John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 3 - MERANO & BOLZANO


Bolzano

Today we leave Seefeld early and head south, taking the historic Roman Via Claudia Augusta route, which follows the Swiss border, embracing the breath-taking Alpine scenery dotted with little villages, before we arrive in the delightful spa town of Merano. Why not wander through the tree lined streets, sit at a café by the river marvelling at the majestic snow tipped mountains which surround us. We are now in Südtirol (South Tirol) rich in history which fell into the hands of The Italians after the First World War.

Next we move on to Bolzano, a mix of modern Italian and classic Tyrolean styles. Here you have a choice of two very different experiences: a walking tour with a local guide or entrance to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology home of Ötzi the Iceman. Be sure to try a coffee and a Tyrolean cake in the town’s historic centre too before we return to Seefeld, crossing the Alps by taking The Brenner Pass, arriving back at the hotel for our evening meal.

Janet reported in her journal, “A good sleep, really. [A] comfy night too. Heard Mr. B[lackbird] before 5am. [It was] light at 5.15am. [I got] up, 5.30am. Breakfast. (Yes! At last [John] got access to t’internet. Phew! All OK now.…)”
 Presumably, then, I didn’t tell Janet about last night’s success on the internet till this morning, for at the time she’d been in bed. Breakfast was at 7am today.



We occupied “8” and “10” this morning. Bill and Lil, who arrived after we did, considered it to be their turn to sit at one of the main tables and were miffed to be consigned to the “naughty table”. Val and Mal were “7” and “9” (or vice versa). This was the menu for this evening (evidently, though, not the copy on which we stated our choices).



“At 7.45am, after breakfast at 7am,” Janet wrote, “we left and headed south… We had a ‘pit-stop’ at Reschen.”
 Yesterday, we’d been on the back row of the coach, on the right side. So because of the seating-rotation policy, that each day people on the right move forward two rows, this is what we did. Janet mentioned yesterday “four people from Hong Kong (three women and one man)”: the man and one of the women were seated behind us; in front of us, were Val and Mal.
 As Bernie spoke, I made a few notes:

Merano
Bolzano
Brenner
Return 6–7pm
Tomorrow breakfast from 8am

Today’s route (bold blue line)
Also shown (thin blue line): the route over the Jaufen Pass of my similar tour in 1971
Click to enlarge.

My notes continued with jottings about the journey: “[We] crossed [the] Inn. [We went] along the left of [the] Inn, crossing to [the] right [and to the] left after Telfs.” (That is, “left” as I saw it: we were going upstream, so strictly speaking that was the “rive droite”!) The route from Seefeld took us down to the Inntal (Inn Valley) on the B177, which skirted around the north and east of Zirl, crossed the Inn and joined the Inntal Autobahn, along which we proceeded west. And, as I wrote, the road crossed to the north bank then to the south bank just to the west of Telfs.


Sunday 2 July 2023 08:14:34
After turning onto the Inntal Autobahn (A12) just east of Telfs


Sunday 2 July 2023 08:19:00
After crossing to the south side of the Inn just west of Telfs

“Hängerbrücke at Stams,” I wrote: for, as we approached Stams, I was looking out for the suspension footbridge over the Inn that I crossed on the holiday in September 1971 (“Holiday in Austria (1): The ‘Hängebrücke’”), and that we were hoping to cross tomorrow; and, yes, I saw it flash by.
 I can’t remember when “Ötzi the Iceman” was first mentioned. It may have been as we passed the alpine valley Ötztal to our left, though where he was found in the Ötztal Alps, just over the Italian border, was over 30 miles south of our present location. Some of our number had decided to go to the exhibition of Ötzi’s ca.5000-year-old, naturally mummified remains in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, whereas others, including ourselves, opted for the walking tour of Bolzano.
 “Long Roppener Tunnel”: that’s the straight, horizontal line with “A12” on it, to the left of “Ötztal Bahnhof”, on the map. “Long”: its length is ca.5.1km.
 “Castle on [a] conical mountain to [the] left”: that was the ruined Kronburg castle.
 “Turned left”: it’s strange, in view of their noting the “Long Roppener Tunnel”, that my scribblings made no mention of the even longer (almost 7km) Landecker Tunnel, which we entered almost immediately after we “turned left”. We were now on the “Reschenpaß”, which my notes did mention.
 I didn’t know the location of the next photo (below), but after we got home I ascertained it. One would think that the sign “Pizzeria Restaurant Reisenburg”, visible in the photo, would provide the better clue, but that just led to interminable second-guessing by Google (“Did you mean…?” “Showing results for [something else].” Sometimes I loathe Google with every fibre of my being!). The less likely-seeming “Apart Lutz” instantly brought up the location I was looking for: Prutz.


