Altweibersommer

Maybe a better term would be ‘Indian summer’, since Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) are both native to New Engeland.

Time of day: 09:45 am.

The wisteria in the back garden.

The Dutch are famous for wooden shoes. So I got myself a pair of brand new clogs. These low type of clogs are typical for the Achterhoek and called “Achterhoekse Leertjes Klomp” because of the leather strap. Until 1927 these clogs were made completely by hand, that year a machine was bought to speed up the production.

They are made of poplar wood and handmade by fourth generation craftsman Herman ten Hagen. He adjusted the leather straps to fit my feet. They are incredibly comfortable and well made. I am considering buying a second spare pair because there might not be a fifth generation clog maker. In Japan this man would be an official national treasure.

The craft of making wooden clogs with the help of a machine is official Dutch intangible heritage. https://www.immaterieelerfgoed.nl/nl/machinaalklompenmaken

Herman ten Hagen.

Nieuw-Nederlandse aster

I am amazed how many plants in my father’s garden are originally non-native to Europe. Saturday morning I walked into a purple haze, another perennial started blooming in September. I identified the flower as Nieuw-Nederlandse aster. The English name is “New York aster” and the scientific name Symphyotrichum novi-belgii.

This perennial is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States. The Dutch and Latin names refer to the 17th century Dutch colony New Netherland which was also called Nova Belgica or Novum Belgium in Latin.

Seeds of this plant must have been transported to The Netherlands by botanists and the Dutch West India Company. In the Flora Batava (published in 1800) the New York aster is already considered native to The Netherlands.

Plants tell an amazing story of global trade and bloody conquests. In 2021 the New York aster is a source of nectar for our local bees and butterflies.

Pieris rapae butterfly or “witje” in Dutch. Native to the Eastern Mediterranean in Europe this butterfly has spread all over the world by accidental introduction.

New Netherland map published by Nicolaes Visscher II (1649–1702).

Flora Batava 1800

Porto Maurizio

Start here

I found a small and cheap camping just a few hundred meters from the beach in Porto Maurizio, which is part of the city Imperia. The city was created by Benito Mussolini on 21 October 1923 by combining Porto Maurizio and Oneglia and the surrounding village communes. Porto Maurizio can be reached by the Autostrada dei Fiori (A10) which is elevated high above the coastline.

Eating out when alone is always a bit of a challenge. In Sanremo I was flatly refused a table because I was alone. In Porto Maurizio the waiter of the first place I tried looked at me, our eyes met, I looked at quite a few empty tables, then he said everything was reserved. I had doubts. Another place named La Mirage, didn’t seem to mind a solitary guest. It turned out in all its simplicity this was an excellent choice.

I had noticed mussels were on the menu everywhere in Liguria, and I went for the impepata di cozze and a salad consisting of just one big sliced tomato. I had to try the trenette con pesto, fagiolini e patate because I had made this recipe at home a few years ago.

Impepata di cozze. Black peppered mussels.

Trenette con pesto, fagiolini e patate.

“O my soul, do not aspire to immortal life, but exhaust the limits of the possible.”

— Pindar, Pythian iii

The first problem in philosophy is suicide, Albert Camus argues in the Myth of Sisyphus. The question whether life is worth living must be answered first. “All the rest— whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories—comes afterwards.”

I've often wondered why Anthony Bourdain answered that important question with ‘no’ one day. Camus: “It is always easy to be logical. It is almost impossible to be logical to the bitter end.”

Bourdain in Monopoli, Apulia. 'Parts Unknown', Southern Italy. Season 10, episode 9 (2017).

Piazza Chiesa Vecchia

The hottest time of day is best spent on the old church square. The trees give some shade and its high elevation provides a cooling breeze. The people really love their plants. Potted plants are everywhere.

Few things are better than taking a swim just before aperitivo. Writing on a September morning in Amsterdam it is hard to reimagine the 30 degrees temperature when looking at the photo’s.

Camping De Wijnstok. Strada Comunale Poggi, 2, 18100 Imperia IM. Despite the Dutch name nobody spoke Dutch and my neighbours were Italian. For 13 euro a night quite cheap considering the close proximity to the beach.

On the last morning I walked to the beach for a final swim in the Ligurian Sea just after sunrise. I didn’t want to go home. Posso stare in paradiso?

Liguria

Arriving in Liguria from France everything seemed much lighter. The Ligurian Sea was quite calm. Possibly due to the coronavirus it seemed not too busy with tourists despite the month of August. I had planned to hike the Ligurian Alps but that plan was cancelled quickly, both for a practical reason - there was no suitable camping near the mountains - but the moment I saw the sea, I felt no need to do anything apart from just being.

Beach in Sanremo.

