Alta Badia Dolomites Weekend and Skiing the Sellaronda

Overview | Skiing | Eating

Left: Our ski route (clockwise) on the Sellaronda route. Right: Passo Sella, Canazei ski slopes with Punta Grohman (Grohmannspitze) in the background.

Overview 

Here we are again back in Colfosco. The last time we were here was in June 2008. Back then, we stayed at Garni Delta (see Colfosco Bed and Breakfast Hotel - Nature Hotel Delta). Today, the name is slightly different, Nature Hotel Delta, but it’s the same great place! As fate would have it, we stayed in the same exact room that we did 8 years ago. In 2008, it was our first time in the area and we spent our time hiking (see Alta Badia – Some Dolomite Hikes). This time around, we were here for the skiing.

This weekend was a 4-day holiday, Thursday – Sunday, called the “ponte dell’immacolata”. In English, we call it the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which falls on December 8^th.  Friday is not a holiday, but many people take it off as well.

We drove from Bergamo to Colfosco. It took under 4 hours going, but 6+ hours returning due to traffic on Sunday on the A22. The A22 is called the Autostrada del Brennero and connects Modena in the south with Brennero in the north, on the border with Austria.

At this time of the year, there are the “mercatini di natale” or Christmas markets. In particular, the Tyrolese Christmas Markets in Trentino-Alto Adige are quite famous. Apparently, the more north you go, the more German it gets, and the Christmas markets get more “authentic”. So, it seemed everyone and their uncles and aunts piled into buses and headed north for the long weekend. Oh well, the subsequent traffic we encountered couldn’t erase the beautiful weekend. We should have left Colfosco earlier on Sunday but decided to take a short hike in the morning.

Skiing

This time around in Colfosco we were part of a group of 7, and the goal was focused on skiing. The first day, we skied above Colfosco and the area between San Cassiano and Corvara, that is part of what is called Alta Badia. The second day we did the Sellaronda route.

The Sellaronda ski route that takes you around the Sella mountain range, a plateau-shaped massif that is surrounded by four valleys: Val Badia (where we stayed), Val Gardena, Fassa Valley, and Val de Fodom. The route can be done clockwise (orange route) or counterclockwise (green route), and it can be done easily in one day. We are average skiers, and we found it relatively easy to do in terms of difficulty of slopes. We skied mostly blue (easy) and red (medium).

According the Sellaronda.info site, the orange route we skied is about 37 km in length with 13.5 km covered by lifts and 23 km skied. We did a bit more because a few points we did some runs that weren’t part of the Sellaronda circuit. The green route has similar distances. We got on the slope at 8:45 am and got off at 4:30 pm with a long break for lunch and the extra runs. Altitude-wise, we were between 5,000 and 8,000 feet.

We rented our skies at Pescosta in Colfosco. For two people, renting everything cost about € 140 for 2 days.

Finally, note the brown in the photos. There wasn't much snow outside of the man-made snow.

Eating

While skiing, we had snacks and lunch at various rifugi along the way and were never disappointed. We still are the can’t-believe-it-phase that you can ski in these wonderful areas and have good food to boot. Pinch us.

When not on the slopes we ate breakfasts at the hotel and then ventured out twice for dinner. The most spectacular dinner we had was eating again at Maso Runch, truly worth it for sampling Ladin cuisine. See the 2008 post Maso Runch - Hof, Pedraces for photos. The menu is fixed, and they just keep bringing the dishes. Here’s the order we had: panicia (an orzo soup), tutres (fried pasta, stuffed with spinach, ricotta or sauerkraut), canci arstis (leavened and fried ravioli with spinach or poppy seeds), canci t’ega (ravioli with spinach with melted butter), giama de purcel cun pulëinta (pork shank), custëis e kraut (pork ribs with sauerkraut), and Bales y golasc o pulëinta y golasc (goulash).

Our second dinner was at Nature Delta Hotel (simple and good). Our third dinner was at Ristorante L’Fanà Grill Room, which specializes in grilled meat.

Useful resources:

• http://www.altabadia.org/en/alta-badia-italian-alps-dolomites.html
• http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/
• http://sellaronda.info/
• http://www.masorunch.it/
• http://www.autobrennero.it/en/

Left: Metal ski sculpture of Alta Badia. Right: The drink de rigueur, Bombardino.

Left: Canci arstis at Maso Runch. Right: Menu at Maso Runch.

Left: Day 1 sky routes around Colfosco and Corvara. "Colfosch" is Colfosco in the Ladin Language. Right: Pass for Alta Badia and pass for the Sellaronda route (Dolomiti Superski).

Left: Morning view from Nature Hotel Delta southeast. Right: Map of Sellaronda ski route. Orange clockwise. Green counterclockwise.

