Bolzano - the pitoresque capital of Süd-Tirol, surrounded by mountains. I have lived in Bozen for two and a half months due to family obligations and had the fortunate chance to make a few interesting discoveries that I must share with the interested traveller. I could imagine that YOU would love to come here if-

-you are 75 or older and like to meet your former classmates and their parents.
-you like the level of service and prices of the Cote D´Azur and want to find it somewhere else without having to put up with all the glamour and glory and nice weather
-you like GREAT police presence, especially in their cars, even in all areas of the pedestrian streets or the river promenade (a hilly sort of lawn where people go to in order to tan nicely and check on the local authorities)
-you like policemen to look like christmas trees, except the officials seem to wear much more lametta
-you like to be talked to by policemen who wear big sunglasses and smoke while asking you in a very football hooligan sort of way about why you are here and what you are doing
-you like to discover that its just an urban myth that people in the capital of Südtirol speak German (Its Italy, you speak Italian or Italian or Italian)
-you are a great fan of Nazi Rock concerts and you want to legally see these shows somewhere
-you want to improve the chance of gettin run over by a car greatly
-you want to improve the chance of getting run over by a police car in the pedestrian area greatly
-you want to experience OUTSTANDING service in a Vodaphone shop (Waltherplatz, untouchable)
-you wish to feel the security of tight anti terrorism laws by having your passport controlled in Internet Cafés
-you like the smell of urine in staricases
-you enjoy carrying your groceries for three kilometers because the local authorities dont allow you to unload your car in front of your house if you dont have Italian numberplates (and check personally)
-you like BIG dogs and BIG dog remaints
-you like feeling metropol flair in a small town setting that results from the number of traffic accidents that should easily equal the ones of London and Amsterdam combined
-you enjoy cueing in the local super market for most of the afternoon
-you are a fan of shop closing hours in the middle of the afternoon
-you are inetersted in architecture; You have the chance of getting a thorough look at the inside of the train station in case you decide to buy a ticket there

Not all is lost, the food and coffee make up for most of the above, and after a few weeks you will find a few Restaurants where they are actually happy to serve you and serve great stuff. Let me spare you the time of searching, go to Nussbaumer, great place, great food, great service or the Batzenhäusl - also good.

If you have to go to Bozen do it - If you dont have to but you like pain..........