Interesting family marriage link to Romansh from Graubünden

Albula Alps

I discovered that my grandmother had a cousin who emigrated from Lombardia and settled in northern Wisconsin, where she married a man whose surname was Manni. When hearing of this in the past, or reading it on some family biography or obituary, nothing in particular registered with me. Manni is an Italian surname. After poking and prodding around recently, partly to examine where the Manni family originated, I found out that they were not from say Lombardia or the Veneto as expected... but were from Switzerland! My very next thought was TICINO! That would have been a very curious connection since the Swiss Italians are historically Lombard in culture and language, and especially the more particular Alpine cultural aspect of it. Of course, the migration of Ticinese were a California phenomenon, not at all what one would expect in Wisconsin.

Well, as it turns out, the Manni's were Romansh! The Romansh were an ancient people who clearly have a linguistic connection to Latin/Roman and historical Rhaetia. Sandwiched between Swiss and Austrian Germans to the north, and Lombardo-Venetians to the south, their particular identity has been marginalized and they've lost ancestral territory and sovereignty over the centuries. Actually the Romansh in Albula are surrounded by German speaking communities, so there's a slight geographical disconnect between the Romansh and Lombard speaking areas (they do connect on the northern Ticino border to the east). Jim Caviezel is one very famous American who is half Romansh and half Irish. The Manni family was from the Albula District or Albula Alps of Graubünden, with links to the Maloja District as well. I really don't know anything about this particular family of whom I share an affinity, but from sifting around their family tree I noticed that they have the coolest names! Men named Ivan, Jacob, and Emil; women named Veronika, Mimi, Naoma, and Sabina; surnames like Manni, Accola, and Bandli. My immigrant ancestors were more like Basilio, Santo, Bertillo, Giovanna, Coronata, and Theresa; with surnames like Calvetti, Brunelli, Fornoni, and Bellicini.

 

Engadin Valley

In Romansh, the surname Accola means "Neighbor," and they were something like neighbors back in the Alps; neighboring cultures so to speak. Of course, they were also neighbors in northern Wisconsin. Accola also means "tenant farmers" or a reference to a farming community. The 81 mile long Engadin Valley runs through these districts. Emgadin comes from the Romansh "Engiadina." The Romansh toponym Engiadina was first attested as Latin vallis Eniatina in AD 930. A derivation from the reconstructed ethnonym *Eniates (with a Celtic suffix -ates denoting "settlers, inhabitants", as in Licates or Atrebates) has been suggested, with the first part of the ethnonym in turn containing the name of the En [Aenus (Enus)]. By that derivation the name would mean lit. "Valley of the Inn people."

Rhaetian Railways snaking through the Albula and Bernina Alps

It's fun to have a family affinity to Graubünden; a pleasant surprise! I prefer the name Graubünden to Grisons; although it's named Grischun in Romansh, Grisun in Lombard, and Grigioni in Italian. Romansh is a Romance language originating from ancient Latin, just like Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Rumanian. The Lombard language, as well as the other languages and dialects of the Italian peninsula are all of a Romance linguistic origin; although a Lombard or Romansh speaker would not be able to communicate with say a Portuguese speaker any more than an English speaker could communicate with a German speaker even though they're both part of the Germanic branch of Indo-European... in all cases assuming that this was their only language. In fact, the three Alpine-Italian languages of Romansh, Ladin, and Friulan are considered to be Romance languages; they distinctly are not Italian or Lombard. In the above link in this paragraph, there's an good audio example of spoken Romansh. Friulan is related to Slavic, as many Slavs were invited into Friuli during the Middle Ages to replace the population decimated from the Black Death.

 

 

 

The Manni family and related clans were from the third (L-R) of the four Romansh areas above

The Albula Alps of Graubünden

The Great Alps,

Its massive mountains and valleys,

Its majestic peaks,

Its mighty forests, rivers, and lakes,

The land that shaped us!

.