Sunday 2 July 2023 08:52:34
Heading south through Prutz, with the Inn on our right


Sunday 2 July 2023 08:56:46
Views on the Reschen Pass


Sunday 2 July 2023 08:58:22
Passing the Church of St. Laurentius, Tösens

“Through Pfunds,” I wrote: that was significant because it was where Chris and I thought our tour manager at Untermieming, Philip, had responsibility for a second group (“Holiday in Austria (2): The ‘other party’ and the ‘mutiny’”).


Sunday 2 July 2023 09:08:48
Views on the Reschen Pass

We were very close to the Swiss border to our right at this point.


Sunday 2 July 2023 09:16:06
Hairpin bends on the Reschen Pass just north of Nauders


Sunday 2 July 2023 09:16:12
Hairpin bends on the Reschen Pass just north of Nauders

My notes mention “Franciscan Monastery”, but I’m not sure to what they refer; then on the next line, “Nauders,” through which we passed. We did later pass an abbey (“Marienberg”), but that was well to the south of Nauders, and it was Benedictine not Franciscan.
 “Crossed [the] border [into Italy]: 09:22,” I wrote; then I noted what Bernie announced:

Reschen
09:55 Rendezvous

“We had a ‘pit-stop’ at Reschen,” Janet wrote: “a pee and a drink.” It was actually nearly two miles south of Reschen am See that we stopped, at a parking place on the east side of the Reschensee. For that was where a church was submerged, with only its bell tower poking above the water, when the artificial lake was created. If the rendezvous back at the coach was “09:55”, I suppose that we arrived at 9.25am and had ½-hour.
 “How do the sparrows know it’s Italy?” I asked rhetorically, or “How do the sparrows know where the Italian border is?” For as soon as we entered Italy, all the male sparrows that we saw had all-brown crowns, whereas elsewhere male sparrows had grey crowns with brown borders.
 At the east corner of the parking place there was a little toilet block with three doors (for women, disabled users, and men) and a kiosk next door where we bought something to drink. Then I walked over to the west side where I took this photo (below) before returning to the coach.


Sunday 2 July 2023 09:44:54
Reschen: bell tower of the submerged church in the Reschensee


Sunday 2 July 2023 09:48:52
Nearby map showing Reschen, the Reschensee and other features

The road continued southwards, along which I took these photos—


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:02:38
Dam at the south end of the Reschensee


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:08:08
View on the Reschen Pass


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:10:54
Military Cemetery on a sharp bend of the road, north of Mals


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:10:58
Military Cemetery on a sharp bend of the road, north of Mals


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:11:44
Marienberg Abbey, north of Mals


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:12:08
Marienberg Abbey (right) and Fürstenburg Castle (bottom), north of Mals

—then turned to the east, continuing in that direction as far as Merano. There were abundant fields of fruit trees (apples, etc.), and later also we saw vines. It was along here that we came nearest to where Ötzi was found, some 18 miles.


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:21:06
Views on the road to Merano


Sunday 2 July 2023 10:29:04
Views on the road to Merano

I wrote:

Merano
40,000 [inhabitants]
arr[ived at] 11:26
Meet back [at] 1 o’clock.

Obviously, some of that was written while listening to Bernie and some, looking at my watch. We’d stopped at a bus parking place, and from there we walked north ca.120 yards to a bridge, the Theaterbrücke, across the Passer / Passirio river. After crossing that, we headed east along a riverside promenade ca.¼-mile. “It was already 24 degrees, and wall-to-wall sunshine,” Janet wrote: “very pleasant. We found an Italian restaurant. [John] had a salami pizza (!)[i] and some sparkling white wine (we sat outside), and I had a mixed salad with chicken and a Sprite. Then [we had] a walk back to the coach. Everywhere there were containers and beds of plants in full bloom. So beautiful.”

