Thoughtful Thursday

Rain was forecast for much of Thursday (26.09.2024), and it duly arrived in the course of the afternoon. It was also very windy, and we decided against a hike.

Instead, we walked the very short distance to the museum and church of St Proculus, just down the road from our hotel.

The museum covers not only the history of the small church, but gives a general good idea of human history in the area of Naturns, spanning from the first Iron Age settlers several thousands of years ago to the time when this part of Tyrol became part of Italy.

The Romans built a road right through the valley of the river Etsch/Adige (Via Claudia Augusta); Medieval folks struggled with The Black Death and the constant threat of their fields and houses being flooded; and later, rich landowners and aristrocatic families competed or bonded with the church on their quest for more money and more influence.

Everything was well presented at the museum, and as usual when I come eye to eye with past times, I am grateful for living today - althoug of course I am fully aware of the problems of our times.

The small church across the road from the museum is dedicated to St Proculus, a building that has not yet given up all secrets in spite of decades of serious scientific examination. Althoug it looks Romanic at first glance, the bell tower was only added at around the year 1185, while the stone foundations of the one room church originate from the 8th century.

Inside, the oldest frescoes known in the entire German-speaking region (comprising Germany, the bordering regions with France, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic, parts of Switzerland, all of Austria and what is South Tyrol/Alto Adige in Italy today) can be admired.

We were lucky in catching quite by chance one of the rare guided tours. The lady who explained the frecoes to us emphasized several times that there were many differing theories, and while some things were known with certainty, many others were subject to interpretation and hotly debated among theological and cultural arts scienctists.

I did not take a single picture of those frescoes, as a) the lighting was difficult and b) the small space was full of participants of the tour, but I was deeply impressed. The celtic elements were a big surprise, but it is historically known and proven that Anglo-Irish monks and other clergy visited the Alpine regions, bringing their aristic ideas and techniques along. 

Please check the official website for pictures and information in English.

After we‘d spent a full two hours in the tiny church and small museum, we walked around the village of Naturns/Naturno before making our way back to the hotel at a leisurely pace.

By 2:00 pm, we were in our room, resting for an hour and then headed down to the hotel spa for a couple of rounds in the saunas until it was time to get dressed for dinner.

Waterfall Wednesday

On Wednesday (25.09.2024), we had a mix of sun and clouds. It was neither wet nor overly warm or very cold - good hiking weather.

View from our room at 7:00 that morning.

After breakfast, we took the bus to the small village of Partschins (Italian: Parcines) only a few stops from Naturns/Naturno, where we are based. 

The village church was open, and I went in for a brief look without taking any pictures inside.

Beautiful side door at the village church

Partschins village church

A particularly neat farm just before leaving Partschins

View of Partschins

We had chosen another circuit from our booklet, leading us along another one of the old water ways I have written about in my previous post, and then steeply and on rather rough paths uphill towards a waterfall.

Spot the waterfall in the distance.

The waterfall could be heard before we got closer. Over a ledge, the water falls down a straight 100 m. It is impressive, even though people are wisely prevented from getting up close and personal with it.

On the way back down, we stopped for a shandy and then continued to the bus stop where  we had started.

Me being silly while waiting for the bus.

The bus arrived about 20 minutes late, and once we were all on board (other walkers had gathered in the meantime), the driver informed us that traffic on the road to Naturns (where we were headed) had practically come to a standstill, and he advised all to get off at Rabland train station and take the train back into Naturns.

We did as advised, and later learned that apparently there had been an incident at the electricity works, resulting in the authorities having to shut down an important tunnel, meaning all cars had to use alternative routes to and from Naturns - and all that during rush hour.

Thanks to the bus driver‘s advice, we were back at the hotel in time for coffee, and kept our massage appointments, finishing just before dinner with a few minutes to spare for getting changed.

Trekking on Tuesday

Tuesday (24.09.2024) was another sunny day, but with showers forecast for mid to late afternoon and evening. We packed our rain gear, trusting that we‘d most likely be back at the hotel by then.

View from our room on Tuesday, before breakfast…

…and after.

Today‘s circuit started once again straight from the hotel, taking us to Wallburgboden and back.