Incontri Tra/Montani - 30 Years

Incontri Tra/Montani means "Meetings Between/Mountains," and to the best of my knowledge was formed to provide a political voice to communities in the eastern Alps of Lombardy, Trentino, and also to other Alpine communities who are often overlooked. I think it's comparable to rural Upper Michigan building an "embassy" near the capitol in Lansing to provide a voice for the detached region. ITM turned 30 last year. I believe that province of Sondrio, the Brescian Tri-Valley, and the Bergamo Alps encompasses a strong cultural milieu as well. Naturally we would like to express solidarity with them.

 

************

 

http://www.incontritramontani.it/

https://www.facebook.com/Incontritramontani/

https://twitter.com/itm1990

https://incontritramontani.academia.edu/incontritramontani

 

************

 

 

INCONTRI TRAMONTANI - (PIEVE DI BONO-PREZZO)

gianni beordo

Trentesima edizione: Incontri Tramontani

 

************

Museo Scuola Rango
"Bello!"

 

************

 

A brief history

Incontri Tra/Montani was born in 1990 from a chance meeting between cultural associations of Valle Camonica and Val Trompia. From the observation of a lack of communication between the valleys and from the reading of the great difficulties in which the mountain communities finds itself (exodus, destructive interventions, youth unemployment, etc.), the idea arose of an annual conference that would begin to create a network of non-institutional relations between groups operating in the Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and French Alps with the aim of promoting mutual knowledge, collaboration, exchange of analysis and possible proposals.

In the term Tra/Montani there is a double meaning: 1) The need for dialogue and the consciousness of the sunset of a civilization that was at the center of the pre-industrial economy since all medieval "machines" needed the energy produced by the fall of water.

The study and reflection meetings on issues of common interest in Alpine resorts have been organized regularly since 1990 and touch on topics of various kinds and locations that are always different.

The ITM to which the Valle Camonica, the Giudicarie Valleys, the Val di Sole, Valtellina, Val Seriana, Val Cavallina, Carnia, and Val Verzasca adhere to permanently, has no official seat, nor a statute. It is a self-managed, spontaneous, and free thinking.

Membership of the ITM Group is open to all associations, study centres and cultural groups in the Alps.

'History of the ITM' by Giancarlo Maculotti (pdf file)

 

The following all collaborated in the realization of the ITM:

• Associazione Comitato Organizzatore Festa di Trate - Gaverina Terme (Bergamo)
• Associazione IVS Inventario delle Vie di Comunicazione Storiche (Milano)
• Centro Studi e Ricerche Archivio Bergamasco (Bergamo)
• Centro Studi Etnografici Val Imagna S. Omobono Imagna (Bergamo)
• Centro Studi Judicaria – Tione (Trento)
• Centro Studi Val di Sole – Malè (Trento)
• Centro Studi Valchiavennaschi Chiavenna (Sondrio)
• Circolo Culturale Baradello Clusone (Bergamo)
• Circolo Culturale Ghislandi Cividate Camuno (Brescia)
• Comune di Montereale Valcellina Montereale Valcellina (Pordenone)
• Cooperativa Arca Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia)
• Cooperativa Il Chiese - Storo (Trento)
• Fondazione Progetto Poschiavo Poschiavo (Svizzera)
• Fondazione Val Verzasca Canton Ticino (Svizzera)
• L’Arcilettore, Circolo di Sondrio (Sondrio)
• Museo Etnografico S. Caterina Valfurva (Sondrio)
• Museo Etnografico Tiranese - Tirano (Sondrio)
• Pro Vita Alpina - Längenfeld (Austria)

.

The Field of Folk Pagan Dreams II - "The Vehmic Mountain Altar"

.
Neopagan Revival

In the film 'Field of Dreams', the symbolic approximately one-third "circle altar" was the baseball field. The phantom baseball player came and went from different realms from the vast ominous cornfield. Since we know that the unusually geometric game of baseball was invented by a Freemason, is it a stretch to ponder whether or not this film from hyper-occultic Hollywood was a further take on the game's likely occult roots? It would seem to play upon many ancient spiritual traditions, including perhaps a Proto-European one. It's ironic, from my own intrinsic point of view, that I got part of this inspiration from literally a baseball field.... a "mountain baseball field" no less!

