We took a last look at the view across the lake, made even
prettier by the snow that was falling. We weren’t quite expecting that here but
it was a hint of what was to come.
Driving down through Bavaria to the Austrian border was interesting. Low cloud
covered most of the mountains but the trees had fresh snow, white against the
dark green, which resulted in great views. The problem was the snow that was
falling although fortunately it wasn’t laying as the temperature was just above
zero. Jane was on duty checking the route on Google to ensure that there weren’t
any problems. Last evening we bought a digital pass for a single day Austrian vignette
(for the Austrian motorways) and a separate digital pass for the Austrian part
of the Brenner motorway that leads to the Brenner Pass. We were particularly
concerned about the Brenner Pass just in case the snow was worse there.
As it turned out, the snow stopped just before we got on the Brenner motorway
and we had no problems. We left the motorway as we went into Italy and,
although this meant that we had a much slower journey, we were able to see the
villages on route and enjoy the views in the valley. We were always in sight of
the motorway, mostly elevated and sometimes soaring above us. We followed, and
sometimes crossed, the icy-green river Isarco that flows down the valley until
we reached Chiusa or Klausen. All of the towns and villages in the valley have
two names, one Italian and the other German. This area of South Tyrol is
predominately German speaking but other areas are Italian speaking and in a few
areas Ladin is the most spoken language.
Italian campsites are generally much more expensive than those in France,
Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. They are more comparable with those in the UK
but the site in Chiusa was particularly expensive at €51.30. Fortunately, Hotel
Camping Gamp also offered a camperstop with water, dumping and electricity for
€31.50 – expensive but well positioned and great views of the valley and the
monastery positioned high above the village.
We took the 5 minute walk into the town that turned out to be really pleasant
with interesting architecture. We wandered around the compact old town before
finding a restaurant in the main square. This was to be our first proper pizza
of the trip, cooked in a very sophisticated wood-fired oven. I watched the
pizza chef place the pizzas on a thick rotating stone base that covered the
whole of the floor of the oven. He pressed a button that started a three-minute
time and, much to my surprise, the rotating stone started to rise, taking the
pizzas closer to the roof of the oven. Pizza chefs often do this manually with
a peel, as the oven is much hotter at the top and this encourages the crust to
rise around the edge and more rapidly cooks the topping. The rotating stone
then returned to its original height until the chef decided they were ready. I
must say that the results were very good. Researching the oven it turned out
that it was made by Marana just a short way south in Verona.
Photos: Snow on the way through Bavaria; Our pitch in Chiusa with the monastery
in the distance; Street view in Chiusa; View of the main church tower with
clock and sundial; A very good piece of wood carving from the church; The pizza
– its name translates to Arm Wrestler!
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