Good part of the path was along what is locally called Waalweg, meaning ‘path along water’. For the people who first settled in this mountain region, water meant life and death: without water, neither they nor their animals could survive. But when there was too much water rushing down the steep slopes, often carrying big rocks along and sweeping off paths and fields, it could easily bring death.

In order to control this force of nature and getting the right amount of water to where it was needed at the right time, an elaborate system of channels, pipes and drains was developed and used for centuries, some of it to this day, to water fields and farms. In its heyday, about 600 km of these artificial waterways existed. The ingenuity and often dangerous work to set them up, constantly checking and maintaining them, is incredible. These were farmers, mountain folk who more often than not were illiterate, but by no means simpletons!

Every bit of the waterways had to be checked constantly for leaks or obstructions, and it was a fulltime job to walk the narrow paths alongside, repairing or clearing as necessary, in all weather and seasons - lives depended on the job done properly.

Nowadays, many of these paths are picturesque routes, very popular and mostly easy to navigate. Information boards are provided at intervals, and they really do make for nice walking.

Lizards love the sunny and dry slopes of this part of the mountains. We spotted many, but this one kept still long enough to be photographed.

Can you see the lizard here?

Similar tiny huts served as shelters for the men whose responsibility it was to make sure all was well with the waterways.

Our aim was Wallburgboden, a place where Iron Age people had settled a long time ago, no doubt understanding the advantage of being high up with a good view of the two valleys below, and far away from the dangerous river that kept flooding the valley every spring when the snow on top of the mountains melted off.

We enjoyed the walk and the views very much, and eventually stopped at a hut not very far away from the village, but still high enough for good views. Almost as soon as we setteld at a table with our shandies, the rain set in - not too heavily, just enough for us to wear our rainproofs for the last bit of the way back to the hotel.

The view from where we stopped for a shandy. The rain was clearly on its way to us!

Spot the cat!

More Mountains Monday

The weather forecast was good for Monday (23.09.2024); not too warm and some cloudy skies, but dry. 

View from our room on Monday morning

After breakfast, we walked from the hotel to Naturns‘ small train station only to discover that we‘d have to wait about half an hour for the next train to Rabland, from where we intended to start today‘s hike.

We knew that the next village from Naturns, Plaus, is only a few km away and all on an even path along the river, and so we set off on foot, planning to catch up with the train there (which we did).

I enjoyed the walk along the river. It was quiet apart from a few cyclists every now and then, and the rush of the rather fast-flowing water next to us a constant backdrop.

The train from Plaus to Rabland took maybe 10 minutes. Right next to the train stop is the bottom station of another funicular (there are many dotted around here, used in the summer for folks like us, and in winter to access the skiing slopes), and we rode one of the gently swinging cabins up to the tiny mountain village of Aschbach.

From there, an almost entirely uphill and sometimes very rocky path took us to a place called Naturnser Alm. In this part of the world, an alm can best be described as a summer farm, where farmers who live down in the valley either send someone up to look after cattle, sheep and goats during the summer, usually running a small dairy at the same time, or live there temporarily themselves. Nowadays, alms are often inhabited by paid staff who also run a hospitality business for hikers and walkers.

We enjoyed (you guessed it) a shandy each before we walked on, determined to follow a marked path as suggested in our tour booklet - only that the particular number of the path we were looking for was nowhere to be seen on the many signposts.

It didn‘t matter all that much, since we knew where the circuit was going to go eventually, and so we simply chose the next destination. We missed out on the chance to cross the 2,000 m threshold, though, which was a tiny disappointment. The area we walked through now was very beautiful - my pictures really don‘t do it justice.

Vigiljoch was next, a place where several ancient mountain paths cross, and where the small church of St Vigil sits atop the highest hill. The church was closed to the public by an iron gate, allowing us at least to see inside.

Back to Aschbach from there, and down to the bottom of the valley with the funicular, and the train all the way to Naturns. The walk back to the hotel was the last leg of that day‘s walk, making it a total of about 21 km.

Coffee and cakes were really welcome at that stage, and then a shower and a rest before it was time for yet another delicious dinner.