Brioche and cappuccino

Spaghetti alle vongole. Originallly this dish is made with vongole veraci (Venerupis decussata) which is found in the North Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

Claude Monet. Les Villas à Bordighera, En 1884. Musée d'Orsay

I spent my first nights away from the sea by driving to Pigna along the SP64. There are two villages you will pass: Isolabona and Dolceacqua. The last village is famous because of the nature of the architecture and a visit by Claude Monet in 1884.

Isolabona

Isolabona

Le Château de Dolceacqua, 1884 (oil on canvas) by Claude Monet (1840-1926). Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, France.

Claude Monet Vallée de Sasso, effet de soleil, 1884.

Next stop: Porto Maurizio

Monaco

The only thrill in the Principality of Monaco was driving my car from La Provençale (A8) down to a parking garage in the city centre at sea level, roughly 300 meters below the A8. It’s an engaging city plan. The 1.734 meter long tunnel Albert II is looping a whopping 360 degrees, which leaves you quite disorientated on exit.

Other than that there is not much to see in Monaco. The famous Hercule harbour is rather boring unless you’re really into expensive yachts. The Monte Carlo Casino is stuff of legends and the building is certainly beautiful. But unless you plan a heist I don’t see a reason to visit a casino. The casino features in two James Bond movies and the 1979 The Castle of Cagliostro co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

When the towns Menton and Roquebrune declared independence from Monaco in 1848 they refused to pay taxes on olive oil and fruit imposed by the Grimaldis. Princess consort of Monaco Caroline proposed opening a gambling casino to save the House of Grimaldi from bankruptcy.

View fullsize

The first Grand Prix automobile de Monaco in 1929.

Worst of all, it is forbidden in Monaco to walk barefoot by law of 4/VII/1940. What kind of place does that?

Port Hercules. The port is quite ancient going back at least to 6th-century BC when Phocaean Greeks founded the colony of Mònoikos.

The main tourist attraction is the Rock of Monaco, the 62 meter monolith which has been the prize possession of each culture inhabiting the area including the House of Grimaldi.

The rock in 1890.

Next stop: Liguria part 1.

Alpes-Maritimes

It took me two days to reach the French department Alpes-Maritimes via Nancy and Lyon (Autoroute du soleil: A7). Driving onward on the La Provençale A8, the area between Cannes and Nice was much more urban than I anticipated. Campings were wedged in between urban areas, only accessible through narrow mountain roads and more importantly: full. After almost two hours of searching (at one point I had been driving for more than 13 hours), and a waning sun, I found a camping and a spot for late arrivals. The earth was so hard I couldn't hammer my rock pegs in the ground so I slept under the stars next to my car.

When I left The Netherlands my head was still full with work and the weekly care for my father. I hadn’t made space for myself to plan ahead.

The next morning I walked to the Mediterranean Sea and made the decision to head for a camping I had been to many years ago in the Parc national du Mercantour. Lately I’ve been making a point never to visit the same place twice, but I was tired of driving and I knew the camping in Saint-Martin-Vésubie was situated in a beautiful fruit orchard.

I probably had a romantic idea of the Côte d'Azur. The very least I expected to find more space. Currently there are almost a million people living in the Nice metropolitan area. It’s a busy place with bustling traffic, which gives you no time to pause.

Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez (1964)

Saint-Martin-Vésubie

The camping was everything I remembered it to be. The last time it was springtime, with some patches of snow just above the tree line at 2300 meters. This time the sunlight was harsh. The camping is situated just outside the 12th century village. It’s no more than a 10 minute walk to the village square.

Camping A La Ferme St. Joseph, Rte de Nice, 06450 Saint-Martin-Vésubie

Tripes à la Niçoise
Saint-Martin-Vésubie has some really nice butchers and artisanal food shops. I’m probably the only Dutchman who likes tripe. I found the following recipe which corresponds with the ingredients on the jar I bought: Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat and add cow’s tripe (first blanche the tripe in water with vinegar for 20 seconds). Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in white wine, tomatoes, carrot, garlic, onions, thyme, bayleaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 8 hours.

View of the camping from the road.

Souffle de la nature

On October 2 in 2020 storm Alex hit the region above Nice. Within 24 hours 571 millimeters rain fell causing a gigantic flood, which swept away a large part of the river Vésubie and its surroundings. Almost a year later most of the rouble wasn’t cleared up and many houses were still inhabitable. The ancient part of the village was spared because it was built on an elevation.

There is one view point from the camping, which hides the destruction of the storm.

Mountain hike Cime de la Palu (2.132) - Cime de Clapeirette (2.333).

Mountain hike Forêt Communale de Saint-Martin-Vésubie - le Boreon

Perfect ripe and much tastier than you get in Amsterdam: pêche plat et prune jaune.

Next stop: Monaco.

