Festive lights in Bolzano – Paolo Morando

2.00 pm: the Similaun man.
The first stop is the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which houses Ötzi, the Similaun mummy, found by chance on 19 September 1991 by hikers, when only the torso reappeared due to the summer melting of the snow in Val Senales (only 92 meters from the border with Austria). The glacier then returned remains of skin and fur, lanyards and tufts of grass, a dagger, a bow, a quiver and even a cap. Ötzi is kept in a cold room that reproduces the conditions of the glacier. The body – about 13 kilos for just over one and a half meters – is placed on a precision scale, in an environment with a constant temperature of -6 degrees and 99 percent humidity, and is visible from a small opening.

5 pm: historical centre.
The commercial tradition of Bolzano – one of the historic buildings in the center is Palazzo Mercantile – lives on today in the very central via dei Portici. Leaving the museum, you can walk along it on one side and go back on the other: there are all kinds of shops. At the beginning (or at the end of the double passage) you find yourself near Piazza delle Erbe, in the open-air fruit and vegetable market, and more. It has existed for 400 years and is permanent, every day until 7pm, except Sundays. Along the parallel via Argentieri and via della Mostra, raising your eyes you can admire the facades of the buildings. Not to be missed are the artistic installations of the Angelus Loci project in piazza Walther and via Goethe.

8 pm: in the stube.
Passing through piazza Municipio and going up via dei Bottai, the first dinner can only be at Ca’ de Bezzi in via Andreas Hofer, the oldest tavern in the city. For some years it has expanded, with a maxi cube of modernist glass and wood next to it, but it is better to choose the small and historic stube: between Herrengröstl (roasted meat, potatoes and onions), home-made macaroni, spare ribs and flowing beer , all strength is recovered.

10 am: cable car and train.
Not far from the bus station, the Renon cable car takes you to Soprabolzano in a few minutes, where there is also a small train. On the plateau, where Sigmund Freud also spent his holidays, there are splendid villas from the early twentieth century, which make us understand the local saying according to which every Bolzano resident must have a house under the arcades, a place in the church and a villa on the Renon. At the Kaserhof farm you can also see specimens of llamas and alpacas bred in this area.

1 pm: in the brewery.
Coming down from the plateau, returning to the center in the Piazza delle Erbe area is Hopfen, the Bolzano temple of craft beer, precisely the Bozner Bier. Tavern and brewery, since 1998 it has been a reference point for the evening nightlife. But in the cold it is better to go there for lunch. Brewing of light, dark and Weizen (as well as specialty beers) takes place in the room four times a week. To eat, to try as many of the house delicacies as possible, you must order the “rustic dish”: perhaps in two, given the abundance.

2.00 pm: at the market.
It is the largest and longest-lived Christmas market in Italy. It has existed since 1991 and in thirty years it has turned into a demonstration with colossal numbers. Crossing the threshold, the atmosphere is the same as always: lights, music, aromas (above all the cinnamon in mulled wine) and Christmas objects of local craftsmanship. But the mouth wants its part: and then honey, syrups, compotes, speck, sausages, pretzels, canederli and the most varied sweets. The opening hours are from 10 to 19: it takes at least an hour to visit all the forty exhibitors. But it’s better to give yourself a budget, otherwise you risk leaving with an empty wallet.

5 pm: Tyrolean Baroque.
A stone’s throw from the market is the haughty and evocative cathedral. Also interesting is the Treasury of the Cathedral, a museum of sacred arts in the former residence of the cathedral parish priest: it contains one of the richest collections of sacred furnishings from the Baroque period in the Tyrol area, around a hundred objects, including a 136 m high gilded monstrance centimeters for a weight of 13 kilos, an ancient nativity scene and parchments from Avignon dating back to the fourteenth century. A little further on is the Dominican church, whose cloister (if open) is worth a visit.

8 pm: a warm evening.
Although it is difficult to find a seat, Vögele on Goethe street is recommended for an evening meal. Spread over several floors in a historic building, it is perhaps the best restaurant in town: authentic Tyrolean cuisine with refined variations. Without spending too much.

10 am: beyond the Talvera.
To understand how there are two Bolzanos, just cross the Talvera torrent: on this side the German city, with its sparkling shops, on the other the Italian one, which grew up after the war. To welcome visitors there is the monument to Victory in the square of the same name (the victory is that of 1918), erected by fascism complete with lictoral symbols. For decades an emblem of division, it has now been turned into a museum through an exhibition that does no one wrong. Further on, taking Corso Libertà and then Corso Italia (here the toponymy marks the territory), you arrive in Piazza del Tribunale and the former Casa Littoria, where a period bas-relief celebrates Benito Mussolini and the Fascist period. Then going up along via Druso, you find the rationalist building of the former Gioventù italiana del littorio, now the headquarters of the Eurac research centre. Once you have crossed the Talvera again, you can turn into via Dante towards the Museion, to pass from marble to contemporary art.

12 o’clock: Tyrolean pride.
To dilute the view of a past that does not pass away, it is better to dive into Cavallino Bianco, the historic restaurant in via dei Bottai. Tradition welcomes customers right from the external facades of the building, richly frescoed. Inside then, between a shank and a pork loin, or a goulash, you eat surrounded by wooden walls and hunting trophies that make even the fasces forget.