[i] The exclamation mark implies that I have pizza by default when it is available.

Sunday 2 July 2023 12:02:44
Lunch at Ristorante Giardino, Passeggiata Lungo Passirio 2, Merano


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:42:34
Views of Merano from near Ristorante Giardino: south, across the river


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:42:46
Views of Merano from near Ristorante Giardino: east


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:43:00
Views of Merano from near Ristorante Giardino: north


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:43:48
Views of Merano from near Ristorante Giardino: west, along the way we’d already come


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:45:14
Ornamental feature, Passeggiata Lungo Passirio, Merano


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:45:52
Returning along Passeggiata Lungo Passirio, Merano: the Kurhaus


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:46:46
Returning along Passeggiata Lungo Passirio, Merano: the Kurhaus


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:47:42
The Passer river, Merano: looking east


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:48:16
The Passer river, Merano: (looking west:) the Thermenbrücke


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:49:10
Returning along Passeggiata Lungo Passirio, Merano


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:50:26
The Passer river, Merano: (looking west:) the Theaterbrücke


Sunday 2 July 2023 12:51:26
Returning along Passeggiata Lungo Passirio, Merano: about to cross the Theaterbrücke

Bernie gave our guide for the walking tour of Bolzano a call; and as I noted, “Christoph happened to be in Merano.” So we picked him up, and he started to address us on the way. I wrote:

112,000[ii] Bolzano
Arms[iii]
Artificial snow[iv]

[ii] The stated population of Bolzano.
[iii] Not arms themselves, perhaps: “IDV Iveco Defence Vehicles: The company manufactures specialist logistic, protected, and armoured vehicles in its facility in Bolzano” [www.idvgroup.com].
[iv] Not the manufacture of artificial snow itself: “TechnoAlpin (Agostini-Strasse 2, Bolzano) is the leading manufacturer of snowmaking systems worldwide. Its snow guns stand out for their quality and efficiency” [www.technoalpin.com].

Christoph’s most distinctive feature was a divergent squint which, magnified by his glasses, gave him an almost startled look. Or maybe that should be “startling”. The next most distinctive aspect of his appearance was the “dayglo” yellow-green T-shirt that he wore.


Sunday 2 July 2023 13:24:50
Glimpse of the Dolomites en route to Bolzano

On our arrival at the parking place in Bolzano, I noted our arrangements for meeting and departing after our visit:

Leaving 3.30pm
from arcade

for 3.45pm
departure

The vehicle park was at the west end of a little park, at the far end of which was the fascist Victory Monument, erected on the personal orders of Benito Mussolini, inaugurated in 1928, and since then a focal point of tensions between the Italian and German speaking communities in Bolzano and the Sudtirol.


Map showing the places seen or visited in Bolzano
Click to enlarge


Sunday 2 July 2023 13:55:26
Victory Monument, Piazza della Vittoria, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 13:55:44
View from there, east, of the Dolomites


Sunday 2 July 2023 13:57:12
Victory Monument, Piazza della Vittoria, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:00:34
Victory Monument, Piazza della Vittoria, Bolzano

The columns of the “victory gate”/“triumphal arch”-style monument are stylised “fasces” (bundles of rods each containing an axe with its blade protruding). This is the inscription on its lintel:

HIC PATRIAE FINES SISTE SIGNA
HINC CETEROS EXCOLVIMVS LINGVA LEGIBVS ARTIBVS

Wikipedia supplies this translation:

Here at the border of the fatherland set down the banner.
From this point on we educated the others with language, law and culture.

I’m none the wiser for having read this! It’s not the most inspiring of mottos!
 Janet wrote, “It was hot! About 30° and very humid. We had a walking tour with a local guide instead of entrance to the South Tyrol Museum, home of Ötzi the Iceman — I remember this from 1991. Remarkable. It was hot — and sweaty! However, by the time we walked back to the coach with Bernie it was overcast and cooler. Better.”
 We proceeded east over the Ponte Talvera/Talferbrücke,—


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:03:06
Crossing the Talfer river, Bolzano: looking south


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:03:48
Crossing the Talfer river, Bolzano: looking north

—and ahead one block and over a crossroads. There, on the south-east corner, was the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Via Museo/Museumstraße 43, where a substantial proportion of our group left us to visit the exhibition of Ötzi and his artefacts.


