Don’t you find that the spontaneous things that happen on a trip are the absolute best? Happening upon a traditional “Rosari” or Thanksgiving in northern Italy was one of the highlights of our Dolomite Road Trip.
On our Dolomite road trip, one of our quests was to find some cow festivals in the surrounding area. We’d had so much fun in Compatsch and Kastelruth chasing cow festivals the day before, we hoped there were more.
This is Day 3 of our road trip, but if you missed Day 2 click here.
At our hotel, they presented us with a printed paper from the tourist office telling us of things happening that day in the area. On there, we read that there were two cow festivals, one in Völs am Schlern at 10:30 and one in Tiers at 1:00. We hoped we could do both. This didn’t happen.
Völs am Schlern
Völs am Schlern is a small village, very quaint and quiet. We drove up, found a parking space, and started to check out the town. There were hardly any people there, and all of them were at a café before going to mass. We did see a Mom and kids passing out chocolates to the people they passed, and it looked like they were carrying some type of offering.
We found out that the first Sunday in October, at least in the Dolomites, is “Rosari” or “Thanksgiving.” I don’t profess to know much about this day, but it obviously is a very religious day where you go to mass and get blessings from the priest. Bringing offerings is also part of the ceremony.
We had such a good time walking around Völs am Schlern, but to be honest, we were getting a bit concerned that no other tourists were showing up for the cow parade. So, we started looking for an announcement, a flyer, something to tell us when the cows and farmers were coming.
We found one, and at first glance, it definitely said they were coming on that day. Score.
But! That’s when we noticed the problem. The cows weren’t due until 12:00, noon. And now we have a decision to make. We’re going to have to choose to stay in Völs am Schlern or scrap it and head to Tiers.
It was obvious that the cow festival in Völs am Schlern would be small and quick. We also didn’t see any festival tents or areas set up. Of course, there may have been if we looked a little outside of town. Who knows?
Our Dolomite Road Trip Looked like this:
- Drove from Ramstein area in Germany
- Overnighted in the Brenner Pass
- Day 1 – Vipiteno, Bolzano, and Selva Val Gardena (volksmarch)
- Day 2 – Siusi, Seiser Alm, Compatsch and Kastelruth – Cow festivals
- Day 3 – Völs am Schern, Tiers Cow Festival, Via Coller, St. Magdalena Bacon Festival
- Day 4 – Tre-Cime and Lago di Braies
- Day 5 – Kronplatz Peak, The Lumen Mountain Photography Museum and the Messner Mountain Climbing Museum
- Day 6 – 9 – Back to Bolzano, Bergamo, Annecy and the Retours des Alpages
Download a snapshot pdf of our Dolomite road trip for further planning.
Then there’s Tiers, which Jim insisted that we’d been to before and thought it would be a much prettier setting. We bailed. We chose Tiers and hoped that we weren’t making a mistake.
We were happy we’d stopped in this small village. We wouldn’t have otherwise, and yet it was a gorgeous example of a Dolomitian town. I would say we’d go there again.
Tiers
It was about a 30 minute drive up into the mountains to get to Tiers, and we were a little stressed that maybe there wouldn’t even be a cow festival there. Luckily, before we even got to the town, we saw a sign saying that there was a Transhumanza at 1:00. Score.
It was about 11:30, so not too, too much before the festival was to begin, but enough to stake out a good spot and wait for the cows.
We parked right in the middle of the town under the church. As we got out, we looked up, and in the churchyard were these glowing feathery-looking things shining in the bright sunlight. We weren’t sure what it was, but it was intriguing and up the stairs we went.
Rosari – Thanksgiving Ceremony in Tiers
As we got closer, we noticed there was a huge ceremony happening in the church courtyard. It was well underway when we arrived, and we were hesitant to go into the yard. Would we be intruding?
Then we noticed a few other non-locals (read: tourists) standing in a corner, so we figured it was okay to do the same. My philosophy when viewing something like this, especially a religious ceremony, is to melt into the background and, of course, be quiet and respectful. Luckily, no one blinked an eye. It was perfectly fine for us to be there. Whew!
The priest talked, the band played, and everyone in the town were enjoying the sunshine and the day. Smiles all around.
We noticed the older men in uniforms, the towns ladies in traditional garb, and the band with their glowing feathers.
It was a moving and beautiful program, and we felt lucky that we could witness it.
The ceremony didn’t last long, and everybody headed out, so we turned our minds back to finding the cows.
Again, no luck. No barriers, no traffic tape. Except for the sign we saw, there was no indication at all that there was a cow festival. What were we to do?
Conclusion
Stumbling upon a traditional ceremony is one of the things Jim and l love about doing road trips. By driving our own car, or a rental if need be, we have the opportunity to change up the schedule, stop places and do things we see along the route that weren’t on our list. The Thanksgiving ceremony was one of the best 40 minutes of our trip. It was simply beautiful.
Author Bio: Corinne Vail is a travel photographer, food lover, and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 14 years. For many years she lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands teaching the children of the US. military. She’s visited over 90 countries, and she’s not stopping anytime soon.