Between Christmas markets and nature

Close to Christmas we decided to make a little trip to a market in South Tyrol and take the opportunity to spend a few days in the midst of nature. Our choice fell on Merano, which we reached by lunchtime. Settled into the Vallreis guest house in Schenna (5 km above Merano), we set off for our Christmas shopping, by bus (why look for parking?) which connects Schenna to Merano every hour until 19.00. Merano's Advent market is located in a sunny position along the promenade on the Passirio river. The colours and smells overwhelmed us from the first moment; we tasted every kind of speciality, from the roast lamb sandwich to strudel, from milk-filled chocolates to gingerbread, and we admired and bought Christmas decorations of every shape, material and colour and many handicrafts to bring little gifts to relatives and friends.

The afternoon was then enlivened by the Knups (the devils who on St Nicholas's evening carry off the children who have not been good) who chased the children who mocked them, and around 17.00, when the temperature began to drop and the crowd to grow, we left the market to continue our tour along Merano's delightful arcades and our visit to the castle. On Sunday morning we avoided the chaos of the market and set off to discover the Val d'Ultimo. It's a closed valley that ends at Lake Fontana Bianca; it lies a few km from Merano in the direction of Lana and offered us the chance to spend a day discovering its beauties. Arriving in the first little village, San Pancrazio, we felt as if transported back in time, with the painted houses, the little church on the square and the aluminium milk churns outside the doors, waiting to be filled.

Here in San Pancrazio, just outside the village, on the left after crossing the river, you leave the car to go and visit a very strange "little house on the rock". You head towards the woods, where, after crossing a stream, you come upon the "Hausl am Stoan" which legend holds to be the only house left standing because it was built on a rock, after a flood carried away all the surrounding land, lowering its level by about 3 metres. It's truly singular to see this house, which in summer is still inhabited, clinging to a boulder. Back at the car we set off again to go up the valley and, past the village of San Nicolò, before reaching San Geltrude on the left near a kind of bus stop, there's the sign for the "two-thousand-year-old larches".

Leaving the car, we set off on a cheerful walk through the snow of about 20/25 minutes and there before us stand the silhouettes of 3 gigantic larches that are approximately 1950 to 2050 years old... but can you imagine how many things they have seen? They are enormous and the six of us in a circle couldn't manage to embrace the largest one. The trunks are hollow and you can comfortably stand inside them; around there are also tables and benches for a picnic... naturally when the season allows. Retracing our steps we continue along the valley and reach the end, beyond San Geltrude, up to Lake Fontanabianca which stretches out before us completely frozen and snow-covered.

After a look at the lake and surroundings and a tasty lunch, along the way back we see a beautiful toboggan run and so, having hired a sledge, we conclude this splendid day racing along with the children, up and down the run. On the last day, to avoid the endless queues that would have formed shortly afterwards, we set off in the morning and make a stop before Trento, at the Segonzano Pyramids. Here too a considerable climb takes us after about half an hour to reach the three viewpoints from which you admire these peculiar formations that erosion and time have made similar to pinnacles with a stone on top that looks like a hat placed there by someone!! And so our long weekend ended, discovering another beautiful corner of Italy.