Alexandersmap

    Tag: Dolomites

    • Encountering Seceda

      “Take the time to put the camera away and gaze in wonder at what’s there in front of you.” — Erick Widman

      Somehow, when visiting the one place I’d circled as a must-see on this weekend diversion south from Austria and Bavaria, I’d left both cameras behind. Realizing it halfway up the first cable car I cursed out loud, startling my wife buried in terror in my chest. She has a distinct fear of heights and the journey up to Seceda was a big ask. But at least she’d remembered her iPhone. Damage mitigated.

      When you walk out from that second cable car and the world opens up around you, it feels otherworldly. The spiky peaks, the snow-capped vista far off in the distance, and the green alpine meadows beginning at your feet each draw the eye and boggle the mind. I envy the people who see this for the first time stepping out to greet it. For me, YouTube videos had teased the view for months. Yet it exceeds expectations anyway.

      Without a camera, I forced myself to soak it all in. iPhone 10 image quality? Good enough. I’ll leave it for the hordes of Instagramers and YouTubers with their drones and expensive cameras and models to better capture the essence of the place. For me, this will do.

      We spent a few hours with the view, borrowing my wife’s phone for some pictures but mostly leaving well enough alone. This was a sign telling me to relax a bit with the Instagram feed. Gaze with a healthy dose of wonder at the world around you.

    • Early Morning Walk in Castelrotto

      As an American from the northeast, I know all about traffic, but it was a surprise to encounter so much of it on the stretch from Hohenschwangau, Germany to Castelrotto, Italy. Then again, it was a beautiful Saturday morning and the world seemed to be going on holiday. Chalk it up to poor planning on my part. If there was a silver lining, the drive was stunningly beautiful and all that sitting at a standstill allowed me to look around.

      When we finally got to Castelrotto, we weren’t inclined to jump right back into the car and leave this lovely little town. A brief walk after dinner revealed the character of the place, which prompted an early morning walk before the bell tower started its daily ritual of marking time beginning at 6 AM. The magic in any place is revealed on the edges of the day, for me that time before the world wakes up is most special. And so it was that I fell in love with this little town that seemed impossible to get to the day before.

      There are three languages spoken here, and the locals seem to know a few more than that. Italian, German and Ladin are the core languages, which reveals both geography and a history of land grabbing. World War I settled the border, but the locals seem to roll with it and pivot quickly to whatever language you’re speaking. After my brief stumbling with German, that generously included English. No matter, the beauty of the place transcends my words anyway.