 Poster: A snowHead
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I noticed, among the items in the link to yesterday's Observer, that Inghams are introducing flights to Bolzano, from Gatwick and Birmingham.
It occurs to me that, as well as being handy for many of the resorts in the brochures, this makes more accessible some interesting places such as Kronplatz, Meran and the Pustertal. I've often dreamed of being the first Englishman to ski these places  but I've been put off by the tedious journey. Has anyone been ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've "met" a bunch of you Britons (and your American cousins) here and there on the Dolomites, during the years so, no, you won't be the first to ski there, but then, you probably will be one of the first to experience the thrill of a landing at Bolzano airport....unless, as usual they call "Bolzano airport" what really is Verona's...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
unless, as usual they call "Bolzano airport" what really is Verona's...
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Do they really do that, Matteo ? Verona is probably of no use to me.
Usually it seems that the airlines glamorise a small local airport by giving it the name of a better-known, distant city, and Verona is better known over here than Bolzano.
I'd be glad of your views, if any, on those resorts near the Austrian border such as Kronplatz (Plan de Corones), Brixen (Bressanone) and Meran (Merano); I see you have mentioned Kronplatz elsewhere, Matteo.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I don't know, but I do recall that Bergamo Orio al Serio airport has been renamed
Milano Orio... Bergamo and Milano are some 40 km afar.
Which is nothing worse than calling Malpensa airport Milano Malpensa.
If we move to Germany, one air company lands to an ex-RAF (name is Hahn) airport in the middle of Germany and calls that
"Frankfurt"...80 km afar...
Again, someone is offering flights to Verona...(and between brakets the real name is indicated which is...Brescia)
And so on and so forth.
Still, the costs are pretty low and thus inviting, and with time people start to stop being surprised and maybe feeling cheated (we all should read the small printings)
and deal with the novelty...
I must add, that living in the country, to have to go to Bergamo instead than to
Malpensa to board a flight is much more convenient to me, so I'm only
commenting on the practice of not using the real names. From a marketing point of view I may understand that, people would want to fly to Milan, not to Bergamo...
Still, it could have backlashed (again, apparently it has not, so far soo good then)
But back to Bolzano, reading around in the internet I have no evidence of Inghams
offering a flight to Bolzano(Verona) so must assume that it is really Bolzano(Bolzano) the destination of their flights.
Which is good news for you, but bad for me!!!! More skiers from abroad will drive
a price increase in rooms and food. OH well, that's life!
Enjoy the Dolomites Franz!
P.S. when do you plan to go?
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Tue 5-10-04 9:51; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I had that once. Flying from Milan, it turned out to be Bergamo. It's a bit irritating when you expect to be able to get the train to the airport and and have to get a taxi (there may be public transport links now, but there were precious few then).
Still, if you fly to Copenhagen with RyanAir, they fly you to Sweden. Which is fine if the bridge doesn't get closed through high winds...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skanky, I bet that was quite an €xp€ri€nc€...
Anyway, the only public transport worth taking from Bergamo (airport) to Milan is the shuttle coach which linkls Bergamo airport to Milano Linate (the in town Milano airport), from there to downtown (and to the railway stations) though, one still needs to take a cab/taxi...Or the orange busses...
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| Quote: |
skanky, I bet that was quite an €xp€ri€nc€...
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Luckily it was a work trip, so the customer paid for it (they were the ones who decided I needed to go to luxembourg and booked the flight). They're a bank, so they could afford it.
The best bit though, was the running commentary the taxi driver to me.
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| Matteo wrote: |
P.S. when do you plan to go? |
I had made my arrangements for this winter before I knew about the flights to Bolzano. But maybe I can make an extra trip in the school holidays in February, if time and finances allow.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I've been to Kronplatz, just for a day when staying at Canazei (the winner of the most boring Apres ski place in the Alps 5 years running or if it isn't, it should be).
Good ski area for a couple of days max. Lot's of nice, friendly, Austrian speaking people. Feels slightly bizarre because it's a sort of huge dome shape so when your right at the top in the middle of the plateau you can head off in any direction and hit a run.
Think it's in an area that got 'given' to Italy as a reward for surrendering in WWII.
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| NickW wrote: |
Think it's in an area that got 'given' to Italy as a reward for surrendering in WWII. |
The area of the South Tirol (Sud-Tirol) got transferred from Austria to Italy after the end of the 1st World War, (much to the locals' displeasure) as a result of Italy being on the winning side. Since then there has been an attempt to Italianise the area, but in recent years the still mainly german speaking area has been given greater autonomy.
Perhaps Matteo could give more background info?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Indeed, isn't A Farewell To Arms based in said area in WWI?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I though it was what you made model aircraft from
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You know it makes sense.
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| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| NickW wrote: |
Think it's in an area that got 'given' to Italy as a reward for surrendering in WWII. |
The area of the South Tirol (Sud-Tirol) got transferred from Austria to Italy after the end of the 1st World War, (much to the locals' displeasure) as a result of Italy being on the winning side. Since then there has been an attempt to Italianise the area, but in recent years the still mainly german speaking area has been given greater autonomy.
