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Yes, indeed. It makes me think of the North Sea coast and even Denmark. By the way, flying private to some of those North Sea islands (Norderney, Borkum, Wangerooge) is on the planning table right now!

Concerto

In Oberhausen there is a huge repurposed gasometer which has been the focal point of outstanding exhibitions for several years now. I can recall an amazing exhibition about the moon, with a huge ball with a map of the moon slowly orbiting within the heart of the Gasometer, while on another occasion Christo draped material all over the Gasometer, as is his unusual style, until it was totally covered.


Exterior of the Gasometer in Oberhausen


The exhibition space on the ground floor

The current exhibition (€12), which will be finished by the time you read this, focused on the environment, with a thought provoking title: Das zerbrechliche Paradies (The Fragile Paradise). For any of these exhibitions in the Gasometer, you need to budget 2-3 hours to do them justice. The captions are of a perfect length and the English translations are impeccable. The huge ground floor space consisted of outstanding photographs, all blown up to multiple times their original size, of the natural world in all its aspects. Some of those images will stay with me forever, animals stalking their prey, a monkey in a hot pool with a smartphone snatched from a tourist seconds previously, vast desert panoramas. On the 1st level above the ground floor was a series of images portraying how the environment is being destroyed, in graphic and dramatic terms.


An enormous globe, suspended in the huge open space in the center of the Gasometer

From there, a flight of steps leads up to the vast central space of the Gasometer, where a rising terraced seating area with bean bags allows you to sit and admire the huge slowly rotating globe of the world above your head. Arrows of light criss crossing the globe denoted shipping channels and flight paths, as well as the various ice ages in the history of our planet. In this huge space, which consists of the remaining interior volume of the Gasometer, the mind boggles as to the volume of coal gas which had been stored there in the past. From the balcony surrounding the entire sitting area, an internal and dizzying glass elevator rises to the top of the Gasometer, where you emerge into the daylight and enjoy amazing views across Oberhausen. Ruhr region landmarks are visible (including the television tower in Essen and the Tetraeder sculpture at Bottrop) and it is interesting to contemplate how the landscape would have looked at its industrial highpoint.
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From the top of the Gasometer there are great views over Oberhausen and surroundings


This view is looking to the East, with the A42 down below on the left

I wanted to just include this image, for a short time, because I fear I might be breaching copyright protocol. It is the iconic photo of the monkey in Japan who nicked the smartphone from a tourist and started playing with it:

offerendum

The current (past) exhibition at the Gasometer is stunning, especially the lower level.

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You refer to The Fragile Paradise exhibition that I saw, right? It was certainly amazing, I saw it twice. I'm not sure what the next exhibition is going to be, I will have to check if out (especially as I'm in Oberhausen right now).

It seems that it is called Planet Ozean (Ocean Planet) and that the exhibition will commence on 15th March.

https://www.gasometer.de/de

offerendum

Yes. The monkey was one of my favorite pictures. Some other favorites:




Will definitely do the new exhibition too.

Concerto

Maybe we can do the exhibition at the same time. Any other posters here would be welcome to join. I have a friend coming over for Easter who will certainly enjoy it. Otherwise, I will be here during the summer and available to visit the exhibition.

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SkyAlps (BQ) is the latest in a series of airlines that have over the years provided flights to the Alpine airport of Bolzano. One by one they have gone bankrupt, one after another, the latest incumbent having been Air Alps! I can only wish SkyAlps good luck, because they offer a level of service approaching that of SUN-AIR of Scandinavia. However, it appears that SkyAlps does not operate any of their own flights, but rely on aircraft provided by LuxWing (BN) which offers private aviation and franchised aircraft to other airlines. The fleet is composed exclusively of Q400 Dash 8 turboprop planes that appear to have previously been owned by Austrian Airlines, judging by the colour scheme on the back of the seats.


