fine community museum at the Sandwirt Inn where he was born and lived in St Leonhard in the Passeyrthale about 10 miles outside of Meran. He became so famous in Britain that William Wordsworth wrote and dedicated a poem to him. Apart from the cosy, folksy museum make time to taste the local nosh next door at the Inn .
The Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria, Elisabeth, the Austro-Hungarian's own Diana, walked the mountain pastures and dipped into milky bathes made from fresh whey and drank the milk seconds after it was relieved from the cow made Meran/Merano famous. At a time when spas were the in thing' and wherever royalty went so followed the entourage of aristocrats, onlookers and royal watches she brought the baby of the Hapsburgs, Princess Valery to Meran as the child was having asthmatic problems and the air in Meran is very sweet as it has a Mediterranean climate in the middle of the mountains! A kind of tropical island in the Alps .
From that moment on this land of a million castles became home to Sisi (her pet name, and a Capricorn by the way) and all her followers. For years she set up home here taking over castles, stately homes to house everyone so most places can tell a tale of Sisi and indeed many places can tell a tale of Diana. To read and view their lives in parallel is fascinating so many similarities, that you'd have to see it to believe it, and it is all true.
The shops in Meran/Merano are glorious everything that is dying out here; no mass market traders, no globalisation but quaint shops still plying their trade of Austrian arts and crafts and Italian cafes and pizzerias sitting side by side now in perfect harmony this so appeals to my Libran Ascendant and my very own Venus.
I did manage to find a very friendly café run by two laugh-a-lot ladies from Southgate in Middlesex. The mum, name, married a South Tyrolean and came to live some thirty years ago and you can tell by the smile on their faces and happy go lucky spirit that the honeyed air, climate and surroundings was the greatest tonic anyone could ever have.
I did try Sisi's whey bath, complete with candles and 30 minutes relaxation in the biggest copper bath I had ever seen most people like to rub shoulders with royalty, had I just rubbed derrieres with a Queen, and I have to say that continuity I felt with history combined with the goodness of the climate, the happiness of the people and the joy of a beautiful land puts South Tyrol into my top ten destinations just like that!
I am going back in the new year so will then have a Winter's Tale to tell and I would think that add a dusting of snow and that kind of Christmassy feel that the Alpine people do so well and even words such as a Garden of Eden and idyllic would hardly touch the surface of what lies deep within this forgotten land twixt Austria and Italy; but if there is one place I totally recommend if you love all the things I have listed, and enjoy reading, soaking and relaxing without hassle or fuss then pack your bags and get out there asap.
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| Please feel free to download the audio files for your MP3 player or to listen to on your PC. Russell interviews Dr Christoph Engel, CEO South Tyrol Marketing about South Tyrol: |
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