Trolls in the Italian Alps

 

High in the Italian Alps a chairlift is an altogether different experience outside of the skiing season. 

Having already taken a cable-car to a dizzying height (below) to reach Vigilius at the base point of the sessellift, it seemed incredible to be going higher still.

But the views from above the tree-tops were pretty spectacular and I much preferred this mode of fresh-air transport to being in an enclosed bubble.

Some odd things started to happen as we floated gently upwards suspended from a wire. The pure silence you get on mountain peaks was penetrated by the sounds of eerie music, 

while down below, some not-quite-normal-looking people appeared, dotted around in the forest under the chairlift's path.

They turned out to be trolls. A fact that surprised me but not the Alpine cows who seemed unmoved by the sight of these strange folks.

Some were playing traditional instruments

and soon they began to seem perfectly natural in these surroundings.

Even some of our fellow-travellers-in-space were trolls, friendly types who smiled without speaking

(this one was hanging precariously from a tree; I worried about her) ...

Our trolls turned out to be a Norwegian (what else!) group of travelling artists, bringing the traditional music of the area alive, in an unusual and unforgettable performance.

Hopping off at the top, there were hiking trails to be followed in crisp, cold (and thin at nearly 2000 metres) mountain air ... Alpine donkeys

and a tiny church perched at the highest point (whoever comes here? we wondered).

Then some hours later the ride back down

past a picture-perfect chalet.

From the cable car going further down still, the lush valleys of the South Tyrol filled with vineyards and fruit orchards extend behind the window reflections

And then it was time to hit the road north to Innsbruck ...

Vigilius and Vigiljoch, near Merano, Alto Adige, Italy, September 2015

Italian Alps trip