Boarding the SkyAlps flight to Bolzano


SkyAlps offers a tasting of wines from the Südtirol on their flights to Bolzano


Inflight catering with specialities from the Südtirol (Alto Adige), although I saw the Loacker factory across the border in Austria

Check-in at Düsseldorf airport was a pleasant experience, with nobody waiting in line and a friendly check-in agent who issued boarding passes. Security took minutes to clear and we roamed around terminal A before realising that the flight left from terminal B. Boarding was civilised and we were transported by bus to a remote stand on the apron, where we boarded the turboprop Dash8 Q400 plane. The flight was full except for one seat towards the back along with some seats which were blocked at the front for weight distribution purposes. The demographic was rich German families travelling to their holiday homes in the Südtirol (Alto Adige region of North Italy). Despite the flight being full, it felt comfortable and the seat was spacious enough. In the seat pocket was a bulky inflight magazine that served as an advertising platform for numerous tourist commerces in the Südtirol. There was also a little wine menu for the inflight service which consisted of a tasting of Alto Adige wines, with three whites and one red on offer. This was complemented by locally made snacks, such as Tarulli biscuits and Loacker chocolate wafers. As we flew over the Bavarian Alps and Austria there was thick cloud cover and some turbulence. We landed on time at Bolzano's tiny airport.

Rating 8*
Seat 18D - 18F
Aircraft DH4
Registration 8H-ALE


View of Merano and the Südtirol before landing


General cabin view (economy class only) of the SkyAlps plane


Deplaning at Bolzano BZO airport

Fabo.sk

Oberhausen is only 2-2.5 h drive. I would definitely do that, especially if it turns into a Do. Giving me an excuse to stop by Edeka for a good shopping, and potentially a chance to combine this with my long-planned visit to Wuppertal, it'd be hard to say no, if I am around.
Unfortunately it looks like I'll be away over Easter.

That interior is definitely ex-OS, I've spent too much time on them not to recognize it.

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Let's see if we can work something out in July then. The exhibition will continue for probably at least a year, so of it doesn't work in July we have future opportunities. Nearby is Centro and while it is not my favourite place, there are some eating possibilities there and nearby.

There's an Asian fusion restaurant called Xiao, where you pay a flat fee and the food is cooked freshly for you.

Fabo.sk

July should be good. I'm hoping to spend a good part of my spring away, but if that's not settled by July, something has gone wrong. I see that there's also some hotels around Centro/Neue Mitte, so sounds quite good.

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The composer Gustav Mahler was better known as the music director and conductor of the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) when he was alive. Such a job would have left him with no spare time whatsoever, let alone for composing. So Mahler would retire to the Austrian countryside during the summer months, where he would write his huge symphonies and song cycles. The early 1900s was a time during which music was undergoing profound changes as traditional classical structures were being pushed to the limit, with the harmonic language and existing sound world in a process of disintegration. It's a period of endless fascination if you are a musician and visiting the huts where Mahler wrote his greatest works represent a pilgrimage of sorts. Mahler's final two summers before his death in 1911 were spent in Dobbiaco/Toblach, formerly part of the influential Hapsburg empire but now lying in the Alto Adige region of northern Italy where German is more widely spoken than Italian.


The turn off to the Mahler Stube down on the main road, the SS49/E66


Poster board on the way to Mahler's hut

The Mahler family rented the entire upper floor of a large farmhouse just outside Dobbiaco and Mahler constructed, with his own hands I believe, a small wooden hut in the woods about 100 meters away from the farmhouse. It was here where he completed the monumental 9th symphony, as well as the unfinished 10th, an intriguing work, but also the song cycle Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). The hut is pretty much as Mahler left it, although a low wooden fence has been constructed around it. While visiting the hut, which was mercifully free of people, a young descendant of the Trenker(?) family was practicing her violin (a piece by Swiss composer Joachim Raff whom Mahler would surely have known and programmed in his concerts). It really felt like we had stepped back in time because the German speaking young lady was dressed how a young woman would have been clothed in the early 1900s and the whole image was really attractive. Our young interlocutor gave us a tour of the hut, so to speak, reciting a series of facts that were good to be reminded of.