As stated in the previous posting to this, baseball is unique in that the field of play can extend beyond the fencing. In theory, an outfielder can run into the stands to catch the ball... or out to the parking lot! That "one-third circle" fans out wider and wider, longer and longer, symbolically... forever. As long as the ball doesn't actually bounce off of any object, the outfielder may catch it for an "out." Was the cornfield a way of expressing that ominous "forever" concept? Also, the game of baseball is set up in such a manner that it simply does not change. Football is constantly evolving. The three-point line in basketball has obviously changed that game. Therefore there is a somewhat ghostly aspect to baseball and it's unusual geometry.

I feel that I discovered something on that clean and warm night last September. I wasn't in any way trying to discover anything. I was just walking out onto the dark outfield to gaze at the high mountains on the other side of the valley while sipping a sweet iced tea. I felt a powerful sensation as the characteristics of the field, mountains, hills, valley, and sky slowly came into focus as something from my ancestral memory was jogged and recognized. I have stated on here many times of the folly that many people have made over the years of mixing synchronicity--even enhanced and complex synchronicity--with a mystical experience. Synchronicity is simply a connection to the universe, and it does not make anyone special. Synchronicity is an affirmation from universal consciousness that "you're on the right track." A mystical experience is usually something more than that.

 
As late as four centuries ago, groups of "native believers"--from what I could call "the six clans" of the east Lombard Alps--would travel eight times during the year to a particular mountain pass near where the Orobi Alps meet with the northern Val Camonica and the southern Valtellina. Of course, everyone didn't all go each time. Perhaps they would make the trek one of those times during the year. At least some folk pagans from each of the six valleys--the Valtellinesi, Camuni, Chiavennaschi, Orobianesi, Triumplini, and Sabbini--were present for each seasonal ritual. It was like a larger family coming together on what we now know was the last days of their traditional way of life. It was passed down to them from their Proto-European ancestors from clear back into prehistory. However, don't allow this one good example keep anyone from seeing expressions from their own Proto-European ancestors. There are examples of this from anywhere in ancient Europe; for example the Basque Country in the Pyrenees. Even in flat country, there were foothills and small mountains, for example in Poland there's a particular small mountain in a flatland region which is a central location for paganism... going back centuries. We don't know how long.


Vehmic Mountain Altar

Valleys, including the smaller valleys, are common all over in some form. Very often there is one peak or set of peaks, which stand on one side, with smaller foothills on the other. One side is at least higher than the other in most cases. It would not take too much effort to find a place such as this close to where you live. On the "foothills" or lower elevation side, a half-circle altar may be fashioned using a few modest stones on some clearing along the midway point of the hills. The half-circle represents "the circle of nature" conflated; half of it within the earth itself, and half of it within our lives. This "half-circle altar" represents "fire," as they used to light a fire pit there. However, unless there's a large clearing that you have access to, where you can create a safe fire, you own the land, or where there's a safe place to light a tiki torch.... then this is not necessary.



Any time of the day or night is fine. I think of the night a little more. The night is magical when the weather allows. The valley below represents "water," as it is where the rainfall naturally gravitates towards. There may even be a river, stream, creek, or small body of water down there anyway. Hopefully many trees and animals as well. The "high point of the foothills," behind the altar," represents "earth." It symbolizes the ground beneath your feet; the "earth" where half of the altar symbolically is rooted. The mountain peak(s) on the other side of the valley represent "spirit," as they are earth's marvelous sculptures. They are the spiritual antennas which may interact with the moon, which in turn allows a connection with the other side.... the great vast Ur where our ancestors exist.

The sky above represents "air," as it is the wonderful ethereal glue that holds the universe together. That sky where we may humbly observe the Almother Moon, Alfather Sun, the planets of our solar system, and of course all the stars. In conclusion, there are five levels to this configuration. From top to bottom: 1) Sky and universe; 2) Tall peak(s); 3) High point(s) of the foothills; 4) Half-circle altar at the midway point of the foothills; and 5) Valley below.