Slopes above Colfosco, Stella Alpina and Forcelles.

Left: Last leg of Sellaronda route for us, dropping down from Val Gardena into Colfosco. Right: View of Sella Group from Passo Sella, Canazei.

Left: Those curious wooden barns typical of the Alta Badia and Dolomites. Center and Right: Views toward Val de Mezdi.

The Scalette of Bergamo – Take 2

Left: Our walk route today, the red point on the left is our starting and ending point at Piazzetta del delfino; the scalette are one of our favorite aspects of the many walking routes around Bergamo. Right: Via del Paradiso, one of the scalette of Bergamo.


One of the interesting aspects of Bergamo, and a reason why we choose it for a sabbatical, is its hilly terrain. (See Perché Bergamo for other reasons.) Today, we tackled the scalette – stairs – which surround Bergamo. On a bright and sunny day last February, we took a walk out to the Monastero di Astino via the scalette – see Scalette di Bergamo. Today, gray and foggy as it was, we had no particular destination in mind other than to get out for some exercise.

The scalette are useful for getting around the steep geography, as well as great way for locals and visitors to enjoy views and perhaps a physical challenge. So much so that we immediately worked up an appetite and stopped mid-walk for lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria San Vigilio. What did you expect with Travelmarx? We’ve been wanting to try this place for a while and today was as good of an excuse as any. The pizza and pasta we had were great. While we had only a view of dense fog out the window, the jocular Italian Sunday lunch crowd more than made up for it.

Our starting and ending points were Piazzetta / Fontana del delfino. Why? Because we live nearby. We set off after our morning espresso macchiato and gossip at the always-interesting Caffè Papavero.

Length: 15,4 km (9.6 miles)
Duration: ~3.5 hours walking time, plus time for lunch
Elevation: total gain 803 m (2,630 ft), starting/ending 282 m (930 ft), max 500 m (1,640 ft)
Location: Italy, Lombardia, Bergamo, Colli di Bergamo

Views of Salita dello Scorlazzone.


Left: Lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria San Vigilio. Right: Sentiero dei Vasi - oops closed for today. No worries, there is always another way.


Signs describing the Sentiero dei Vasi.


Left: Start of the hike Via del Cornasello. Right: Via Salita della Scaletta.


Left: Via Santa Lucia Vecchia. Right: Via del Paradiso.


Left: Via Ramera. Right: A trail in the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo.


Trail Via Roccolino. Left along the trail. Right: Bottom of trail with cabbages.


Green Way del Morla.

Bergamo – Street Sign Language Lesson XIV

previous lesson | this lesson | next lesson

In this episode of Street Sign Language Lesson, we examine two lost cat posters, learn what a fessura is, and get the low down on what to and what not do in the public swimming pool.

Left: Former board school (convitto) sign on via Pignolo, Bergamo. Right: Information about the fascist occupation of the school.

convitto – boarding school
The place where we live, via Pignolo, reveals its secrets bit by bit. During one of our morning coffee-talk sessions at Caffè Papavero, we learned that the current University of Bergamo building at Pignolo 123 was once a boarding school. When we walked up the street later, indeed we saw a sign explaining a little of the history of the building: Convitto – del r. Istituto Tecnico Industriale Pietro Paleocarpa. Pietro Paleocapa (1788 – 1869) was an engineer, scientist, and politician born in Bergamo. For the record – and because I’ve made this mistake too many times – his surname is pronounced as “pale ee OH cappa” not “paleo CAPpa”.

A nearby sign explains about the Nazi occupation of the building in 1943-1945:

In questo convitto violentemente occupato negli anni 1943-1945 la polizia nazista infierì con furia selvaggia sui nostri fratelli migliori la libertà germogliò in virtù del loro sacrificio. 

In this boarding school, violently occupied in the years 1943-1945, Nazi police acted savagely towards our good brothers. Freedom sprang by virtue of their sacrifice.

There are two uses of passato remoto in this text: infierì (inferire) and germogliò (germogliare). The passato remoto conveys distance in time, adding emotional weight to the subject matter compared to using the passato prossimo. And the passato remoto is shorter to use: less space on the sign I suppose is a good thing.

Left: Funicolare San Vigilio. Right: Cheese window at Ol Fromager, Bergamo.

macchine in movimento, vietato il transito ai pedoni – moving machinery, access is prohibited to pedestrians
We were ambling up via S. Vigilio one day on our way up to Castello di San Vigilio and we saw this sign on a side street. The photo shows the sign with the Funicolare San Vigilio in the background. There are two funiculars in Bergamo. One from Bergamo Bassa to Bergamo Alta called the Funicolare di Bergamo Alta, and the San Vigilio funicular which takes you from Bergamo Alta to Castello di San Vigilio.

si prega di non appoggiarsi vetro sensibile – please do no lean against the sensitive glass
This sign was at Ol Fromager, a cheese shop located a few minutes from our apartment. The cheeses look so good that you can’t help but put your face up to the glass. But this glass display is sensibile – sensitive in the physical sense, not sensible as in practical. Si prega di is a formal way to say please. Informally, you could use per favore.

