Thursday 1 July 2003. Another busy day ahead of us. We join the Leger coach today for a trip into the Dolomite mountains to visit Bolzano and then to view some... pyramids?
So it's an early breakfast and then a quick walk around the deserted streets of Riva before we get on the coach. We got the impression that the Italians would have been amazed and appalled at the though of being up so early in the morning. The only people we saw were refuse collectors. Some of Riva's streets and alleyways were so narrow that the bin carts were 3-wheeled Apis - "api" meaning "bee" and the vehicles being made by the same firm that made Vespa scooters, "vespa" meaning "wasp". We just called them Reliant bin trucks!
Onto the coach and climbing up from the lake. It was shaping up to be another very warm day.
The first stop was at Bolzano, with the impressive cathedral at the foot of the large piazza, lined with pavement cafes and with a large statue as centrepiece. That was some impressive roof decoration! Bolzano cathedral dates from 1184 and was built over the foundations of a 4th century CE Christian basilica. Also on the site was found a 3rd century CE cemetary with the Roman tombstone of Secundus Regontius - Bolzano's earliest identified inhabitant.
The statue is that of Walther von der Vogelweide, c.1170 – c.1230, a singer who apparently vogelled far and wide! He wrote both love songs and political songs and a hundred or so of his songs survive in text, but we have no idea how the tunes went. Consequently they are not sung much... However he was certainly influential, playing a part in persuading the Germans to take part in the Crusades and has statues of himself in several cities.
Anyway, we knew nothing about all that at the time of course and instead were quite happy enjoying the sunshine and walking up and down streets and markets without a thought of political love songs in our heads. I do wonder now how they went...
But please don't think me shy or weak
If I just leave you standing like a div
I don't think you ought to tease me
By voting for shameful conservative....
Having such narrow streets makes delivery of goods quite a challenge. Vans are parked tight to the walls of buildings and pedestrians have to keep an eye out for any other vehicles trying to squeeze past them.
In the museum here lies an old long-dead body. The body was discovered by hikers in 1991. He had been crossing a glacier and the ice had preserved his body almost perfectly. He died - in fact he was murdered - over 5,300 years ago. For ten years it was believed he had died a natural death but then an arrowhead was found buried in his shoulder, with a corresponding tear in his coat. It had shattered his scapula and it is thought even with modern medicines would have killed him due to blood loss. His knife had blood from other individuals on it and his hand was cut severely to the bone.
He is older than Stonehenge, older than the pyramids of Egypt, older even than Keith Richards. From his clothes and tools that were found with him, he was from the late Neolithic era, at the point where the Stone Age was starting to give way to the Bronze Age. Named Ötzi after his discovery, he had been carrying stone tools, but also a copper axe. His body is preserved in a specially refridgerated cell in the museum and can be viewed through a small window.
A group visit was arranged to see him, but it was a nice day and we were more than happy to take it easy and enjoy the city.
We made our way back to the cathedral square and sat at a cafe with a glass of coffee and the sketchpad before me on the table.
I think this was my first attempt at drawing people other than at extreme distance. There was far too much detail in that church roof to do it justice!
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