Up the valley

We spent the last couple of days on a walking trip of the Vinschgau (the valley we see out our window).  The valley begins just below the castle and ends on the Swiss and Austrian borders.  The students took the train up the valley, and we took advantage of a car ride to accommodate the toddler and injury-prone crowd (i.e., little J and one of the students who recently broke his leg).  S, the students, and our family guide hiked from town to town, and little J and I got a personal tour of some interesting sites off the beaten (i.e., train) track. 

The cultural theme of the trip was the religious and folk iconography of the valley.  We saw interesting frescoes at the Von Trapp family's Churburg castle (yes, related to the Stowe, VT/Sound of Music Von Trapps), which also houses a very large armory (see crofters modeling below).  We also saw impressive Carolingian (9th century) frescoes at a couple of churches, including the Convent of St. John in Mustair, Switzerland, which houses the largest cycle of existing frescoes of that era.

We also had some fine picnics, today at a castle ruin just shy of the Swiss border.  Yesterday, we relaxed at a playground with a nice view of The Ortler, the largest mountain in the region.

 With the benefit of Sizzo's car and beneficence, the little guy and I (and our injured crofter) got to enjoy shorter walks to a lovely hill (with a long pagan history and a Romanesque church), a castle ruin, some nice cafes, and the Reschensee reservoir, the creation of which displaced a village--the submerged church tower is a reminder of the sacrifice of the villagers.