Bolzano

DAY 5

 

Arriving in Bolzano, our group went straight to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. We gazed at the fascinating exhibit of Otzi, the iceman. On display was a life-sized model of what he looked like when he was alive about 5,000 years ago, however, we were also able to view the actual frozen body in a special temperature-controlled room. Amazingly, his body was incredibly well-preserved when discovered by hikers in 1991 because it had been so completely frozen for all those millennia. Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed for the majority of the exhibit.

 

After visiting the museum, we were on our own for only a little more than an hour. We went to the cathedral, walked around the town for a while, and then stopped at the busy, colorful outdoor market. This was our first experience with this type of market we really enjoyed watching the local people who were out doing their shopping. It was nice to get a glimpse of real daily Italian life rather than seeing only tourist attractions.

 

Impressed by the freshness of the products at the market, we felt compelled to buy a warm Bavarian pretzel, a very large green apple, and some ham and cheese sandwiches to eat on the bus. While waiting to reconvene with the group at the main piazza, we took in the sounds of the chiming cathedral bells and the music of some lively street musicians.

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Later in the day, we decided to attempt to eat that huge green apple. Only one problem: we didn’t have a knife and it was too large to just bite into. Problem solved! Ignacio found our dental floss and used a piece of it to saw the apple in half. It took a little while, but we were finally able to enjoy our apple and felt like we had earned the treat just a little more. He is always coming up with ingenious ways to solve challenges– and I bet you've never tasted minty green apple!