Road trip Liguria

Autoroute du Soleil - Antibes - Saint-Martin-Vésubie (Alpes-Maritimes) - Monaco - Imperia (Liguaria) - Piemonte - Switzerland - Deutsche Weinstraße

A few days before I was bound to leave for Austria the weather prediction was not good: a fair chance of rain and the temperatures dropped from 30 degrees Celsius to just 20 in Salzburg. I quickly changed gears and took the Autoroute du Soleil to the Côte d'Azur or whatever.

First stop: Alpes-Maritimes

"The dictator is coming"

With these words European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker welcomed Hungary's Viktor Orbán at a summit in Riga, Latvia in 2015. International flights are still not an option so I have to plan my holiday in the European Union for a second year in a row. My default plan was to go hiking in the Alps but suddenly this felt like a lonely version of Groundhog Day. Life has been too boring lately and I don’t want to repeat myself.

It’s been some time since I visited one of the Central and Eastern European countries, so the idea of Hungary came to my mind. Politically this destination is much more interesting than the Alps. In 2018 the European Parliament passed a motion declaring that Hungary is at risk of breaching the EU’s core values, resulting in a successful vote for an Article 7 procedure against Hungary. But so far Hungary has evaded sanctions. I strongly support the European Union’s fundamental values.

Maybe change will come. In 2022 there will be a Hungarian parliamentary election with the opposition parties running together as a front against Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz. In August 2021 the opposition parties will hold a primary election to select the candidate for Prime Minister. This primary could coincide with my stay.

Nonetheless, Hungary has provincial cities I’ve never visited before, plenty of hills to hike, a wine producing region, stuffed cabbage (töltött káposzta) and I’m sure in August the Hungarian beer (sör) will be cold as ice.

Eastern Partnership summit, Riga, 21-22 May 2015. “Hello dictator!”

Turning dark red on the map

I have planned my holiday in August and I’m not even sure if I will be welcome in Hungary by the end of summer. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EDCD) has already coloured Noord-Holland orange on its map in support of the Council Recommendation on a coordinated approach to travel measures in the EU because of a combined indicator: the 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity are showing high numbers.

At the current rate of infections it’s likely that on 14 July some provinces will turn red on the map (the next update will be based on data until 13 July). After that The Netherlands will turn dark red if no measures are enforced. The map is meant as a travel advice for the European countries but it quite possible some safe green countries will close the borders again.

How did we get here (again)? Just when the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infection rate was growing in The Netherlands, the demissionary cabinet announced that most restrictions are cancelled from 26 June. This resulted in a very high growth rate of delta very, very quickly. This was no surprise to me after following the data from India since April. The Westminster Tory government didn’t block flights from India in May and via holiday destinations in Portugal and Spain the delta variant established itself in The Netherlands in June before the restrictions were lifted.

This is all so predictable I’m not even angry. I might have to cancel my holiday plans again, or maybe my QR-code showing the validity of my two vaccinations will stay valid for travel within the EU over the summer. All I can say is “kismet”. [ Edit: a few days later I have to admit I’m livid at the government. 🤬 ]

Check this map a week later

Beautiful as long as it lasted. ECDC level ‘green’. All 3 days. @YorickB

My summer holiday is like the fruit for Tantalus.

Combined indicator: 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity, updated 15 July 2021

“Sometimes you think that you want to disappear. But all you really want is to be found.”

Les Maisons dans la neige, Norvège. 1895. Claude Monet.

End of springtime

Most springtime flowers are gone expect bright red poppy’s. This is the time to aggressively prune some bushes, because I missed the opportunity in March, and weed undesirable plants. Everything grows so fast. This also is the time to prune early bloomers like brem and sering.

Sweet and sour pickled vegetables from Bogor, West-Java.

Julienne carrot and half-ripe papaya.
Slice cucumber.
Dice ketela rambat merah (sweet potato) and bengkwang in small cubes.
Cut white cabbage in strips.

Make a spice paste out of 100 gram ebi (dried shrimp), 0.5 liter water, 5 red lombok, 100 gram sugar. Before making the paste soak the ebi in the water. Reserve the water.

Grind the soaked ebi, lombok and sugar to a paste and mix with the water and 100 milliliter vinegar. Add some salt.

Mix everything with the vegetables and let it pickle for al least one night. Before serving fry some peanuts and sprinkle over the asinan.

The grass in the front yard was getting really high. I postponed mowing the grass as long a I could for biodiversity and the insects. So many tiny flowers!

Mapping a garden

It’s time for a scientific approach. I will have to map all major plants to even know what’s growing in the garden. Plant names according to Linnaean taxonomy or in Dutch.

Front yard:

• Taxus baccata

• Rose garden

• Salix caprea Boswilg. Native.

• Prunus serrulata Japanse sierkers. China, Korea, Japan. Flowers in May.

