Have you ever heard of Braies Lake in Italy’s north east? Probably not, I hadn’t until, by chance, I ended up watching Italian television series Un Passo Dal Cielo – A Step from Heaven – which was shot around Braies Lake and in the Alta Val Pusteria in Italy’s Alto Adige area.
Of the many lovely Italian lakes, the heavenly beauty of this virtually unknown lake is quite simply breathtaking. Known by three names, Pragser Wildsee, Lake Prags or Braies Lake is an intoxicating blend of mountains, water, and acres of green forest – not far short of paradise on earth.
The episodes of Un Passo Dal Cielo I caught were probably filmed during the summer months. In winter, a generous covering of snow adds another dimension to the already glorious mountain landscapes. Unlike some other Italian lakes, the Braies lake area has a few ski resorts.
Here are a few photographs. Italy’s Alto Adige is a great destination holidays in both summer…
…and winter.
You might end up staying in this hotel:
From reading a little on Wikipedia about how the TV series Un Passo Dal Cielo came about, I discovered that one of its aims is to show off this lovely area of Italy.
Finance for the series was provided by Business Location Südtirol (BLS), a company in the Italian province of Bolzano which aims to promote tourism to this area of Italy. To help keep costs manageable, the series uses some product placement, although from what I saw, it was not at all intrusive even if I did notice one product being shown off before I knew about the in-series marketing.
After watching four episodes which amply demonstrate the beauty of this area, I suspect this aim of promoting tourism to this visually stunning area of Italy will be achieved! Indeed, after watching and after visiting other Italian lakes such as Como, Maggiore and Garda, I was thinking about moving to the area of Italy! Not that I’d end up with a rather cool wooden cabin on stilts on Lake Braile which the star of the show, one Terence Hill, inhabits. Simply waking up to such scenery would make the days pass more easily. I wonder how good internet connectivity is in this attractive area of Italy.
Unfortunately, being in Italian, those not from or in Italy will probably never get to see the Un Passo Dal Cielo series. This is something of a shame, as the series itself which revolves around the daily life of Italy’s forest service and the local police is very watchable, or at least I thought so.
Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
By way of curiosity, the series was recorded in Italian whereas 85% of the population in the area use German as a first language. It would be nice to hear that Un Passo Dal Cielo had been dubbed into either German, English or even a few other languages as I feel this would help boost the reputation of this area of Italy at international level. Other Italian lakes would probably benefit from a similar approach to tourism promotion.
Un Passo Dal Cielo is also a technology ground-breaker in that it’s the first Italian TV series to be filmed in the HD format for broadcast on Italian state broadcaster’s Rai HD channel.
I hope the photographs of Lake Brailes I’ve sourced from Wikipedia help do the area justice but the only way to find out for sure, is to go to Italy’s Sud Tyrol region and see it for yourself. This is something I really hope to do being a country person at heart who is slowly but surely being smothered by life in the city.
Here’s a map showing where Braies lake is in Italy – zoom in and out with the + and – buttons:
[googlemap lat=”46.693725378358955″ lng=”12.083587646484375″ align=”undefined” width=”450px” height=”300px” zoom=”11″ type=”G_NORMAL_MAP”]Italy[/googlemap]
If any business schools in the area are looking for someone with a good few years English teaching experience or a few hotels need a hand with creating blogs or web site copy – do please give me a ring!
Italy Chronicles partner, Select Italy does have a few hotels in the area: Trentino-Alto-Adige Hotels
Photography credits:
Another view of Lake Braies by Wolfgang Körber Helladmin
Luca Lorenzi: Braies lake, Alto Adige Italy, Braies lake hotel, Lago di Braies, A Chapel near Lake Braies, Alto Adige, Italy and Braies lake in winter.