Five = The Sacred Vehme (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit)

Earth - High point(s) of the Foothills, behind the altar
Air - Sky and universe
Fire - Half-circle altar
Water - Valley below
Spirit - Tall peak(s) at which the altar faces


While becoming, we discover, we already are


.

'Krampus' (2015) - film review - Part 1

Krampus - Official Trailer (HD)

Legendary

Krampus
DVD and Blu-Ray - http://amzn.to/2ehkhBw
http://www.krampusthefilm.com

Legendary Pictures’ Krampus, a darkly festive tale of a yuletide ghoul, reveals an irreverently twisted side to the holiday.

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.

All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.

The horror-comedy also stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Stefania Lavie Owen and Krista Stadler.

Krampus and his mischievous underlings have been created by the combined efforts of Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, both renowned for their epic work on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and King Kong, among many others.

Written and directed by Michael Dougherty (Trick ’r Treat), Krampus is co-written by Zach Shields and Todd Casey and produced by Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni, Alex Garcia and Dougherty. The film will be released by Universal Pictures.


************ 

Greeting card from 1900

Krampus

In Central European folklore, Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure described as "half-goat, half-demon," who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards the well-behaved with gifts. Krampus is one of the companions of Saint Nicholas in several regions including Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Northern Italy including South Tyrol and the Province of Trento, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The origin of the figure is unclear; some folklorists and anthropologists have postulated it as having pre-Christian origins.

In traditional parades and in such events as the Krampuslauf (English: Krampus run), young men dressed as Krampus participate; such events occur annually in most Alpine towns. Krampus is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten.

Origins

The history of the Krampus figure has been theorized as stretching back to pre-Christian Alpine traditions. In a brief article discussing the figure, published in 1958, Maurice Bruce wrote:

There seems to be little doubt as to his true identity for, in no other form is the full regalia of the Horned God of the Witches so well preserved. The birch – apart from its phallic significance – may have a connection with the initiation rites of certain witch-covens; rites which entailed binding and scourging as a form of mock-death. The chains could have been introduced in a Christian attempt to 'bind the Devil' but again they could be a remnant of pagan initiation rites.

Discussing his observations in 1975 while in Irdning, a small town in Styria, anthropologist John J. Honigmann wrote that:

The Saint Nicholas festival we are describing incorporates cultural elements widely distributed in Europe, in some cases going back to pre-Christian times. Nicholas himself became popular in Germany around the eleventh century. The feast dedicated to this patron of children is only one winter occasion in which children are the objects of special attention, others being Martinmas, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and New Year's Day. Masked devils acting boisterously and making nuisances of themselves are known in Germany since at least the sixteenth century while animal masked devils combining dreadful-comic (schauriglustig) antics appeared in Medieval church plays.

St. Nicholas, Krampus, and other characters in 1910

A large literature, much of it by European folklorists, bears on these subjects. ... Austrians in the community we studied are quite aware of "heathen" elements being blended with Christian elements in the Saint Nicholas customs and in other traditional winter ceremonies. They believe Krampus derives from a pagan supernatural who was assimilated to the Christian devil.

The Krampus figures persisted, and by the 17th century Krampus had been incorporated into Christian winter celebrations by pairing Krampus with St. Nicholas.

Countries of the former Habsburg Empire have largely borrowed the tradition of Krampus accompanying St. Nicholas on 5 December from Austria.

con't....


************


A Survival of the Proto-European Horned God

Krampus, and his equivalent names in all Alpine countries, is a true ancient Alpine tradition. As covered here in the past, his equivalent in the Val Camonica is called Badalisc from the ancient Camunni language. Obviously this legend has been mixed with Christian themes, as the actual Proto-European god was not to have symbolized "evil," wasn't demonic, etc.. The horns or stags were a symbol of fertility and masculinity.

I wanted to review this film (they're actually working on 'Krampus 3' at this point), because when I was watching it for a second time just prior to Christmas, it occurred to me that Krampus had arrived as something of a Christmas film tradition... or as a "Christmas horror film." It ties into pre-Christian tradition, regional Alpine tradition, and from a mostly Christian perception.

