Street Sign Language Lesson LIII – A Week in Valtellina

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In this episode of Street Sign Language Lesson, we are in the Valtellina region of Italy. We’ll uncover tips for how to get a discount on lunch and dinner at a rifugio, explore the mysterious bearded vulture’s refrigerator, and tackle the Marson Glaciological Trail—watch out for the waves! And if you survive all that, we reward you with explaining what taneda and tinozza are. Let's go.

ATTENZIONE! CANI DA PROTEZIONE DEL BESTIAME
"Warning! Livestock protection dogs"

We were hiking in the Val Zebrù outside of Bormio, Italy in the Valtellina where we saw this sign. It’s interesting that “ATTENZIONE!” got translated to “Beware!”. We always struggle with this too. It seems that in a safety-sign context, “Warning!” makes more sense and “Beware” is used typically for a specific warning like “Beware of livestock protection dogs lest they think you a sheep or cow” – for example.

Bestiame is livestock or cattle, not to be confused with bestemmia, a curse, swear or blasphemy.


 
ATTENZIONE! Chi percorre le vie accesso diga lo fa a suo rischio e pericolo.
"Warning! Anyone accessing the dam routes does so at their own risk."

On our week in Valtellina, we climbed up on to the Diga Alpe Gera and walked across to get to the Fellaria Glacier. Look at that gorgeous ramp! Livestock (bestiame) go up that ramp to get to Alpe Val Poschiavina and presumably with cani da protezione yipping at them.

What we wanted to point out in the sign is percorre from the verb percorrere. It basically means to travel or traverse. But it’s a verb that is hard to use in practice. We tend to use the very handy fare–to do or make. For example, what is the difference between these two sentences:

• Ho percorso quasi 100 km in una sola giornata. I traveled/covered almost 100 km in a single day.
• Ho fatto quasi 100 km in una sola giornata. I did almost 100 km in a single day.

The first sentence (with percorrere) stresses the idea of covering that distance in a precise way. The second sentence (with fare) is less about covering the distance (the journey) and more about the objective of having reached the end. In the sign here, fare would be too clunky to use but you could use transita, attraversa, or utilizza. Dam! Enough with the words.

Come ottenere gli SCONTI sul pranzo – cena
"How to get discounts on lunch and dinner"

We saw this sign at Rifugio Bignami, our lunch stop on our hike to the Fellaria Glacier. The sign lists amounts of wood (legna not legno) carried to discounts earned. We did not receive a discount because we didn’t bring up any firewood.

Le valanghe: il frigorifero del Gipeto
"Avalanches: The Bearded Vulture’s larder"

This sign was also in Val Zebrù. The valley had many signs talking about the bearded vulture (gipeto) that lives here and avalanches (valanga/ghe). Did you know that the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists of 70–90% bone. 

The Val Zebrù (more or less running east-west) is also particular because it has an Alpine “fault-valley” morphology splitting the two sides into very different geological and ecological worlds. A sharp tectonic contact—called the “Faglia di Zebrù”—runs along the valley. On the north side you’re walking beneath the Ortles-Cevedale massif, built of metamorphic rocks that were intensely folded and fractured in the past. Those fractures let snow and ice wedge into the rock mass, so steep couloirs and rocky ledges shed avalanches more readily―the avalanches happen in winter and can trap animals underneath which favors the bearded vulture come springtime when it’s looking for bones to eat.

By contrast, the south side of the valley is made up largely of massive, layered sedimentary rocks: This rock weathers more uniformly and forms broader, gentler ledges that anchor snowpacks more securely, so avalanches here are much rarer.

That geological divide also nurtures two very different plant communities. On the unstable, shady north slopes you find pioneer species that can colonize loose scree—dwarf willows, alders, mountain avens, saxifrages and cushion plants. They’re adapted to thin soils, cold microclimates and frequent disturbance. On the sunnier, more stable southern benches a richer, lime-loving flora takes over: larch and Swiss stone pine creeping up from the conifer belt; rhododendron; gentians; edelweiss ; and a carpet of sedges and grass species that love the neutral to alkaline soil.

Okay Travelmarx, let’s tie this up, okay? The avalanches act metaphorically like a refrigerator (frigorifero) for the bearded vulture. A better expression is “larder”.

 

Sentiero Glaciologico Marson
"Marson Glaciological Trail"

What’s interesting about this sign, is first the glacier tongue in the distance reached where these signs are today in 1999 in one sign and 2000 in the other! The second interesting thing is the use of the term glaciologico. Why? Because the word for glacier is ghiacciaio (noun) and you might thing the adjective describing the trail might look like the noun.

In Italian, there are two layers of vocabulary in play here, a native one and a learned (scientific) one. Here are some other similar examples:

• fiume – river and idrologico/a - hydrological
• terremoto – earthquake and sismologico/a - seismological
• terra – earth, land and geologico/a - geological

Looking at it, it’s not that different from English. It was just that the word “glaciological” seemed strange when we first looked at it.

Finally, note on the sign that "iceberg" is used as is in Italian.

Stai lontano dalla fronte del ghiacciaio e anche dalla riva del lago
"Stay away from the glacier front and also from the lake shore"

It can seem like a peaceful little lake in front of the Fellaria Glacier Est, but if a piece of ice falls into the lake, it could create a wave of several meters – the sign warns – so it’s best not to spend your time around the lake side. But this is exactly what we did for a few moments, and many do for longer. We did follow the sign to punto di sosta 7, a viewing point that is safely high enough.




Taneda
Achillea moscata

Taneda is a digestive liqueur of Valtellina origins prepared with the flowers of Achillea erba-rotta moschata, also known as erba iva, called "taneda" in the Bormino dialect.

Taneda is the secret (or not so secret) ingredient in Braulio, a type of amaro, a digestive herbal liquor from Alps, typical of Valtellina (Italy).

This sign was at the Bormio Botanical Garden.




TINOZZA CON IDROMASSAGGIO
"Hot tub with hydromassage"

Tinozza is a tub. But so is a vasca. You could say vasca idromassaggio for hot tub. But here, we think, the use of tinozza is used to evoke more than a plastic hot tub at Bobby Joe’s backyard and something more artisanal. Something made of wood, something from the mountains. In fact, the tub is made of wood (at least on the outside) and is rounder than a typical tub and well, you have a great view of the mountains. They might be stretching it a bit here with tinozza, but point taken. This sign was at the wonderful Rifugio Zoia where we stayed for 3 nights. (NO, we didn’t use the tinozza.)

530 MALGA DEI FORNI 0.30, RIFUGIO BRANCA 1.10
"Trail 530, Forni pasture 30 minutes, Mountain hut Branca 1 hour and 10 minutes"

The important point on these trail signs is that the number to the far right is time to destination not distance. Times are likely median times and take in account the steepness of the trail. For example, in 10 minutes climbing, you’ll cover less ground than in 10 minutes descending, and 10 minutes of flat terrain is somewhere in the middle – on average.