So we’ve left Milan behind now and headed east again, this time up into the Dolomite mountains where we’ll spend Christmas. Trentino-Alto Adige, or South Tyrol, is the region in Italy’s far north that borders Austria and Switzerland.

Up here everything is different: the landscape, the architecture, the food and even the language. In this part of Italy, it’s German that is the first language; a noticeable reminder that borders often really are just an arbitrary line drawn on a map.

Bolzano, or Bozen in German, is the region’s capital and ‘Gateway to the Dolomites.’ It’s a beautiful city and known for its Christmas markets. We decided to stopover and see it for ourselves and Bolzano-Bozen certainly didn’t disappoint.