Google Maps 3D view of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Museumstraße 43, Bolzano
The rest of us continued eastwards along Via Museo/Museumstraße, led by Christoph.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:20:50
In Museumstraße, Bolzano: looking back west


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:21:52
Farther east along Museumstraße, Bolzano: looking ahead

Near the end Via Museo/Museumstraße, he turned right into Vicolo delle Erbe/Erbsengasse.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:22:24
Right turn southwards into Erbsengasse, Bolzano: looking ahead


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:23:08
Continuing southwards along Erbsengasse, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:24:42
Continuing southwards along Erbsengasse, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:26:14
In Erbsengasse, Bolzano: looking back north

This took us to Via Leonardo da Vinci/Leonardo-da-Vinci-Straße.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:27:16
In Leonardo-da-Vinci-Straße, Bolzano: looking west

Just to the left, Via Leonardo da Vinci/Leonardo-da-Vinci-Straße ended at a T-junction with Via Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe/Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Straße.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:27:48
In Leonardo-da-Vinci-Straße, Bolzano: looking east

We turned left and went along Via Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe / Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Straße and its continuation Piazza delle Erbe/Obstplatz.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:31:02
On the corner of J.-W.-von-Goethe-Straße and Silbergasse, Bolzano: looking east along the latter


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:31:12
On the corner of J.-W.-von-Goethe-Straße and Silbergasse, Bolzano: looking east over the roofs at the Dolomites

It was Sunday, so most of the market stalls along there were empty, and the same could almost be said of Piazza delle Erbe/Obstplatz itself.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:31:44
In Obstplatz, Bolzano: looking north


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:32:46
Farther along Obstplatz, Bolzano: looking north


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:32:46 (detail)
Neptune Fountain in Obstplatz, Bolzano

At a bend in Piazza delle Erbe/Obstplatz, at “№37” we turned left through a long archway—


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:33:44
Entering Obstplatz 37, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:35:12
Obstplatz 37, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:35:18
Obstplatz 37, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:35:30
Obstplatz 37, Bolzano

—before continuing to the end of Piazza delle Erbe/Obstplatz.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:37:00
Northern end of Obstplatz, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:37:38
Northern end of Obstplatz, Bolzano: looking north along Franziskanergasse


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:38:18
Northern end of Obstplatz, Bolzano: looking east along Dr.-Josef-Streiter-Gasse

At the end of Piazza delle Erbe/Obstplatz, we turned right into Via Dr. Josef Streiter / Dr.-Josef-Streiter-Gasse. I thought we were going to proceed along it, and under arches, but near where it started—


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:39:08
Looking east along Dr.-Josef-Streiter-Gasse, Bolzano

—we turned right through a wood-framed, wood-lintelled door with a rectangular transom window of lozenge-shaped leadlights. If it weren’t for the sign above it “Passagio Annette von Menz / Annette-von-Menz-Passage”, I’d have taken it as the entrance to the chocolate shop next door.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:39:44
Turning right near the start of Dr.-Josef-Streiter-Gasse into Annette-von-Menz-Passage


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:41:00
In Annette-von-Menz-Passage, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:41:26
In Annette-von-Menz-Passage, Bolzano

Passagio Annette von Menz / Annette-von-Menz-Passage took us through to what appeared to be the arcaded main shopping street, the long Via dei Portici/Laubengasse (a continuation eastwards of Via Museo/Museumstraße). We turned left along this, and proceeded to its end: Piazza del Municipio/Rathausplatz.