• Rhododendron (3x) China, Korea, Japan. Flowers in May.

• Malus domestica Apple. Central Asia.

• Cytisus scoparius Brem. Native. Flowers in May.

• Chelidonium majus Stinkende gouwe. Native. Flowers from May.

• Pieris japonica Rotsheide. East Asia, Japan.

• Laburnum anagyroides Goudenregen. Middle and South Europe.

• Buxus sempervirens

• Wisteria Blauweregen. United States, China, Korea, Japan.

• Berberis aquifolium Mahonie. North America.

• Heptacodium miconioides 七子花. Seven son flower. China.

• Impatiens parviflora Klein springzaad. I consider this weed.

Side yard:

• Prunus serrulata

• Prunus padus Gewone vogelkers. Native.

• Syringa vulgaris Sering. Southeastern Europe.

• Euonymus europaeus Wilde kardinaalsmuts. Native.

• Parthenocissus quinquefolia Vijfbladige wingerd. Eastern USA.

• Thuja occidentalis Westerse levensboom. East Canada, Northeastern USA.

• Buddleja davidii Vlinderstruik. China.

• Berberis julianae

• Camellia japonica Eastern and southern Asia.

• Forsythia Forsythia. Balkan - China.

Back yard:

• Forsythia

• Wisteria

• Cytisus scoparius

• Herb garden: Thymus vulgaris

• Geranium macrorrhizum (groundcover) Rotsooievaarsbek. Native to the South east Alps and the Balkans.

• Chaenomeles japonica Japanse sierkwee.

• Prunus padus

• Sambucus nigra Gewone vlier.

• Amelanchier canadensis Canadees krentenboompje. Native to eastern North America.

• Viburnum opulus Gelderse roos.

• Lonicera Kamperfoelie.

• Solidago gigantea ??

• Ribes rubrum Aalbes. Redcurrant.

• Malus domestica

• Pyrus "Nous vous offrons ce que nous avons de meilleur: nos vins, nos poires et nos cœurs".

• Juglans regia Probably a stray walnut. I will have to remove this because we can’t have another tree.

• Geranium robertianum Robertskruid

Annual plants:

• Papaver

∞ Mystic Garden ∞

A garden should be a living garden. “Spargelzeit”, was a tradition each springtime when the asparagus are in season. Fresh from the farmer in Germany, just across the border. You don’t need much. Just the asparagus, clarified butter, new potatoes, ham and hard boiled egg.

In June the garden resembles the poppy fields of Afghanistan.

Early springtime has become a distant memory.

Determining plants

Strepen trekken

Elken vri’jdag trek ik strepen,
strepen langs ‘t haegenpad.
Strepen naor de wiete wereld,
Strepen naor-ik-wet-neet-wat.

Vandage trok ik ok waer strepen,
kromme strepen deur de kop,
umdat i’j noo veur eeuwig slaopet.
Ne strepe deur de raekenschop.

11 April 2008

Writer and poet Henk Krosenbrink. On 16 March 2008 his wife Riek passed away. The above poem is written in the regional language.

I didn’t quite inherit a garden yet, but 2021 is the year I have to tend to my father’s garden. It’s the garden I have known since 1972 when my parents built a house on a piece of land. Half a century of love went into this garden. Much has changed over the years. A couple of years ago we cut down many large conifers, which were planted in the early 1970s and were over ten meters high.

It is springtime and most work goes into keeping weed under control. I removed many wheelbarrows of weed until I discovered the weed is in fact ‘winterpostelein’ (Claytonia perfoliata). It’s fully edible!

I had to use an app to determine the plant.

I was amazed to discover this plant on my mothers grave. What are the odds?

Recipes winterpostelein

You can simply eat it as salad and serve it with young potatoes, crème fraîche mixed with fresh herbs and fried mushrooms. Winterpostelein can also be used in a Dutch ‘stampot’ with mashed potatoes.

There are many plants I know and many plants I still have to learn the exact name of. The beautiful prunus in the front garden turns out to be a Japanese cherry.

Cutting down a forest

In the autumn of 2018 we cut down the last conifers in the front garden. In the years before a whole row of conifers was cut down along the driveway and about ten years before a mini-forest of pine trees was cut down in a piece of garden near the house. Pine trees are not suitable for a rather small garden.

I am a huge fan of DeWit garden tools from Kornhorn in Groningen. A fifth generation tool factory, making hand forged tools, which are nearly indestructible. Below is their take on the Japanese hori-hori knife. It is perfect for digging out weed. The serrated edge cuts through roots easily.

De Wit 14 cm push and pull hoes with 1400 mm ash handles. I also like the smaller hoe with a 400 mm handle.

De Wit Bad Ass trowel.