The Mahler hut comes into view as you walk through the woods


The desk where Mahler wrote his last two symphonies.(9 and 10) and "Das Lied von der Erde"

These days getting to the Mahler Stube is quite easy, thanks to Google maps, although you have to drive up a very small road and park at the old farmhouse. This now costs a steep €8 and includes entry to a some sort of zoo that has been established there. My solution was to park for free down on the main road and walk up to the Mahler Stube, a small effort which took about 10-15 minutes. I have nothing against the Tierpark (zoo) as such, but that was not at all the object of my visit.


Manuscript of Mahler's Symphony No. 10, with handwritten annotations


The Mahler Stube in all its glory

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Even if you're not into Gustav Mahler, a visit to the Pustertal (Puster valley) and the mountainous terrain around Dobbiaco-Toblach is well worth undertaking. Despite living in mountainous Switzerland I was blown away, to coin a modern term, by the unusual landscapes of the northern Dolomites and the atmosphere that infused the entire region. For a start, I thought I had landed suddenly in one of Canada's national parks - I will never forget my first impressions of Banff and Jasper National Parks. Heading into the mountains south of Dobbiaco-Toblach you come to Lake Dobbiaco, with an amazing view of a cleft between the mountains when looking to the south over the lake. With its emerald blue colour, the lake and all the grandeur surrounding it has just a touch of Lake Louise about it. Heading deeper into the mountains on the SS51 towards Cortina it felt like I was heading deeper into one of those national parks or into some remote part of Norway.


Delicatessen offer in Area di Servizio Lanz, just a few kilometres east of Bressanone on the SS49


The Air BnB property in Riscone, just outside Brunico

I think that it would be unfair to compare the town of Dobbiaco-Toblach to Banff because the old buildings and church are more reminiscent of somewhere in Austria. If I can make a fair comparison I would say that the Pustertal very much resembles the Pays d'Enhaut between Château d'Oex and Gstaad in Switzerland. Both valleys run east west, have an altitude of at least 1,000 meters and get plenty of sunlight, which means that they don't feel enclosed and dark like the upper Rhône valley. There are places of interest to visit in Brunico-Bruneck, where I stayed, as well as Bressanone-Brixen, but I didn't get the time to do any museum type sights because I was there for only 2 days.


A mountain stew dish that I had at the Rienzbräu in Brunico, which also happened to brew its own beer on-site


First impression of Lago di Dobbiaco


Lago di Dobbiaco is also known as Toblacher See in German

One unusual thing that I did was a sort of road trip following the full SS49 from Bressanone-Brixen to the Austrian border at Sissian. This road doubles as European highway E66, which ends at the northern end of Lake Balaton in Hungary (but has recently been extended further east in Hungary to Szolnok). Amazing to think that one of Europe's so-called superhighways is a 2-lane road which winds through the countryside along what visibly was a cart track where most of the bends haven't been ironed out. On the Austrian side the central white line disappears in the villages where there is almost no room for two way traffic between the old buildings. The main thing about this road is that it's a slow drive and in mid July it's packed with traffic. If there's an accident, there are no alternatives, you are well and truly stuck. This was an issue on the drive back to Bolzano airport to return the rental car.


I know the fjords of Norway are amazing, but I can't think of anywhere else in Europe that has a view quite like this


Driving a little further south along the SS51 brings you to Lago di Landro


Looking north along the SS51, although at this point just below Lago di Landro the road is aligned to the east

Fabo.sk

Very nice. I looked at the map and it's a bit too much to the north to make sense to stop by on my summer roadtrip this year, but maybe at some point in the future.

