Alta Via 1 - Dolomiti

September 2018

"The wonderful things in life are the things you do, not the things you have."

Reinhold Messner

Before starting the walk we spent one day in Bolzano and went to visit the Messner Mountain Museum located in Castel Firmiano, this was really a great place to visit and to find the right set of mind for the walk to come. Not only the location is beautiful (the fortress offers fine views of Bolzano and the Texel mountains), but the structure, richness and sense of peace and the impossible adds up to the overall experience. The itinerary starts with pictures of a young Messner climbing barefoot and on others people shoulders, then it went on to explore other parts of the castle, with Buddist's statues, symbol and chants everywhere, on top of paintings, expeditions and climbers all over the place, it was a true hymn to mountains. And the main quote I will remember from this place is:

“The most important thing is to know where the mountain is”