.

Do modern south Germans have Etruscan admixture?

Canadian actress Ingrid Haas

There have been many theories and DNA studies regarding the ancient Etruscans, modern Tuscans, and their origins. The conclusions have, at times, been a bit incongruent and inconclusive. However, it seems to be certain that the ancient Etruscans were largely of ancient Anatolian/Mediterranean origin. Modern Turks are, in large part, of Turko-Mongolian origin... an admixture which occurred at least 2,000 years after the Anatolians migrated westward to modern day Tuscany. This was a part of a much larger and longer westward migration of ancient Mediterraneans.

Modern German speaking nations--those of ethnic German root stock--are a mixture of Proto-European with Teutonic. Arnold Swartznegger is a good example of a south German with probably a relatively equal amount of Teutonic and Proto-European genes. In the east Alpine regions where German, Italian, and Slavic speakers are in close proximity, the distinctions are less "ethnic," and more cultural. In other words, an Americans' concept of a stereotypical German or Italian wouldn't apply much there.


Ancient Rhaetian Alpine Nation

Surprisingly little is known about the Etruscans. We know that they had a great civilization which was chiefly defined by the region known today as Tuscany; and to a lesser extent also stretching down along the western coast of Campania, and northeastward into what is today southern Lombardy. As time has passed, anthropologists have slowly concluded that the Etruscans took to the eastern Alps. This may have been due to the increasing presence of the Celto-Gaulish people in some places. Battles between Etruscans and Gauls seems to have been very minimal; the Etruscans and Gauls may have naturally expanded to the paths of least resistance. Both the Etruscans and Cisalpine Gauls had, at different times, something of a loosely defined regional nation. The Rhaetian tribal federation, which existed after the Romans defeated the Etruscans, were likely of largely Proto-European and Cisalpine/Transalpine Celts. The Etruscan presence also could well have occurred as a result of them taking refuge from the Romans, and heading into the eastern Alps.

The Raeti (spelling variants: Rhaeti, Rheti or Rhaetii; Ancient Greek: Ῥαιτοί, transcription Rhaitoí) were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture may have derived, at least in part, from the Etruscans.

Although not long ago it may have been quite a stretch to ask if there were Etruscans and/or Etruscan influence in places like Switzerland or Austria, I now pose the question. It's not all that important of a question, but more of a mild curiosity.

Veronese Italian

Tyrolian German

The Rhaetian nation likely existed in some form prior to the advance of both the Etruscans and Gauls, and had its more acknowledged era after the Romans had conquered most of the Italian peninsula. In addition, the presence of the incoming Teutons from the north also reinforced Rhaetian identity and impetus to defend themselves. There could have been newly arrived Celts in the west, Slavic tribes to the east, as well as westward migrating Avars from central Asia. Since the Rhaetians seem to have adopted, as least in part, the Etruscan language--as well as the Etruscan written language--this Etruscan influence may have been much larger than once thought. Perhaps they led by example through their technology, architecture, and written expression.

Getting back to the ancient westward migrating Mediterraneans, they seemed to have moved across southern Europe by land, sea, and traveled across the north African coast. This likely occurred after the melting of the last glacial movement, about 9,000 years ago. The ancient Berbers were probably a remnant population. They moved into Iberia and into what now is France and the British Isles.. and to some extent further northward. Ireland, a thousand years or so ago, had a remnant population according to written sources. The Scottish Picts were, in part, likely a remnant population.

Irish dancer Gillian Norris

Ingrid Haas... Etruscan ancestry?

.

Meetings Between Mountains - The Bergamo Alps

Gorno - Incontri Tra/Montani

Antenna 2 TV

To try to intervene on the physiological aphasia between the valleys, in 1990 we began to communicate the main cultural associations of our valleys. The meetings between the mountain and the mountains reached this year at the 26th edition and scheduled from Friday afternoon to Gorno.