Perhaps Matteo could give more background info? |
Indeed South Tyrol was taken by Italy from Austria t the end of WWI.
Other regions taken after WWI were the Trentino (fully Italian even if under Austrian rule), the Friuli Venezia Giulia (Trieste) and what is now a big chunk of Slowenia and Croatia, which have been ethnically cleansed of ethnic Italians by the good communist warriors of Tito (ever heard of the "Foibe") at the end of WWII.
In fact ,history books in Italy sometimes refer to WWI as to "the last Italian indipendece war" (the others were fought from 1848ish on)
South Tyrol, as many border regions has never been populated by only one ethnic group, there are the Ladini living there, which ethnically/linguistically are neither Italian nor German/Austrian but Retho Romanic, much like the poeple in Swiss Graubunden and Austrian Voralrberg, Italians and of course Austrians...
These three main groups have been living separtely in the same area ever since the annexion to Italy, there had been an attempt, during Mussolini's regime, to force italianization of the Austrian speaking people, those who resisted were simply loaded onto trains and sent to Austria...
Since WWII end, a treaty is in force between Austria and Italy, which gives Vienna a sort of "godfather" status to South Tyrol.
The region, thanks to the Tourism and the fact of being part of Italy (thus cheaper than other places), and to the fact that it is an autonomous region (which means that they nearly self rule themselves, with money sent in from Rome, tons of it, all coming from other Italian regions taxes), has become quite rich, in the past thirty years or so.
Linguistic/ethnic minorities are guaranteed to the max, with the irony that, Italians are the minority in South Tyrol, and the "threatened" party!!!!
To this one must add that being a region full of mountians, communication line were difficult, and thus, people of one ethnic group living in a valley had to go to the German speaking town of Bolzano to receive help/instruction and maybe people of another ethnic group, living in another valley had to go to the Italian speaking town of Trento (Trient) for the same reason...
My direct experience in the region has always been positive, but I am not a local resident, so I can't directly testify on the undercurrents between different groups.
What I can testify on is that I've always been treated well, even in areas (especially those closer to the Austrian border) where the Italian language is unknown by most.
We spend our week of vacation on the mountain (settimana bianca, the white week, it's called in Italy) in Colfosco, which is formally South Tyrol, but inhabited by Ladini. Never had a problem...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Matteo, Thanks for that most informative post. I knew about the Ladini population (having been in Canazei last year). I didn't know about the ethnic cleansing of Italian speakers you referred to in the old Yugoslavia after WWII - it seems some people's intolerant attitudes never change!
Incidentally, I saw a TV programme once about the WWI mountain battles between Austria and Italy. Both sides used artillery to trigger avalanches onto the opposing troops - horrendous  Thank goodness these days avalanches are only deliberately triggered as avalanche control to save lives.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Alastair Pink, indeed it started as a kind of "political" cleansing, supported by the italian communists which were much in favour of the annexion of that part of Italy from a progressist country such as communist Yugoslavia(Trieste, in their plans, should have followed suit and be part of it, don't remember which one of the winning powers, whether the UK or the USA were in favour of it and which one wasn't, luckily the side which wasn't "won")...and quickly became ethnical...
Ever heard of Missoni, one of the Italian modemakers? He's an "Istrian", that is an Italian whose family had to flee or else...there are many like him, some do have vaguely Slav family names, comes to mind some colleagues with names like "Paulovich" and "Vodopivec"...
Others preferred to stay "with the motherland" (i.e. the place where they were born, even if it was changing denomination) and else.
Many South Tyroler did that, luckily for them, the Fascist regime lasted "only" 20 years, and after that they obtained plenty of guarantees...to keep their identity.
I think that was a choice the then Italian PM (de Gasperi) was offered...to "give back" South Tyrol to Austria and keep Istria, or to forget about Istria and keep South Tyrol...but I can't find the doc where I read that, so I keep it as "unconfirmed" in the backyard of my brain.
Another example is Girardelli....
Girardelli's great-grandfather chose, after WWI end, to remain Austrian...
Girardelli is clearly an Italian family name.
OTOH, I do have colleagues whose fathers are old enough that were born Austrian and then became Italian...
These are examples of how complicated history gets in border regions...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ingams and Thompson now offer charter flights to Bolzano (via Innsbruck) and it is the tiny but proper Bolzano Airport 40k from Selva. Problem is that they only allow you to fly for 7 day duration so no long weekends. Also costs around £200 so not great value. Lot cheaper to fly Ryanair or Easyjet to Verona (Bresica) or Venice (Marco Polo) with return flights any day of the week at approx £19 each way and then hire a car. We have flights at good times on a friday morning arriving in Bresica at 09.30 and should be able to get to resort by 12.00 and ski the afternoon, then fly back monday at 20.30 so can ski monday morning too. Flights were 2.99 plus taxes totalling £37.90 for a return and car was £78 for 4 days and is split between 3 of us TOTAL cost of £191.70 saving approx £140 per person on charter flight cost and we reckon max 2 -3 transfer time if you don't mind the drive.
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