The Christmas markets in Bolzano. Trip to Trentino Alto Adige, Italy

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Christmas Market .... there are an infinite ', beautiful, ugly, far and near, in Italy and abroad ... from one day excursions, two ....
December 8, 2007, I went to the markets of Bolzano with a trip by bus from 1 day, I knew what they were meeting, crowds, long hours of travel, cold .....
Indeed, all confirmed, 6 hours went from Turin, beautiful day and not too cold in Bolzano but that 'is a city' strange ..... perfettina too, too Nordic, too pristine.
Town very clean and tidy, German is spoken as a dialect of the various parts of Italy, and in some places struggling to understand the Italian and speak it badly .... but Bolzano and Italy!! Then complain of southerners who speak the dialects always and everywhere .....
It 'a beautiful city, close to the mountains, very green, very controlled, very organized and they seem almost perfect imitation.
The houses are all painted again and ordered with a perfection almost maniacal. It looks like a fairyland, all the houses and buildings perfect, colorful stucco ..... are to be admired but a city 'that will be respected' even have some flaw is not it?
They have a beautiful castle that can not be 'but' visit .....
The center is not so great, it runs well on foot, is a city very dear and I think for the amount of tourism have a slight pre-Christmas scarisita 'of accommodation. For lunch there was a restaurant that had put ..... we finally landed in a sort of go .... and to think that I wanted to eat something .... typical thing that is quite possible to Trento and Merano , I did it last year and I found a place meran restaurant on December 8 without too many problems, but in Bolzano was suicidal.
Overcrowded streets, chaos, Piazza Walther, the square of the annual Christmas market was full as the stage at the U2 concert or Vasco. You could not get near the stalls and exhibitors of the square, queues for everything, even for a coffee, the bars were filled road, the square crowded with people who could not even go ahead ....
For other downtown streets, there were fewer exhibitors and the streets were packed.
The Christmas decorations for the city was very beautiful, I really enjoyed the cathedral is an imposing building that overlooks the square of the markets and you can 'go without pay (exceptional).
At three in the afternoon I managed to get close to a market stall to buy a strudel and a pack of dumplings (food typical Alto Adige). I could not buy that famous giant pretzel called typical German pretzels, good and tasty. There are several museums, but I have not even visited one, the prices were excessive.
In Bolzano is the famous mummy of Ozi, in one of the museums. Ozi ... who is?
For lovers of ancient history, one that departs from pre-history, a crucial visit to the Archaeological Museum 's new home of the Alto Adige Ozi - The Iceman - Similaum man, the mummy of about 5300 years was found on glacier Iceman. Over 5000 years ago a man climbed up the glacier at Val Senales in its icy peaks and died. Nel 1991 venne ritrovato per caso, con i suoi indumenti e l'equipaggiamento, mummificato, congelato: una scoperta archeologica sensazionale che offre uno scorcio senza eguali sulla vita di un uomo dell'età del Rame.
On a day like yesterday, it was virtually impossible to visit the exhibitors of the markets, unless you make at least 15 minutes to queue for each exhibitor ......
Things were pretty exposed, candles, Christmas decorations, food and typical drinks, clothing, Christmas music .... I could see from afar but something very bad and I saw ...... toward the 3 began to really frescolino and bars were filled ...... so 'we walked until 4am, then we headed to the bus and at 4.30 we left the house ...... a thousand hours and your legs stiff, her nerves on edge, the delays caused by latecomers ... ... and we came home devastated ...
I failed to fully appreciate these markets, too much chaos, too many people, cold, skyrocketing prices ......
A vote of one to ten?? 5.
And then ... to hear German in Italy .... strange!
Merano last year I liked more ', the market was better prepared, more' livable, the atmosphere was more 'beautiful,' colorful Christmas .....
Anyway I made lots of pictures and in return we have not paid much, but maybe next year ... I do the trip by at least 2 days if not, all in a hurry ..... the evening you get home you're apart!
Ps. The strudel is good by God ... .. and the mulled wine was very good ... .. at reasonable prices.
Piazza delle Erbe was the famous and picturesque market fruit. That is really not to be missed, beautiful, typical, characteristic, detail and color, different from the usual.
All banks have put the goods in very colorful and innovative compositions are fruit and vegetables, selling dried fruit and caramel, dates, strange fruit, nice things just to see.
In Bolzano then there's the pharmaceuticals' ancient in Italy, in the main street, the way of the arcades.
In the end it was not bad but a bit 'more' organization was necessary.
However those who like it .... it is feasible!