Badia

I had 10 days to kill before arriving in Venice. I looked for somewhere to stop in between Nice and Venice and narrowed down to Lake Como and the Dolomites. Lake Como is expensive, probably touristy and I was not sure how to spend 10 days there. 

With the Dolomites, I checked tour operators and trekking operators and finally decided to engage local guides. I wrote to 2 guides and Alberto (http://www.albertodegiuli.com/) replied with some ideas. I further researched on his suggestions and decided to place my faith in him. Once we have determined that I would be based in Badia, I began to plan my trip. 

It was another semi-epic journey - I first took an overnight Russian (!) train from Nice to Verona. (The train starts from Paris, goes to Berlin and ends in Moscow.) 

The seats fold into a bed:

I had Lady Luck on my side. The room that normally sleeps 3 was only occupied by me. I saved on hotel and slept not too badly.

We reached Verona at 4am. I panicked a bit because my connecting train was due to depart at 5.52am but the ticket office was not opened. (I sat with a group of random people outside the locked lobby. Eventually the lobby was opened to the public at 5am and I managed to print my tickets at the self-service ticket machines.)

From Verona, I took a train to Bolzano and then transferred to another train to Brunico. From Brunico, I took a bus to Badia. My bus is supposed to stop at the Brunico train station but my bus number was not displayed. I asked around but because nobody was sure if the bus would stop at the train station, I walked to the bus station instead. 

17 hours later, I reached Hotel Ustaria Posta in Badia, Italy.

A: Nice --> B: Verona --> C: Bolzano --> D: Brunico --> E: Badia

Badia

(Source: http://www.visitdolomites.com/en/dolomites)

I stayed in the the heart of the Dolomites, in Alta Badia, and specifically the village of Badia. Alta Badia is made up of 3 municipalities – La Val, Corvara (with the towns of Corvara and Colfosco) and Badia (with the towns of La Villa, San Cassiano and Badia). (Source: http://www.altabadia.org/en-US/alta_badia_valley.html)

Alta Badia used to belong to Tyrol, which was part of Austria from 1813. Its history since then can be summarised as follows:

1915: A secret treaty between Italy and the Allies promised Italy the southern part of Tyrol (which Alta Badia is part of) as a reward for entering the First World War on their side (Treaty of London). Italy accordingly swapped sides and declared war on Austria-Hungary and took over South Tyrol.

1922: Benito Mussolini became prime minister, the Fascists rose to power and the government began a systematic programme of Italianising South Tyrol. 

1943: Fascist regime collapsed and South Tyrol was occupied by the Germans. 

1945: Allies occupied South Tyrol in World War II. During the peace negotiations following the Second World War a request for South Tyrol to be returned to Austria was rejected.

1956 - not sure when: Civil unrests against the Italian government.

1959: The sovereign state of Austria issue was brought before the UN General Assembly. The Austrian and Italian foreign ministers tabled a resolution. 

1961: The same issue was brought before the UN General Assembly again. A commission drew up an autonomy package. The South Tyrolean Regional Government was granted jurisdiction over many spheres which would normally be regulated by the state - transport, public works, social affairs etc. 

1972: The second autonomy statute came into force, placing public health and safety, commerce, trade and road building under the control of the South Tyrolean Regional Government. 

(Source: http://www.suedtirol.info/en/)

[I became curious about Badia's history in part because Alberto explained some of it, in part because I was curious of Ladin being spoken in the region and lastly because it is linked to the history of First World War in the region.]

The locals in Alta Badia speak Ladin, which originated from Rhaeto-Romanic, a language that goes back to the Roman Empire. It is based on Latin and is thus similar to languages such as French. As a result of Alta Badia's history, half of the subjects are taught in Italian in school and the other half in German. The students also have to learn Ladin. (Source: http://www.altabadia.org/en-US) Italian, German and Ladin are official languages for the area and road signs have all 3 languages. 

Ladin, German, Italian

Except when ordering my gelato (for which I am very fluent in Italian), I mostly spoke English, while keeping the locals amused with my Ladin.

Hotel Ustaria Posta

I stayed in Hotel Ustaria Posta (http://www.ustariaposta.it) in Badia for 1 week. Alberto had given me some suggestions and I chose Ustaria Posta after doing some researches. The hotel is run by the Tavella family and it seems to be a meeting place for everyone - the Tavella family members, locals, cyclists, mountain guides, tourists... One can find the workers standing at the bar, having their expresso and chatting to the owners early in the morning. In the afternoon and evenings, there are people playing card games in the Stüa (Ladin word for living room). 

This is not surprising, given the hospitality of the family and the long history of the hotel in the area. Ustaria Posta began as the hotel, post office and bakery of the village. Signore Eduard, the current hotel owner, is the founder of Maratona dles Dolomites (a 175km annual cycling marathon through the Dolomites). His son, Igor, rides competitively and also operates Holimites (http://www.holimites.com), a tour operator for the region. Signora Nina runs the restaurant like a tight ship and makes the best tiramisu in town. The family is too nice. I did not know how to address Igor's parents and called them 'Papa' and 'Mama' and nobody corrected me. Hahahaha!

Signora Nina, Igor, Signore Eduard

I think a lot of effort has been spent to make everyone feel at home - from staff to decoration to food. They have so many orchids that remind me of home. Old photographs occupy the walls and there are just too many funny pictures of Igor (I think he is in love with himself  ;p). 

Poor Mama Nina had to do laundry

I had a huge debate with Igor if this was digitally edited
- he always has this cheeky huge grin
& I can never tell if he is pulling my leg

My Italian/Ladin combo did not work -
I still received a big slab of steak for dinner 

My room was big and clean and I had an awesome view of pines, dolomites and the beautiful blue sky. Dinner was always wonderful and HUGE in portion. On the first night, I was already worrying about putting on weight.

I read in another website that this person liked the hotel so much that he asked to be adopted. I asked to come back to work as a waitress. Igor said I have to pass a test on Ladin. Booooo....

View from room