The month of May in 2015

Winterswijk-Miste

With travel restrictions still in place, the most far distance I travel from Amsterdam is the Dutch region Achterhoek where they speak West Low German instead of Dutch.

In February we had an unexpected cold snap of a week because of an unstable polar vortex. The hour before sunset and the first hour after sunrise are spectacularly beautiful. The song lyrics of Normaal singing in ‘Achterhooks’, being part of Low Saxonian, captures the mood. This is my childhood between 3 - 18 years.

D’n onbewolkten winterloch, die liek meer peers dan blauw
A-j buuten iets te doene hebt, dan doe je ‘t bliksemsgauw
De kniens en de fazanten die scharrelt deur ‘t kruppelholt
De streupers die blieft binnen, ‘t is eur völs te kold.

't holt dat knetterd in de heerd, 't is der lekker heit
na de koffie kump de foezel, i-j krupt dichter bi-j ow meid
en as der goed gezoppen wurt, de verhalen die goat in het rond
is er niemand die nog dich an d'n armen, armen hond.

- D'n huulende waakhond (1978)

If there are mountains

Yama areba yama o miru
ame no hi ame o kiku
haru natsu aki fuyu
ashita mo yoroshi
yūbe mo yoroshi

If there are mountains, I look at the mountains;
On rainy days I listen to the rain.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Tomorrow too will be good.
Tonight too is good.

Taneda Santōka 種田 山頭火

23 October 2020

31 October 2020.

12 February 2021

Nine days after the snow, crocus flowers appear in the green grass. Autumn, winter, spring.

21 February 2021

Jungfrau-Aletsch

The last destination of my round trip was Jungfrau-Aletsch and its Aletschgletscher, the largest glacier of the Alps. To get there from Italy I had to cross the Simplon Pass at 2.005 meters and drive into the Rhonetal to reach Camping Eggishorn - z' Moosji in Fiesch. The car ride was stunning again. I just love driving in the mountains.

Simplonpass / Passo del Sempione.

Jungfrau-Aletsch & Aletschgletscher

Märjelensee.

I normally never visit the same place twice but in case of the Aletschgletscher I had been there before, a little over ten years earlier. We hiked from Camping Eggishorn - z' Moosji along the glacier to Betten Talstation, if I remember correctly, and then by train back to Fiesch. This time I walked the same route alone. I also wanted to see the glacier again because our Alpine glaciers are symbols of climate change. It is estimated that by 2100 (just 80 years from now) only one tenth of the current ice mass of the Aletschgletscher will be left. A sobering thought. Because it is the largest glacier, the proces will be slow. By 2100 many other smaller Alpine glaciers will be long gone. Jungfrau-Aletsch is an UNESCO World Heritage property due to Outstanding Universal Value but that will not prevent the disappearance of its glaciers.

I hiked the following route: Fiescheralp - Mountain hut Gletscherstube - and along the glacier towards Moosfluh. At some point before Moosfluh I hiked back to Fiescheralp.

The first day in Fiesch I hiked to Fiescheralp from the camping but got lost halfway because I tried to take a less traveled route and ended up in the wrong valley. Time to execute plan B the next day. There is always a plan B.

The ice mass in 2018.

The temperatures in the valley were well above 34 degrees Celsius and even high in the mountains it was quite hot. There was only one way to celebrate the last long hike of my journey: half a liter of ice cold beer, a fresh salad and a basic rösti.

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Fußnote

On my way from Switzerland to Amsterdam I camped in Sankt Martin (Pfalz) for one night. It’s a lovely wine village with plenty of Weinschorles to order. I drank a Riesling, Blauer Portugieser and Müller-Thurgau-Schorle, which was one too many.

Alpi Orobie, Lombardia

The Bergamo Alps (Italian: Alpi Orobie) are located about 30 kilometers above the city of Bergamo. I made a short stop in Peschiera del Garda on the shores of Lago di Garda but I found the place a bit too busy for my mood. I loved the oleander flowers though. There is a holiday photograph of my mother posing in front of oleanders somewhere in Italy in the 1960s. I have known this photo for many years, but recently I often dream of oleander flowers as a symbol of summer.

Lago di Garda.

I drove on and found a beautiful camping on the shores of Lago d’Iseo. Camping Cave (address: via Cave 13, Iseo, Italy 25049) is located right on the lake. After pitching my tent it was no more than 100 metres to the lake and the (open air) restaurant and bar. Before doing anything else I jumped into the lake.

One of the things I love about Italy is the culture of aperitivo, the drink before dinner, and cicchetti. I prefer Campari Spritz (prosecco, Campari and soda water). It’s bitter and has a beautiful red color. Being camped on the shores of a lake with plenty of cold drinks, meant that each hike would end in a luxury I don’t always experience.

