South Tyrol is unique not just in its conflicting cultural identity but also contradicting landscape. Sheer mountain face adorned with pale pinnacles that color in the orange-pinkish shades of sunset with the last daylight stand guard over this isolated, sincerely welcoming part of Italy.

The region’s lush green meadows, renowned wineries and vast apple orchards, which grow about 1 million tons of apples a year, bask in the mild climate with many sunshine hours to the backdrop of the jagged peaks of the Dolomites mountain range.

The Dolomites is a recognized UNESCO World Heritage Site shared between five provinces, Trento, Bolzano, Udine, Pordenone and Belluno, and numbers 18 peaks above 3000 meters.

As you can probably imagine, it’s a haven for outdoor sports and while we did some beautiful shorter hikes and walks this time, we cannot wait to explore the famed long-distance hiking trails in the area.

There’s much talk of an intriguing dichotomy of Mediterranean and Alpine influences to be found in South Tyrol, a unique mix of things Italian and Austrian. Maybe we weren’t visiting long enough, but I thought the latter to be fairly overwhelming.

Which doesn’t mean we didn’t like South Tyrol – on the contrary, we’ve already booked ahead a 5-day stay this winter.

It was just very different to what we were led to expect.

Also, I never thought I’d find a place more pristine than Switzerland, but South Tyrol is a length ahead even. The region retains 90% of collected tax revenues and is the wealthiest in Italy and among the most well off in Europe in GDP per capita. (eurostat 2018)

The geographic location of South Tyrol and its cultural and historical association with its neighbors, are closely reflected in both Italian and German being widely spoken. The province is officially bilingual, and even trilingual in the Ladin speaking Alta Badia and Val Gardena valleys.

Ladin is a local Rhaeto-Romanic language, the oldest in South Tyrol, spoken by about 30’000 people here, as well as in the bordering Swiss Canton of Grisons to the west – which demonstrates perfectly the arbitrariness of national borders. (suedtirol-tirol.com)

Assumption Day is a sacred holiday in South Tyrol and staying in Soprabolzano, a mountain hamlet, which is basically one with the village ‘Maria Himmelfahrt’, I expected some celebrations.

The German translation of Assumption Day is also Maria Himmelfahrt, so this, I guessed, would be the center of all festivities, and it appeared so. What I had not anticipated on this occasion however was a procession of lederhosen and dirndls, and brass music echoing through the valley.

We go to Italy often and I know the inimitable feel of this country well. It’s vociferously brimming with joviality, such passion for life, fondness for marvelous food, and generous with kindness. But visiting South Tyrol, you’d never guess that this province in northeast Italy, too, is Italy.

And until 1919, it actually wasn’t. It was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then, after World War I, country borders were redrawn and South Tyrol annexed by the Kingdom of Italy.

When Fascist dictator Mussolini came into power in 1922, he banned the German language and traditions, but the forced Italianization and intended relocation of the German-speaking population were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.

It’s not a painless history to look back on, and still today, Italian and German schools remain separated, with many South Tyroleans feeling more attached to Germany and Austria than to Italy. Given the choice, after 100 years of what to many feels like forced political affiliation to Italy, they call for independence or a return to Austria.