Art and Alfalfa: Soprabolzano

Showing posts with label Soprabolzano. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

The elusive Fliegenpilz

It was a fine and sunny Sunday morning in the Italian Dolomites

We were hiking in the Dolomites, near Soprapolzano (Oberbozen) Italy when

two handsome young Wald Polizei Officers (Forest Wardens) came charging down a mountain, ready to arrest us.

Are you hunting mushrooms? Yes

Now we WE MUST ARREST YOU!

But dear officers, what I meant was that I am hunting mushrooms with my camera. I am looking for the elusive little Fliegenpilz. You see it was Sunday and picking mushrooms is VERBOTEN on Sundays.

We had a difficult time convincing the officers that we were looking for Fliegenpilze to photograph. They noted that there were no Fliegenpilze in the area. They were almost right because these two were hiding very nicely.

The amanita muscari toadstool is known to many children. It is so attractive but oh so poisonous.

Did you know that this mushroom can be used as an insecticide? It kills flies if crushed and then sprinkled with milk.

Siberian Shamans use them for inducing a condition, similar to extreme alcohol intoxication.

Often poisonous plants can also be used as medicine...could they be a cure?

But for what?

Stay healthy and happy dear friends,

Gina

Monday, October 31, 2011

Rome has the Pope

Bolzano in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirolhas everything else.

Soprabolzano (Oberbozen) a 20 minute Funicular ride to the Dolomites...

and the Geyerhof where we have spent many a holiday cross-country skiing and hiking the trails in the summertime. We were greeted like old Friends and served a fantastic Lunch (Christoph is still one of the finest chefs in all of Europe and I have told him so many times).

Bolzano (Bozen) also has a sensational everyday market.

I can never decide which grapes are my favorite. Is it the Muskatel or is it the Regina grape?

Nothing is missing at the Bolzano market

Not even my favorite Bouquet, the Tussie Mussie.

(I will have to show you how to make these with Lace paper doilies).

Bolzano also has Ötzi, the Iceman

Books and films about the Iceman

Angelika Fleckinger

Ötzi, the Iceman

The Full Facts at a Glance
2003

120 pages, photos, 11,5 x 20 cm , € 10,00, ISBN 3-85256-244-9

Old and exhausted, with an arrowhead lodged in his shoulder – this is how the Iceman met his death 5,300 years ago.
Since the discovery of the glacier mummy, a window has been opened on this unexplored, often misunderstood period of history: Ötzi expert Angelika Fleckinger summarises what experts from a variety of disciplines have painstakingly unearthed about Ötzi’s life and death in research lasting many years. Superbly detailed close-ups and impressive general views, including colour pictures of the Iceman’s equipment and clothing, bring to life one of the most sensational archaeological finds to date. Everything you wanted to know about the Iceman, in authoritative, compact and vivid descriptions.

The DiscoveryThursday, September 19, 1991 – 1.30 p.m.Tisenjoch - 3210 m above sea level
Ötztal Alps (South Tyrol, Italy)
On a sunny day two hikers, Erika and Helmut Simon, from Nuremberg in Germany, were walking in the Ötztal Alps. Descending from the Finail peak in the Tisenjoch area, the Simons decided to take a shortcut and left the marked footpath. As they walked past a rocky gully filled with meltwater, they noticed something brown on the gully bed. At first they thought it must be some sort of rubbish, but on closer inspection they realized with horror that they had discovered a human corpse.

http://www.iceman.it/en/oetzi-the-iceman

People live to a ripe old age in Bolzano, working hard every day.

Never again will I complain about how hard I have to work in my garden. This elderly Ladies' garden is so steep she had to use a stick to balance herself. Early, every morning, she worked in her garden and gathered vegetables for her family.

The wine harvest was in full swing at the Hotel Hanny

http://www.hotelhanny.it/

Espaliered Apple and Pear trees line the lower valleys.

Bolzano has everything

Why not see for yourself.

Gina

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Abundance

Someone, please stop me!

Last week I couldn't stop painting.

This week I can't stop canning.

Our garden is overflowing with produce.

Some of it will have to wait till we get back from Europe.

Our champagne grapes have produced my very special

Champagne Grape Jelly.

We have a bumper crop this year.

The rest will have to become "Spätlese"

Paris, Soprabolzano, Deruta and all places in between are calling.

We will be there in a few days.

Gina

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Gooseberry Pie and Sauerkraut

That is what we had for dinner

Homemade Sauerkraut with Wiener Wuerstel and Gooseberry Pie,
a perfect combination to introduce our friends, Christine and Steven, to a part of the world where such delicacies are de rigueur.

We are planning our trip to the Alsace region of France, the Black Forest of Germany and the South Tyrol of Northern Italy.
Christine and Steven will meet us here and there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace_wine

The Gooseberry Pie was made even more delicious by adding a little Schlagsahne (whipping cream) laced with a bit of sour Cherry Liqueur

http://www.oregonfruit.com/of.pl?pg=rp&rcp=Gooseberry%20Pie

After visiting the Alsace wine region we will hop over to the Black Forest and have lunch at the Brenner Park Hotel in Baden Baden

http://www.brenners.com/eng/index.aspx

Then over the Brennero Pass and to one of my favorite cities, Bolzano, Italy.

In the town square you will find the most colorful market and at the top of the street the fine South Tyrol Musem housing the most remarkable exhibit of Oetzi, the Iceman.

http://www.iceman.it/en/oetzi-the-iceman

We will take the funicular to Soprabolzano and board the waiting narrow-gauge railway to Klobenstein. In September the wine harvest will be in full swing.
http://www.sii.bz.it/en/tickets/renon-cableway-and-train