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Valgoglio

27 July 2020

A green wall of trees.

For the first hike I drove to Valgoglio, which was quite a long ride from the camping through dozens of tunnels. The mountain roads were very busy with morning commuters. I didn’t have a map of this area since I only brought maps of Südtirol. I hiked along the river Goglio but when I was deciphering the sparse signs it was clear that the nearest mountain hut above the tree line was too far for a day hike. The Bergamo Alps are something else. The area feels very remote and I encountered few other hikers. Large parts of my hike I didn’t have a cell phone reception.

When you spent so many holidays alone, you tend to get some compulsive thoughts while hiking, especially walking uphill. I contemplated a lot on the archetypal Uomo senza nome. ‘The Man With No Name’ was a marketing ploy to promote the spaghetti westerns A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) with Clint Eastwood. But the original man with no name was Toshiro Mifune’s character in Yojimbo. (the bodyguard) on which Sergio Leone based his 1964 movie. In the opening scenes the rōnin (浪人) arrives at a junction in the road, he shrugs his shoulders, picks up a stick and throws it high into the air. He lets fate decide which path to take; he follows the direction of the fallen stick and walks into a village. And so the story begins. I like the idea of not having a full plan when starting a hike. But even without a plan there is always a plan B.

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Rifugio Magnolini

28 July 2020

The second day I started my hike in Bossico after an other exhilarating car ride with many hairpin turns. From there is was a very hot but easy hike to Ceratello. During the hike there were some good views of the lake. The narrow road during the ascent to Rifugio Magnolini (1610 m.) was very steep. On the way down I took the foot path back to Bossico and my car, through pine forests and long rocky single tracks. This was one of the more beautiful hikes. Below the route I walked.

Day hike: Bossico - Rifugio Magnolini - Bossico.

Lago d’Iseo.

On the way down I walked past a little stone hut marked as ‘ll cadi de la pest’ where the only Bossichesi who escaped the scourge of epidemic in 1630, sought refuge to escape the plague.

The region of Lombardy saw the most cases of COVID-19 by far in Italy. Notably Bergamo province was hard hit by the 2020 pandemic in March. On 8 March a quarantine lockdown was imposed for the whole region of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces placing 16 million people under quarantine.

By the end of July 2020 quarantine was lifted but many measures were still in place. At the reception of Camping Cave my temperature was measured and face masks were mandatory in the camping toilet facilities. In general a face mask had to be worn in shops and in restaurants and mountain huts when ordering.

ll cadi de la pest.

By Giovanni Guida - Own work.

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Europa endlos

Das Leben ist zeitlos
Europa endlos
Wirklichkeit und Postkartenbilder
Europa endlos
Eleganz und Dekadenz.

Kraftwerk, 1977.

Last view of Lago d’Iseo before driving to Switzerland.

Next destination: Swiss Alps.

Corvara, Dolomiti

The car journey from Trafoi to Corvara in the Dolomites took a good part of the day. I stayed at Camping Colfosco, which was less intimate than the camping in Trafoi but still had the right vibe. I arrived in seemingly stable weather, but this was soon to change.

24 July 2020

The first day in Corvara the Alps were covered in a big cloud of heavy rain, reaching all the way from München to Venezia. There was no escaping the rain. I mentally prepared myself to lay in my tent all day. Luckily in the afternoon the rain largely stopped and I walked into the forest to prepare some Dan Cong oolong tea just keep myself busy.

Camping Colfosco in Corvara has some beautiful views of the mountains.

There was no escaping this rain front. The temperatures in Corvara dropped to below 15 degrees Celsius.

Making some spring 2020 Ya Shi Xiang Dan Cong (“Duck Shit Aroma”) in the forest with natural mountain spring water.

Parco naturale Puez Odle

25 July 2020

The second day in Corvara the sun was shining as if the day before never happened. I walked a stunning round trip from Passo Gardena (2,136 m) through Puez-Geisler Nature Park to mountain hut Utia de Puez at 2475 m. and back through Val Longia and Wolkenstein before climbing back to Passo Gardena where I left my car.

Ascent from Passo Gardena.

Mountain hut Utia de Puez (2.475 m).

Pasta with Hirschragout and some flowers in Utia de Puez.

The valley Val Longia below, and the village Wolkenstein in the far distance.

Certainly one of the more beautiful roundtrips I walked.

Next destination: Bergamo Alps and Lake Iseo.

Trentino-Alto Adige

‘There is always Italy.’

With all my original travel plans cancelled due to COVID-19 I took the opportunity to go on a hiking trip to the Alps. I drove to the Reschenpass/Passo di Resia between Austria and Italy in the province of Trentino-Alto Adige or Trentino-South Tyrol. Beyond that I didn’t really have a plan. The pass was a bit underwhelming so I drove onwards to a small camping place in Trafoi, just below the mighty Passo Stelvio. Camping Trafoi. Via Tre Fontane, 1, 39029 Trafoi BZ, Italy.