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The route description in the Rother book commenced in an apologetic way, saying that this hike offered no real views and certainly no amazing vistas. I found this hike to be the opposite and the beauty of the Sexten valley was captivating right up to the end point, a bus stop in the village of Sexten. In fact, you could use it as an introductory hike for the whole region, especially as it's number 1 in the book and lasts only 2 hours (I did it in 1h50 but I was pushing to get to the end on time because I wasn't sure how frequent the bus was). It begins in the town of Innichen at St Michael's church and exits the town towards the south. After you pass the last house you are instructed to follow routes 4 and 5, which run concurrently. But the poorly drawn map in the book does not reflect the orientation of route 4/route 5, because it heads sharply left up into the woods. After little more than 5 or 6 minutes you reach a small recreation area where you have to plunge straight across the grass for about 20 meters (rather than turning left or right on other enticing looking small paths). This is the only dubious part of the walk, for you reach a forest track (wide enough for vehicles) which itself isn't visible from the point when you reach the recreation area a bit earlier. There are no signposts, but turning right sets you correctly onto route 4/route 5 and the orientation is in the right direction for the rest of the hike up the Sexten valley.


St. Michael's church at Innichen


Pile of firewood beside the hiking trail

From this point onwards the hike is plain sailing all the way to Sexten, initially following the wide track through the forest along the hillside. This stretch felt longer than it actually is because the track climbs quite a bit while following the hillside. Finally the uphill stretches cease, the track levels out and we begin to get nice views of the Sexten valley and the strangely carved Dolomites. Suddenly, route 5 forks to the right off the forest track (4 continues straight on) and begins to head steeply down on a small footpath. This was the only slightly tricky part of the hike because the path had turned into a small stream for much of the way making it slippery and slow going. You eventually emerge onto Alpine meadows full of flowers with little huts which seem to be typical of the Dolomites (for storing winter fodder and implements?), but the path becomes almost indistinguishable in places.


The forest path yielded amazing mountain views at every turn


Bench with an amazing view; there were not that many benches on this trail

The village of Sexten with its church is now visible in the distance but there is one last twist: when the path reaches a surfaced farm road, you have to turn sharp left and head steeply upwards for 5-7 minutes (it is signposted as route 5). The surfaced road then winds gently down to the village without you reaching the main road too early and having to walk along it. Once you reach the main road in the middle of the village you have to wander about 150 meters along the other side of the road (where the sidewalk is) to reach the bus stop. Oddly, this small detail is clearly marked in the Rother book. The bus back to Innichen cost €1.50. Parking at the cable car station in Innichen cost a steep €6.


Emerging from the forest onto meadows as we approach Sexten


Church at Sexten, near where the hike ends

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There's no other way of describing it, but it was funny meeting friends from university days at Lake Garda in Italy. Now grown up with families, their presence at the reunion was nice but somehow nostalgic. The wonderful villa that had been rented on the hill above Garda town appeared like some sort of paradise, with its grounds and swimming pool. But for me it quickly turned out to be a nightmare with swarms of mosquitoes in the insufferable heat, so much so that I stopped using the pool after the day we arrived.


Looking down at Lake Garda from the villa


The grounds of the villa with it's swimming pool, with the villa visible in the background


The same swimming pool from a different angle

Yes, Italy is unsupportable in July and August with all the people milling and jostling around and, certainly, the Lago di Garda area was crowded. But it somehow wasn't quite as awful as I expected, despite the endless cars from Germany and Denmark (number plates were from Munich, Ingolstadt, Kassel and other places all strung along the E45, which also has the Italian autostrada number A22). We all coexisted peacefully but traffic along the lakeside road was mostly nose to tail. Restaurants in the area were overpriced and busy and I didn't find anything outstanding during my stay. In the end, we self catered, thanks to the numerous supermarkets such as Spar. There are numerous excursions and boat trips that you can make, if you don't mind sharing your space with loads of milling people. I think most people must enjoy that, but I can't stand it! When the time came to leave, my pal drove me down to Peschiera del Garda (the train station café offered the best cappuccino I have had for a long time) where I took the train to Milan (which cost €11). I hopped off at Milano Lambrate and sought out a restaurant (Pizzeria Anthony) that I had chanced upon on a previous trip (it had been refurbished and was less good). The heat in Milan was at the extreme edge of bearable but, nevertheless, I walked across town to Milano Centrale station, finding the streets empty.


Lunchtime menu at the Pizzeria Trattoria Anthony, near Lambrate station in Milan


Despite the fact that Milan was mostly destroyed during the war there are many fine facades to be found, such as this one here