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:43:02
Arcade along Laubengasse, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:43:14
Heading east along Laubengasse, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:49:50
In Laubengasse, Bolzano: looking south into Kornplatz


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:52:00
Display case in the arcade of Laubengasse, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:53:04
At the east end of Laubengasse, Bolzano: Rathausplatz 13


Sunday 2 July 2023 14:54:34
View through the arch of Rathausplatz 13, Bolzano

Here we turned right, along Via dei Grappoli/Weintraubengasse, at the end of which there was a pause for refreshments—


Google image capture of Gelateria Eccetera, Weintraubengasse 23, Bolzano


Till receipt from Gelateria Eccetera, Weintraubengasse 23, Bolzano

—before we bore right, and ended at the large Piazza Walther/Waltherplatz. At the south-west corner of this was Bolzano Cathedral, dedicated to Mary of the Assumption (“Maria Himmelfahrt”), which we visited—


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:08:22
In Waltherplatz, Bolzano: (southwest:) the cathedral Maria Himmelfahrt (Assumption of Mary)


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:09:04
In Waltherplatz, Bolzano: (north:) statue of the “Minnesänger” Walther von der Vogelweide


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:09:36
More detailed views of Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: colourful glazed roof tiles


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:10:04
More detailed views of Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: bell tower


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:13:12
West end of Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:13:22
West end of Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:14:30
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: views east


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:15:12
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: views east


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:15:52
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: views east


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:16:00
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: view west


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:17:02
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: ambulatory around the altar


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:17:24
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: ambulatory around the altar


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:17:36
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: ambulatory around the altar


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:17:48
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: ambulatory around the altar and north aisle


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:18:58
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: north aisle, looking east


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:19:28
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: centre aisle, looking east


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:19:46
Maria Himmelfahrt, Bolzano: south aisle, looking east

—before heading back to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. Janet and I found the toilets there, and made use of them. Bernie was waiting at the entrance, in case there should be stragglers still using the loos there. Satisfied that he’d waited long enough, he proceeded westwards back to the coach, and we walked with him. That was a little after the previously stated meeting-up time.


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:44:16
Crossing back over the Talfer river, Bolzano: looking north-east


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:44:24
Crossing back over the Talfer river, Bolzano: looking north


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:44:28
Crossing back over the Talfer river, Bolzano: looking north-west


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:44:36
Crossing back over the Talfer river, Bolzano: looking west


Sunday 2 July 2023 15:45:56
Victory Monument, Piazza della Vittoria, Bolzano

Our way now took us over the Brenner Pass.


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:07:44
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: Steg – Passo da Fiè


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:07:52
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: Steg – Passo da Fiè


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:07:58
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: Steg – Passo da Fiè


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:18:10
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: Säben Abbey, just north of Klausen


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:18:18
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: Säben Abbey, just north of Klausen


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:21:02
Views from the Brenner Autobahn

I noted that we passed the “turn-off” for “Vipiteno”/“Sterzing” at “16:40”, “just before [a] toll gantry”. That was significant to me because the day-trip to the Südtirol in 1971 included a visit there (“Holiday in Austria (2): Italy (blue album)”).


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:45:36
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: Vipiteno; (bottom left:) the Zwölferturm


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:47:46
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: the ruined Straßberg (left of centre)


Sunday 2 July 2023 16:48:56
Views from the Brenner Autobahn

I noted that we passed a “Republik Österreich” sign at “16:51”, but I think it was this one (below), not one marking the border:


Google Street View of a “Republik Österreich” sign, seen at 16:51

Indeed, “Austria” / “Österreich” is shown as being “2 km” away on the sign just ahead. Just after that, we stopped for a comfort break and refreshments at the Lanz Brenner services, which are still (as I ascertained afterwards, in order to write this account) ca.¾-mile south of the border on the Italian side.


Lanz Brenner till receipt, issued at “16:57”

My notes are a bit confusing here: “17:10 Stopped at Services — Austria border here?” I think that “17:10” was the time Bernie gave us to be back on the coach, and the rest was what I scribbled afterwards. I’ve already answered the question of where the border was. The photo below, taken at “17:16:12”, was taken some 3¾ miles north of Lanz Brenner.


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:16:12
Views from the Brenner Autobahn: bend of the road around Gries am Brenner (out of shot to the right)


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:19:38
Views from the Brenner Autobahn


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:20:46
Views from the Brenner Autobahn


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:22:00
Views from the Brenner Autobahn

Bernie told us what the arrangements for meals would be on our free day tomorrow, and for dinner the next day, which I wrote down:

Monday
7.30pm dinner
8.00am breakfast tomorrow
7.00pm dinner Tues[day]

Just following this in my notes, I wrote: “Europabrücke pointed out”. It could be seen ahead where the road curved to the right, but I couldn’t get a camera shot of it.
 “Toll, 17:30”: this was just south of Schönberg im Stubaital, just before the road did an about-turn from south-west to north-east, and entered a tunnel.
 “Crossing Europabrücke, 17:32,” I wrote. As we came out of the tunnel, just ahead to the north was the Europabrücke. You can’t really appreciate such magnificent structures when you’re going across on top of them!


