Joanne's long walks: Via Romea Germanica Day 66: Barbiano

Il camminare presuppone che a ogni passo il mondo cambi in qualche suo aspetto e pure che qualcosa cambi in noi.

(Walking presupposes that with every step, something about the world changes, and something changes within us.)

- Italo Calvino, Collezione di sabbia (1984)

Northern Italy is undergoing an unusually early heat wave. According to the friend who will be hosting us tomorrow night, Bolzano is currently the hottest city in Italy. Even though it is tucked in among the Alps, the city of Bolzano is only 262 metres above sea level. And with mountains on either side, heat and pollution get trapped in the valley. So perhaps we may be forgiven for shortening the day's stage using public transportation... and not just any form of public transportation, either! Read on...

We began the day's walk in Barbiano, where we left off last night. Silvio drove us there, and then dropped off our backpacks at the hostel in Bolzano, on his way back home after a week cycling and hiking in Trentino and Alto Adige. We were grateful to be able to walk this hot and challenging stage without the weight of our backpacks.

We arrived in Barbiano just as the villagers were entering the church for a special service marking the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, with all the children seated at the front around the altar, ready to receive their special blessing.

We went in search of a fountain with a monument to the pilgrim in its centre, mentioned in our guidebook. Not wanting to waste any steps, we asked a couple of locals where it was; they had no idea, but said there was a small fountain behind the church. So we went to check, and there was the monument, quite obviously identifiable as a pilgrim, with his shell, cape, hat and staff; though these symbols are perhaps not so easily recognisable to someone unfamiliar with pilgrim culture!

After filling our water bottles at the fountain and obtaining a stamp from the tourist office, we set off along a cycling track beside the road that soon brought us to a new pedestrian and cycling bridge - so new it does not appear in my guidebook or on the gps track of the Via Romea Germanica. In any case, it offers a shortcut across the valley, rather than following the bend in the road further upstream, below a distant waterfall.

We carried on following the road, even after the cycling lane disappeared and we had to share the narrow roadway with the occasional car, tractor or milk collection truck. We eventually turned off the road next to a farm where they were busy "making hay while the sun shines".

From here we headed up a steep path through the trees to the church of Santa Verena, then down along an ancient pilgrimage path marked with the Stations of the Cross and across the fields from one farmhouse to the next.

By now the sun was growing very hot, and we were often walking on black asphalt, so we were happy when the trail went back into the trees - and not so happy when it climbed steeply beside a fence through a grassy field, once again with the Stations of the Cross at regular intervals throughout the ascent, ending at the church of Santa Maria Saal, where we sat inside the cool stone church enjoying a respite from the scorching heat.

The views from this section of the trail were fantastic, but not as dramatic as the sight awaiting us on the next part of the trail, a boardwalk and woodland trail with views over the Earth Pyramids.

Earth pyramids are formed when a number of unique factors come into play simultaneously: the substrate must be clay-rich and fine-grained, and must also contain relatively large stones. The partially consolidated moraine deposits found in areas where the terrain is steeply inclined and protected from wind offer especially favourable conditions. The process of formation of earth pyramids requires heavy rains alternating with prolonged periods of drought; the rainwater erodes the steeply-sloping sides of the pyramids, creating furrows which become more pronounced over time. At times of drought, this loamy material solidifies, and extremely hard surfaces are formed. A huge stone covering the mass protects the material below from rain, and over the course of several millennia a cone-shaped mound or earth pyramid is formed, with a big rock uncannily perched atop it, like a sort of hat.

At a certain point, the covering stone becomes unbalanced and falls to the ground. This event signals the gradual demise of the earth pyramid, which is now exposed to rain and over time becomes ever thinner and shorter, until it disappears entirely. Simultaneously, new earth pyramids are formed in the terrain to the rear.

Earth pyramids exist on all five continents. Those found in Ritten/Renon are the tallest and morphologically the best-developed in Europe. These earth pyramids are protected as natural monuments of geological interest.

The trail above the earth pyramids was given added interest by the presence of ancient cart tracks in the solid rock, indicating that this trail has been a place of passage for many centuries. We sat in the shade on the rocks above one of these cart tracks to eat our sandwiches and fruit, then moved on just a few hundred metres to a café for a cold drink. We ventured back into the heat to walk a couple of kilometres further, to Collalbo, then through the town and through some roadworks... Our plan was to walk as far as the top end of the cable car at Soprabolzano, and take the cable car down to the city to save our knees the stress of a long, steep descent.

But when we found ourselves at the Collalbo train station and saw the cute little red train of the narrow-gauge Renon railway right there waiting, due to set off in ten minutes for the cable car station in Soprabolzano, the temptation was just too great! Narrow-gauge railway lines and vintage trains have been a fun sideline of the Via Romea Germanica for me ever since the Harzer Schmalspurbahn and the tram line through the woods between Gotha and Friedrichroda, and here was another special railway to add to the collection! And while I took those two railways as bonus trips beyond and in addition to walking the Way last May, on this occasion, nearing the end of a stage in the afternoon of a scorching hot day, I decided to consider the narrow-gauge railway a valid form of transportation for a pilgrimage, purchased two tickets and hopped on!

18 minutes later, we had travelled all of four kilometres - the train is not really much faster than walking, further confirming its validity as a pilgrim conveyance, in my opinion - and hopped off the train and onto the cable car for a dramatic ride down the mountain to the big city: Bolzano/Bözen.

On the way down we saw more earth pyramids - looking tiny so far below - and acres of vineyards, all against the backdrop of the Dolomites towering in the distance. Below us, the haze of a big city suffering an untimely heat wave. As soon as we stepped out of the cable car, a wave of big city heat struck us, and we were happy that our hostel was only a few minutes' walk away from the cable car terminal. Upon checking in, we were even happier to discover that we had air conditioning!

After a shower, a brief rest and an attempt at planning the next few days, we ventured out for a look around and get some dinner in the lively city centre. As the air grew cooler on this Friday night, everyone seemed to be out for a stroll or a few drinks with friends. We settled on a place that offered simple but healthy food and ended up chatting with a couple from Seattle sitting at the next table, about to set out on a cycling trip down the Po Valley.

I sure hope the weather cools down for them - and for us!