South Tyrol Astro Travel
by Russell Grant
I love beautiful places. With the Goddess of love and beauty, Venus, as the ruler of Libran Ascendant (you can find yours with your time, date and place of birth) if a view is as pretty as a picture, the accommodation soft and comfortable and smiles abound from the people around then I am hooked: that's why South Tyrol got my Venusian vote immediately; a Libran's Shangri-La.
Austria , South Tyrol 's mother country, you won't be surprised, is also Libran. With such cities as Salzburg , Innsbruck and Vienna within its historic borders it is a dream destination for all culture vultures.
But due to its complex politics since World World I, South Tyrol also has a strong Scorpio streak. When the Allies gifted this small but perfectly formed land to Italy for its part in the fight against the Austrians they lacked the foresight to see Mussolini lurking on the horizon. What followed really was destructive Scorpio let loose – a long a convoluted story not one for this feature but can be found on my website.
Thankfully positive Scorpio has prevailed and led to regeneration in a region that has recently won much autonomy and now happily combines all the glories of Austrian history, architecture and heritage with the Italian modus vivendi of la dolce vita. South Tyrol is an undiscovered land to us holidaying Brits who actually discovered its tourism in the 1800s, but trust me I am an astrologer so before you die forget about Naples, swelter in this tropical ‘island' in the midst of the mountains. It's true, where I stayed basks in a Mediterranean climate, yes even where the Dolomites peak to thousands of cool, snowy feet and an Alpine Aurealis Borealis known as the Rosegarten fills the skies with pale pinks and silvery golds to give a faerie halo to these magical mountains.
I stayed overnight in Manchester as my flight was early morning to Milan . And then a three hour transfer to the spa city of Meran/Merano (everything is in German/Italian). What a neat little town with a crystal mountain river dividing it right down the middle, a modern thermal venue offering all kinds of cures, bathing and pummelling and arcade shopping with Italian style and flair and Austrian arts and crafts.
To add to the Libran fizz Meran has an annual music festival based in parks, gardens and castles; the fabulous Italian Garden of the Year, Trautmansdorf, an Alpine Kew, with over 30 acres of the most exotic and enchanting fauna from all over the world and many other foody and shopping goodies that will get you going, no matter what sign you are.
For the first part of the week I lorded it in one of the Tyrol 's many Schloss' Schloss Rubein; luxury living in a fine castle and treated like an Austrian noble waited on by the Countess Metternich herself. I was SO happy. The second host was the Vigilius which had everything going for it: a fantastic position only be reached by cable-car, and if you are into minimalist hotels with the idea of ‘living in a fallen tree' then this will be right up your mountain pass – but not for me. I mean all that Venus and Libra in my chart needs to lounge - and would someone please peel me a grape!
Elisabeth, the tragic, iconic Queen of Hungary and Empress of Austria, the Austro-Hungarian's own Diana, brought fame and fortune to Meran and adds Scorpionic mystery to the South Tyrol story. She walked, often for a day at a time over high altitude pastures, drank milk straight after it was squeezed from the cow and at the end of the day sunk into tepid baths made from fresh whey as part of her health regimen. At a time when in Europe spas were the ‘in thing' and wherever royalty went so followed the entourage of glitterati, Sisi brought her baby Hapsburg princess, Princess Valerie to Meran to help cure her asthma; the air in Meran is as fresh as champagne and as crisp as the local apples. And thereby sprung an industry and to this day you can breathe in the same air and lie in Elisabeth's bath (fresh water!) whilst sipping a tipple of your favourite beverage, such as exquisite local wines from the Manincor vineyard.
This land of a thousand castles became home to Sisi (her pet name, and a Capricorn by the way) and all her followers. For years she took over castles, stately homes to house everyone, so most places, including Trautmansdorf Gardens , tell a tale of Sisi whose existence mirrors our Diana's in a remarkable way.
Oh and for the record I did try Sisi's whey bath, complete with scented candles and 30 minutes relaxing in the biggest copper tub ever – most people delight in rubbing shoulders with royalty, I rubbed derrieres with a Queen! And felt all the better for it.
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FREE Audio Downloads - Soundbytes
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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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