The title of the meetings this year is "the Mines of the Alps, the future of a Millenary history": And to take part are coming speakers from all over our country. There are also many people who have booked accommodation to follow the work.

We talked to Decoder at ANTENNA2 with the following guests:
Giancarlo Maculotti, Incontri Tra/Montani (Meetings Between Mountains)
Antonio Gonella, Circolo Culturale Baradello (Cultural Circle Baradello)
Giampiero Cabinders, Sindaco di Gorno (Mayor of Gorno)
Fabrizio Scolari, Ecomuseo delle Miniere di Gorno (Gorno Mining Museum)

************

Gorno is a small town on the southern edge of the Bergamo Alps. This, along with a number of Bergamask associations involved with these meetings, I don't know at this time of this suggests that this region is to be included within this Valtellinese/Camunian aspiration for regional autonomy? Apparently there's an unofficial website associated with the Cultural Circle Baradello entitled Amici del Baradello.


************

Incontri Tra/Montani

A brief history

The Incontri Tra/Montani was born in 1990 from a chance encounter between cultural associations of the Val Camonica and Val Trompia. From the observation of poor communication between the valleys and the reading of the great difficulties in which the mountain lies (exodus, destructive interventions, unemployment etc.), was born the idea of an annual convention that began to create a network of non-institutional relations between groups operating in the Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and French Alps, with the intent to promote mutual understanding, cooperation, exchange, and analysis of possible proposals.

In between there is a double meaning/mountain: the need of the meeting and the consciousness of the sunset of a civilization that was the center of pre-industrial economy as all the energy produced by the medieval machine needed fall of the water.The meetings of study and reflection on issues of common interest in the alpine resorts are organized regularly since 1990 and touch upon topics of various kinds and locations are always different.

The ITM Group to which adhere permanently the Valle Camonica, the Valli Giudicarie, Val di Sole, Valtellina, Val Seriana and Val Cavallina, Carnia, Val Verzasca, has no official headquarters, neither a statute. Is self-managed, spontaneous and free.

ITM Group membership is open to all associations, think-tanks and cultural groups in the Alps.


History of the ITM curated by Giancarlo Maculotti (pdf file)


The following have collaborated to the realization of Incontri Tra/Montani:

• Associazione Comitato Organizzatore Festa di Trate - Gaverina Terme (Bergamo)
• Associazione IVS Inventario delle Vie di Comunicazione Storiche - Milano
• Centro Studi e Ricerche Archivio Bergamasco - Bergamo
• Centro Studi Etnografici Val Imagna S. Omobono Imagna (Bergamo)
• Centro Studi Judicaria – Tione (Trento)
• Centro Studi Val di Sole – Malè (Trento)
• Centro Studi Valchiavennaschi - Chiavenna (Sondrio)
• Circolo Culturale Baradello Clusone (Bergamo)
• Circolo Culturale Ghislandi - Cividate Camuno (Brescia)
• Comune di Montereale Valcellina Montereale Valcellina (Pordenone)
• Cooperativa Arca Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia)
• Cooperativa Il Chiese - Storo (Trento)
• Fondazione Progetto Poschiavo - Poschiavo (Svizzera)
• Fondazione Val Verzasca - Canton Ticino (Svizzera)
• L’Arcilettore, Circolo di Sondrio – Sondrio
• Museo Etnografico S. Caterina Valfurva (Sondrio)
• Museo Etnografico Tiranese - Tirano (Sondrio)
• Pro Vita Alpina - Längenfeld (Austria)

************

Apparently the group "Valtellina nel Futuro" is no longer active or involved with ITM, as their website has been down for awhile now and their not included on the ITM list.

This shouldn't be confused with the Tyrol-Trento "Euroregion," which was created by EU Globalists to break down national sovereignty. However, this type of socially organic cultural/political meeting group is good.

.

On the ground in Valtellina and Italian/Lombard-speaking Graubünden

Breathtaking Road Through Stelvio Pass (Eastern Alps), Italy-Switzerland-Italy.