The camping is a cosy hikers’ place. It also attracts bikers who are drawn to Trafoi for the 48 needle curves of the Passo Stelvio on the eastern side. Camping Trafoi also is close enough to the mountains to venture into the mountains directly from the camping.

20 July 2020

The first day I hiked up to Goldsee, about 1,2 vertical kilometres. From Goldsee you can follow the Goldseeweg with magnificent views leading to Forcola refuge, which is located about 700 metres above Trafoi. The whole round trip takes about 9 hours if you are in no hurry.

In the left of the photo the Stelvio pass from a walker’s perspective,

Goldseeweg between Goldsee and Forcola refuge.

21 July 2020

The second day in Trafoi the weather was less than ideal. I walked to Berglhütte/Refugio Borletti (2188 m.) for coffee and cake but the afternoon passed by while hiding from the rain in the village.

I learned that Sigmund Freud received a message of the suicide of one of his patients, struggling with sexual problems, while staying in Trafoi, which lead him to his analysis of the Signorelli parapraxis by linking Signorelli to Botticelli and Boltraffio. Freud’s analysis seems like an outdated word game to me. Somehow the bottom line is always Tod und Sexualität.

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Ötztaler Alpen

22 July 2020

The last day in Trafoi I drove to the small resort village Kurzas, 39020 Maso Corto, Bolzano, Bozen (2.011 m), just past Lago di Vernago, almost 1,5 hours by car from camping Trafoi. I walked from Kurzras to the Schutzhaus Schöne Aussicht - Rifugio Bella Vista (2842 m), a hike of about 800 vertical metres.

In 1991, just on the other side of the mountains, a body was discovered in the melting ice. Amazingly the person had died around 3300 BC. The body was well preserved and contained a treasure trove of information about the living conditions of this dead person who lived more than 5300 years ago. Even his full genome has been sequenced. Kurzas is not the correct starting point if you want to visit the actual Ötzti Fundstelle. The mountain ridge between Bella Vista and the Ötzti Fundstelle cannot be hiked.

Rifugio Bella Vista.

Fried potatoes and egg at the rifugio.

Above is the mountain ridge behind which Ötzi was discovered. It seems like a very remote place but from the valley it’s only half a day’s scramble. The photo below shows the foot path, which connects modern Italy with the Ötztaler Alpen in Austria over a mountain pass. Only a small stone hut marks the border.

Ötzi lived in the chalcolithic when in Europe the first metal tools were crafted from copper. Later it was discovered that by adding tin you can make bronze, which is harder than both copper and tin. A 99,7% pure copper axe was found near Ötzi. This must have been a very valuable tool. The copper mould was made from ore mined in South Tuscany.

The mummy is now on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

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Passo dello Stelvio (2.758 m.)

The Passo dello Stelvio is somewhat famous. The pass was originally built by the Austrian Empire (1804 to 1867) in the 1820s to connect the Austrian province of Lombardy (currently Italy) with the rest of Austria. After 1867 the Austrian Empire was succeeded by Austria-Hungary and in World War I the pass saw some heavy fighting due to its strategic importance. Italy entered the war aiming to annex the territories of present-day Trentino and South Tyrol. After the war the pass lost its strategic importance.

23 July 2020

Today the pass on Route SS38 is famous with cyclists and motorcyclists. Since my next destination were the Dolomites I didn't need to cross the pass but decided to drive my car up the pass nonetheless just for the adrenaline kick. How could I not? In 2008 the TV show Top Gear declared the Stelvio Pass in Italy one of the best driving roads in Europe. I am macho enough to not let that opportunity pass.

It was a thrilling experience indeed, especially because the road was quite busy with countless motor bikes, cyclists, other cars, campers and even the occasional line bus. Driving uphill each corner is a blind corner, because only at the last moment you’ll see oncoming traffic. The only two gears you will need are first and second gear. It takes about half an hour to reach the top.

The pass itself has several tacky tourist shops. I thought my car deserved a “Passo Stelvio” sticker for the rear window, but only eleven days after my holiday somebody crashed into the rear of my car when I was standing still in a traffic jam on the motorway near Amsterdam. My Renault Clio IV Estate was a total loss. I thought it was a bit ironic, having completed the 48 switchbacks (and many more mountain passes in Italy and Switzerland) without a scratch and then my car being totalled by just being stationary.

My focus on this trip was not on food but this clear broth with Speckknödel in a restaurant on Stelvio pass was just perfect. With all the corona measures still in place I didn’t want to visit restaurants indoors. I mostly cooked in front of my tent and had lunches at mountain huts if I could sit outside.

