Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ICEMAN COMETH
When Austrian hikers stumbled upon a human corpse wedged into a melting glacier on Hauslabjoch
Pass in 1991, they assumed they'd found the remains of an unfortunate mountaineer caught in a winter
storm. But when the mummified body was removed and taken to a morgue, it was discovered to be
over 5300 years old.
The male corpse - subsequently nicknamed Ötzi, or the Iceman - is the oldest mummified remains
ever found in Europe, dating from an ancient Copper Age civilisation that lived in the Dolomites
around the same time as ancient Egypt's founding. What Ötzi was actually doing 3200m up a glaci-
ated mountainside, 52 centuries before alpinism became a serious sport, is still a matter of some de-
bate.
Though initially claimed by the Austrian government, it was later ascertained that Ötzi had been un-
earthed 100m inside the Italian border on the Schnalstal glacier. After a brief diplomatic impasse and
stabilisation work in Innsbruck, the mummy was returned to Italy, where it has been on display in
Bolzano's Museo Archeologico dell'Alto Adige since 1998.
Eating
Redolent of rural mountain life one minute, Habsburg splendour the next, Bolzano's res-
taurants (often in the guise of a wood-panelled stube) are a profound reminder of just how
far north you've come. Goat or rabbit is roasted, bone-warming broths hide
canederli
,
venison finds its way into gulasch, and speck (the region's IGP cured ham, cold-smoked
and juniper- and pepper-scented) turns up in everything bar dessert. Window displays in
the city's many
konditorei
(pastry shops) brim with Sachertorte, cheese strudels,
krapfen
(doughnuts) and earthy buckwheat-and-berry cakes. Bakers ply dark, dense seed-studded
breads, including
schüttelbrot,
a crispy spiced rye flat bread. Pick up produce from the
daily street market on Piazza delle Erbe.
Gasthaus Fink
( 0471 97 50 47; Via della Mostra 9; meals €24; lunch & dinner Thu-Mon, lunch only Wed)
Fink's
dining room is a calm, contemporary take on
stube
style, with fresh flowers on the tables
and young attentive staff. Fill up on local comfort food, cooked with care. A great lunch
choice, with pastas under €10.
SÜDTIROLEAN
€
Vögele
SÜDTIROLEAN
€