KirillRealineVlasov

Check out the beauty of Italy and Switzerland! Stelvio Pass (Italian: Passo dello Stelvio; German: Stilfser Joch), located in Italy, at 2757 m (9045 feet) is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps. It is located on the border of Italy and Switzerland. More about Stelvio Pass read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stelvio_Pass

3D Streets https://www.google.ru/maps/@46.528717,10.453634,3a,75y,243.91h,104.65t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1snfA_iexCxRQd7o3pOQSxIw!2e0

Shot on GoPro Hero2.

Music - 'Cherry Blossom' by Stumbleine


*************************


The Stelvio Pass is located in the Ortler Alps in the Valtellina (Bormio) and the South Tyrol.

Driving through the Alps: Tirano (Italy) - St. Moritz (Swiss) [Bernina Pass]

The Bernina Pass, Switzerland.

Some time back, I was walking past some outdoor tables in front of the deli in the Brisbane Village Shopping Center during lunch. I noticed several younger men who looked very Milanese--tall, in-shape, and sharply dressed--sitting at a table speaking Italian. I was in a hurry, but I thought it unfortunate that I couldn't communicate to them that I am Lombard; that my parents are from a largely Lombard community in Upper Michigan, that there was once a Lombard neighborhood in nearby San Rafael (one of about a dozen in the United States; there's still a Lombard club there), that there was once a Societa Lombarda of South San Francisco right nearby, or that the was a large migration of Swiss Italians (Ticinese-Lombards) locally at one time.

I guess that I am like many Americans who seek a connection to what feels like a long lost past. But I had to get going, but I looked back as I was getting into my car. I saw them sitting there with San Bruno Mountain in the background. From that angle, the mountains could have passed for the pre-Alps just north of Milan, Bergamo, or Brescia. Brisbane could almost pass for an Alpine village when viewed from an eastern angle. In any case, 150 years ago all of our ancestors were in one place; all speaking a dialect of the Lombard language, and not at all strangers... but now living somewhere in the world, such as Rome, Paris, San Francisco, Melbourne, Montreal, Sao Paulo, or Buenos Aires.... the Milanese, the Bergamasks, the Brescians, the Camunians, the Ticinese, the Valtellinese, the Poschiavini (Bernina/Poschiavo) etc.


*************************


The Bernina Express....

....between Tirano in the Valtellina to St. Moritz in Graubünden, Switzerland.

*************************





Switzerland Tirano St Moritz

OOO III


*************************

The Bernina Express - Valtellina to Graubünden

Cab Ride. Switzerland. St.Moritz - Tirano

Bernina Express (HD)

As I was writing in the previous paragraph, 150 years ago our great(s)-grandparents were all in one place. When I was a kid in the stands at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, watching the 49ers play, Joe Montana was quarterback. Montana was from Monongahela, Pennsylvania; once a destination for immigrants from the Val Camonica... where Montana's paternal grandparents came from. My grandparents were from the Val Camonica, my parents from the Montreal River between Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Very unbeknownst to me at the time, the Hall of Fame quarterback's grandparents or great grandparents could have known my grandparents or great grandparents... or some forefathers/foremothers during those many centuries. At the least, they could have communicated in the same Camunian dialect of the Lombard language.

A few weeks ago, I ran into a salesman from Milan. He was in San Francisco on business... leather jackets made in Milan. The company does business all over the world. He fit the gregarious stereotype... and I thought it was too bad that north San Mateo County no longer had any "Little Italy" (or "Little Genoa") to display.... and perhaps show some sort've cultural continuity. That pretty much disappeared in the 70s. Some people still spoke Italian in the 80s.

Some time ago I came across an Italian business woman at a car rental in downtown San Francisco. She was from Florence, about 6'1" and beautiful with long dark hair, big brown eyes, and ivory skin, probably in her 30s, and very well dressed. These Italians mentioned here are the kind've people who have given Italy respect the world over... the people of the north. Their accents were not the accents from some mafia movie... but well spoken English.. firm and with confidence. Many northern immigrants long ago, often from the Genoa area, took the same sea route whether headed for the cone of South America or northern California. From Genoa to one of the eastern ports of South America, around the southern tip and then northward to San Francisco. Now their descendants are strangers... lost in time. We are the same people.