Next destination: Dolomites.

SARS-CoV-2

Just before the International Toy Fair in Nürnberg at the end of January 2020, there was a foreboding that the new virus discovered in Wuhan not so long before, would bring about change. And the world would change. This is my first pandemic and Europe is the hot spot at this moment. I can't get the first pages of Albert Camus' La Peste out of my head.

“After the fourth day the rats started to emerge in groups to die. They came up from basements and cubby-holes, cellars and drains, in long swaying lines; they staggered in the light, collapsed and died, right next to people.”

— Albert Camus, The Plague

People are dying and SARS-CoV-2 is not contained. We are in the delay phase, which means we are buying time by slowing down the spread of the virus. In Europe we screwed up the containment phase by not taking the threat serious enough.

Around this time I would have booked an airplane ticket for my first holiday of 2020. I wanted to visit Vietnam. Or maybe the United States, or India. It is now irresponsible to fly. I can still go to work and do my groceries shopping, other than that I pretty much have confined myself in my house. If the outbreak lasts months rather than weeks I will have to rethink my holiday and drive to a remote place in Europa for a few weeks of hiking. It will be a lonely holiday. Not looking forward to it.

Changed world map on 14 March 2020.

The chart below shows why it is so important to close everything down and practice social distancing before things get out of hand. Complacency is deadly.

Source: Tomas Pueyo analysis over chart from the Journal of the American Medical Association, based on raw case data from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

July 2020

This map show the travel recommendations by the Dutch government. The orange countries can only be visited when travel is necessary, although you get to decide yourself if your trip is necessary. Local quarantines might be in place. Since I decided not to travel by air this year, I’m stuck with the yellow countries for this year’s holiday. Luckily the Alps are accessible this summer.

I used to be able to travel 24.859 miles to be here.

La fête du Train au Pays des Grands Noms

My work usually takes me to Germany but December 2019 was an exception. Every three years Denis Thomas, Président Office de Tourisme de Meursault, organises a model train fair named ‘La fête du Train’. The company I work for was present with a stand. Meursault is a small wine village in Côte de Beaune the southern part of the Côte-d'Or department and region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in France. When I arrived in the afternoon there was a pretty dense fog. The surroundings were completely hidden behind a grey wall. It was clear the beginning of December was off-season. Many restaurants were closed and not much work was done on the vines. The hotel I booked was a small private house right in the center. It was really a perfect place to spent a leisurely afternoon on my own.

Meursault wine

Around 98 percent of wines produced in Meursault are white wines. Most wines are 100% Chardonnay although AOC regulations allow both Chardonnay and Pinot blanc. Several climats or lieu-dits are classified as Premier Cru vineyards. Meursault is pretty much synonymous with Chardonnay and the quality of a Meursault Chardonnay is excellent. The price of a bottle starts with approximately 16 euro and can easily go up to 70 euro or higher for a Premier Cru. I think those prices are too high. For 20 euro you can buy a very good ‘buttery’ Chardonnay from Meursault thanks to extended oak ageing.

Hotel Restaurant Le Chevreuil

Address: 1 Place de la République, 21190 Meursault

The second day I took our new agent for France, Guy Coessens, out for dinner. After a few too many aperitif (Chardonnay & pastis) in the local pub, we settled for Restaurant Le Chevreuil for diner.

Demi-lune de foie gras poêlé, duxelles de cèpes, bouillon de queue de bœuf aux arômes de champignons

Pigeon de Corton en deux cuissons, châtaignes rôties et mousseline de potimarron.

Château de Meursault

On Saturday evening were invited for diner at the Château. This was an amazing experience. The annual La Paulée de Meursault after the harvest is legendary. La Paulée was launched by the Meursault wine producer Jules Lafon in 1923. The reputation of this wine fest reached far and since 2000 La Paulée de New York and La Paulée de San Francisco are being hosted by American sommelier and wine entrepreneur Daniel Johnnes. The diner I attended borrowed quite a few things from the post-harvest fest. Music and singalongs were provided by the Joyeux Bourguignons, Each course only started after the communal Ban Bourguignon and at the end of the evening everybody raised up and waved their napkins to the "Marseillaise bourguignonne".

Tatin de St-Jacques aux petits légumes au coulis d’olive.

“Notre mission : chanter le vin et animer vos festins !”

— les Joyeux Bourguignons

Carte des vins

• Meursault “les Tillets” 2017, Domaine Yves Boyer-Martenot.

• Baune 2017, Domaine du Château de Meursault.

• Pommard 2016 “Les Noizons”, Domaine Gilles Lafouge.

Filet de Boeuf Rossini sauce Périgueux, foie gras et pommes Anna.

At the end of the evening everybody raised up and waved their napkins to the "Marseillaise bourguignonne".