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:38:16
Heading west on the Inntal Autobahn (A12): Innsbruck


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:42:26
Heading west on the Inntal Autobahn (A12)


Sunday 2 July 2023 17:43:36
Heading west on the Inntal Autobahn (A12): railway from Innsbruck to Seefeld and beyond, where it passes through a gallery on the mountainside

Yesterday, we set out at ca.9am, and the photo similar to “17:43:36” above was taken at 9.24am; so it’s fair to assume that we got back to the hotel at ca.6.10pm.
 “Sent Bernie a text but I don’t think it got through,” I wrote. Given that we’d been unable to contact each other on our mobile phones, we thought it would be a good idea to send Bernie a text message, to determine whether it would be possible in case of emergency to contact him tomorrow. I wanted to include the word “Please!” in Dutch. I thought I knew how to say it, but didn’t know how to spell it so I looked it up (18:23–18:24). Actually, I’d got the saying of it slightly wrong. Anyway, I sent Bernie this message:

To: Bernie
Sent: 02-Jul-23 18:27
John (& Janet) Cooper here. I’ve been having problems with this phone outside the UK, so I’m just testing to see whether you receive this message. Alsjeblieft!

I didn’t hear any chime of a reply, so it was some hours later that I checked and saw that Bernie had, in fact, replied:

From: Bernie
Received: 02-Jul-23 18:40
Ik heb het bericht goed ontvangen! All clear and good: Bernie

 My notebook records that I “shaved” and that I transferred 106 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (18:51–18:53), then copied them from there as a backup to the Samsung computer’s “Pictures” (18:55). I checked e-mail accounts (from 19:03).…
 “At 7.30pm we went for dinner,” Janet wrote. “I had a bit of salad and two Coke Zeros, and was back in the room by 8.45pm. I had a shower, did my teeth, updated this ([John] was back at 9.35pm), and was in bed by ca.10.00pm (both of us).”



Some “orphaned” scribblings in my notebook must have been written this evening, as Bernie gave announcements and information. The first two lines seem to refer to the arrangements for Tuesday, for tomorrow would be a free day. The last three lines can’t refer to anything other than tomorrow, for although it was a “free day” as far as the planned itinerary was concerned, some activities for those who wished them had been arranged, including an “alternative walking tour” and an “additional destination”:[v]

Breakfast 8am
Pickup 9.45am
Alternative walking tour[vi]
Coach to additional
destination Mitten—[vii]
     or something

[v] I think “alternative walking tour” and “additional destination” refer to the same event.
[vi] Alternative walking tour: i.e. alternative to a suggested walk around the two Seen (lakes) that gave Seefeld its name.
[vii] Mittenwald, just the other side of the Austria–Germany border, ten miles away.

I ate all the courses. From this morning’s menu I’d selected the “chicken with potatoes and paprika” (the word “paprika” was used, not in the primary English sense of a seasoning, but in the secondary sense of “red sweet peppers”); I tolerated the “lobster bisque”; I enjoyed the strawberries.
 Here’s the seating plan again:



Janet and I occupied “8” and “10” again, as this morning. On the coach today, in front of us, had been Val and Mal, and we’d disapproved privately to each other about their speaking so disparagingly about “migrants” when we’d passed groups of them. But in contrast, when we were seated with them this evening — they were “7” and “9” (or vice versa) — we got on with them excellently. Conversation went very well indeed, and continued that way after Janet left; and it occurred to me that tomorrow Janet and I could occupy the “naughty table”, and then, when she decided to leave, I could go and occupy the end seat of that main table. I can’t remember whether I said this to Bill and Lil, who’d been so cross at what they considered to be the unfairness of being consigned to the “naughty table”.
 According to Janet’s journal I got back up to the room at 9.35pm, and we were both in bed by ca.10.00pm. She concluded her journal entry: “Another great day. Tomorrow, it’s our little trek to Untermieming. Hope that goes well!”

[Monday 3 July 2023]