*************************





Bernina Express Tirano-St Moritz - 4K Seitenkameras - Top-Of.tv

DENHARTOGH VIDEO


*************************


I feel closer to the northern stretches of the east Lombard Alps than I do to Brescia and the flatlands of the Po Valley. These scenes almost seem familiar to me, and I know that this is mostly perception; although there is a such thing as ancestral memory. One of the recent videos posted here explained this in detail. Any mountains at least have always felt like familiar territory to me. I have tremendous balance, even on steep ground. In my entire life I have only fallen once due to a rope that ripped apart.

One of these videos showed a farm at one of the train stops. Some of the scenery reminded me of the fifty mile drive along Highway 101 from San Francisco to Santa Rosa (it is also about the same distance from Brescia to Poschiavo). One can still see many farms and displays of rural life, ironically much of it developed by northern people (Genoese, Lucchesi, Piedmontese, Ticinese) long ago. The contrast between urban Milan, Bergamo, or Brescia, and the nearby Lombard Alps--reminds me locally of the contrast between urban San Jose and the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Sonoma County easily reminds one of the rolling hills and vineyards of Tuscany, while Lake County to the north looks much like one of the Lombard-Alpine lake regions. Just in general, California is much like Italy. If you could press down a giant cookie cutter in the shape of Italy, over California, it would resemble the basic natural terrain and weather of the peninsula. I like to call the region consisting of the three Brescian valleys (Val Camonica, Val Trompia and Val Sabbia), the province of Sondrio (Valtellina, Valchiavenna), the Bergamo Alps, and the few small Lombard regions of Graubünden as "the Valtellinese Hinterland."

Bernina Express from Tirano to St. Moritz

Trenino Bernina, Inverno, Tirano - St. Moritz - Full HD

.

'Swiss close Matterhorn 150 years after 1st ascent'

'Swiss close Matterhorn 150 years after 1st ascent'

AP - July 14, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — No climbers were allowed on Switzerland's Matterhorn mountain Tuesday, as authorities declared a daylong 'silence' on the 150th anniversary of the first ascent to honor more than 500 climbers who have died trying to reach the top.

A group of seven mountaineers led by Briton Edward Whymper became the first to scale the peak on July 14, 1865. Four members of the team died on the descent.

The solemn silence on the Matterhorn — underlined with the threat of a 5,000 Swiss francs ($5,290) fine — was part of a series of events marking the anniversary, which also included a light display along the route of the original ascent.

Authorities have also taken longer-term steps to calm the crush of mountaineers trying to reach the iconic 4,478-meter (14,692-foot) Alpine peak that Switzerland shares with neighboring Italy. The Hoernlihuette base camp refuge, also reopened Tuesday, has been reduced to 140 beds from 170.

An anniversary ascent by a team of climbers from Britain, France, Italy and Switzerland — reflecting the nationalities on the first ascent — is planned for Friday.

**************************************************

The Matterhorn, which is close to the Italian border at Zermatt, has been called "the mountain of mountains." I had no idea that 500 climbers have been killed making that accent. The Matterhorn is 14,692 feet, making it one of the highest peaks in Europe. Although the dramatic "horn" tip is so well-known, the overall mountain is larger apparently. Many photos show the horn with frosty fog gathered around it, looking like steam. The mountain is a symbol of nature at it's most rugged and beautiful, and a symbol of the Alpine region.

Matterhorn

First ascent of the Matterhorn

Edward Whymper

Golden age of alpinism

Quintino Sella

**************************************************

Wolves and Doves - Perception vs. Reality

Within human perception, wolves are a symbol of violence and aggression. Despite the overwhelming love for the canine, wolves have been driven away by concerted force. The "big bad wolf." Also, within human perception, doves are a symbol of peace and tranquility. Hence the phrase "the dove of peace." In reality, wolves never kill each other; while doves, like humans, do kill each other. So do we need to change that phrase to.... "the wolf of peace?"

.