9 



'The path rises with many turns an.iong the porphyritic rocks. The 

 lower part is laid oat with various shrubs and trees which properly 

 belong to a still more southern clime, but after the Hotel Germania, 

 and the bridge over the stream have been passed, the visitor will 

 find the surroundings more and more given over to the indigenous 

 vegetation. Here and there, however, large patches of the cactus, 

 Opiintia, give quite a non-European feature to the scene. I was 

 told that this plant was originally brought to Gries from America. 

 It has now established itself in many places about the slopes of the 

 ■Guntschnaberg. From this pleasant sunny path an extensive view 

 of the Etsch valley and the surrounding mountains may be obtained 

 at frequent intervals. This walk is called " Die Erzherzog Heinrich- 

 Promenade," but as I shall frequently mention it, I will shorten 

 the title and call it the Archduke's Walk. There is another 

 interesting walk in Gries which I may as well mention now. This 

 as the Muhlbach Weg. It is a water lane that runs between the 

 vineyards down in the plain. The first part of the lane is walled 

 in with low stone walls, and then one reaches the green turfy path 

 and the stream. On the banks grow willows, cuckoo flowers, and 

 meadow-sweet. Here and there is a bit of flowery meadow land, 

 and when Celastrinn an/iolua and Gnnepteri/.r r/iatiini come flying over 

 the grass, it seems all quite English. However, two or three 

 Iphiclicies podalirius come sailing along, and hwria latlionia rises 

 from the path; these and the excessive heat of the sun make one 

 think that if it be really England, then one is in bed and in dream- 

 land. Further on, the path runs between extensive vineyards. 

 Here the vines are cultivated in long rows with a short stake to 

 each vine and a long stake fastened at an angle to the short one. 

 The whole arrangement of stakes reminds one of a regiment of 

 soldiers, carrying their rifles over their shoulders. This allows the 

 bunches of grapes to hang down below the leaves and so obtain 

 protection from the fierce rays of the sun. I hope you will now 

 have some idea of the hot and narrow valley, surrounded by 

 mountains, in which lies Botzen and its suburb Gries. 



We all know that glorious sunny day in springtime when we see 

 the first Kncldo'e cardaiiiines careering over the meadows, when the 

 air is sweet and when the sunshine brings colour even into the 

 shadows. We all know how that day stirs in us the longings for 

 the ideal joyous life. In England this longing is often confined to 

 the Avish that the next day will be as fine as the present, and in 

 Botzen, in 1911, this wish was almost constantly fulfilled. It was 

 with ecstatic feelings that one noticed morning after morning 

 the whole valley bathed in sunshine. The mellow notes of 

 numerous blackbirds rang out in the clear air, and again and again 

 the unclouded blue of the sky gave assurance of yet another 

 brilliant day. It was easy to conceive that with such a glorious 

 amount of sunshine the advance of Spring was rapid and almost 

 -continuous. Although the first warm weather of the year did not 