Left and center: Lost cat signs in Bergamo. Right: Postal opening on a door (fessura).

smarrita gatta, [gatto] scomparso – lost cat [female], lost cat [male]
They are just lost cat posters, but are the kind of thing that stops me in my tracks and sets me to wondering about the words used. What if I lost my cat, what words would I use? Smarrita is an adjective which comes from the verb smarrire, to lose or misplace. Scomparso is an adjective which comes from the verb scomparire, to disappear or vanish.

Where the adjective goes is one of those areas of Italian grammar that I never seem to get right. When I first started with the Italian language, I learned that adjectives follow a noun. Later, I learned that this isn't always the case, and that, adjectives can come before a noun. Adjectives following a noun restrict or further qualify the noun. Adjectives preceding a noun describe or give another sense or valuation to the noun. A classic example is: mio vecchio amico versus mio amico vecchio. The former is my old friend that I’ve known for a long time. The latter is my friend who is old.

You could go either way with the adjectives for the cats. For example, smarrita gatta sounds to me like the cat lost itself, while gatta smarrita is more like the owner lost the cat. Here’s hoping Avi (gatta) and Chicco (gatto) made it home.

fessura – opening
I always think this word sounds dirty, but it is quite innocent. It means crack or fissure. The sign posted on this door reads: Per il postino: depositare tutta la posta nella fessura – For the postman: put all the mail in the mail slot (or opening).

Left and center: Signs at the Centro Sportivo Italcementi in Bergamo. Right: Toilet sign on a train.

vietato entrare con le scarpe – It is forbidden to enter with shoes
We went swimming at the Centro Sportivo Italcementi, and oh boy, new signs. This one is pretty straight forward. You have to immediately take your shoes off when you enter the locker room. The sign continues emphatically: è obbligo togliere le scarpe qui e rimetterle prima di uscire sempre qui! – you must remove your shoes here and put them back on, always here before leaving!


in piscina – in the pool area
All the rules for what to do and not do in the pool:

• Fare la doccia prima di entrare in acqua – shower before entering the pool
• Non portare oggetti di vetro vicino alla piscina, mettere la cuffia – No glass objects in the pool area, put on a swimming cap
• Non sputare – no spitting
• Usa la toilette non la piscina – use the toilet not the pool
• Non spingere – no pushing
• Non correre – no running
• Chi non sa nuotare rimanga nell’acqua bassa – Those who don’t know how to swim, stay in the shallow end
• Non tuffarsi vicino ai bagnati – no diving near swimmers
• Non tuffarsi nell’acqua bassa – No diving in the shallow end

Interesting words in the rules include: la cuffia (in this context it means swimming cap), tuffarsi (to dive), nuotare (to swim), and sputare (to spit). Also, note the common use of the verb sapere fare qualcosa (to know how to do something), in this case sapere nuotare.

toelette - toilet
Speaking of toilette, on the train from Bergamo to Milano, this little sign caught my eye. It's a sign pointing to the toilet or bathroom. At first, I thought toelette was misspelled, but later realized it is correct. It's sort of a classy (and maybe outdated) way of saying bathroom.

Left and center left: Flyer for the Longaretti Exhibition. Center right: Outside the Museo Bernareggi. Right: The Longaretti Exhibition inside the Museo Bernareggi.

Longaretti, lungo un secolo – Longaretti, century-long
The Italian painter Trento Longaretti, born in 1916, just celebrated his 100th birthday (hence lungo un secolo). We stopped by the Museo Bernareggi to see his retrospective (September 28, 2016 to January 29, 2017), and were quite impressed.

Left and center: Flyer for the Mushroom Exhibition. Right: Example mushroom model.

Funghi, storia e scienza da un altro regno – Mushrooms, history and science from another kingdom
The Sala Viscontea in Bergamo Alta hosts interesting plant-oriented exhibits. Early this year, there was Seduction Repulsion: What Plants Don’t Say. This time around we have mushrooms. As usual, it’s free to enter and the exhibit is choc-full of information, including some cool historical mushroom models (really, they are interesting). Definitely worth a visit or two.

In the photo of one of the mushroom models, the word mangereccio, or edible, can be seen. The word derives from the verb to eat, mangiare. You could also say edible using commestibile.