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Wow oh wow, sure am enjoying your report!
The look of Chiusa seems to resemble Soglio, with all the stone and and the beautiful ancient buildings. And the vineyard views from the Ritten cable car really swept me away! Lol, I kept expecting to see a gorgeous azure blue lake down below them, as I'd see around the Lavaux, but of course the mountains there are not so giant. And the Novacella Monastery was awesome. Really something. I like your comment that the food in Südtyrol is more like Austrian, but I have to say the bus schedules are pure Italian. I had quite a lot of trouble trying to use busses around Lake Garda without a car some years ago. Love looking forward to reading this every morning! s |
Frankly, I cannot see any difference between Swiss, North Tyrolian and South Tyrolian bus schedules.
Trentino Trasporti is manageable too The real problems begin with those of Belluno Province. IMO Klausen/Tluses/Chiusa (5000 inhabitants) is very different from both, the Swiss village of Soglio (150 inhabitants) and from Soglio in the province of Asti (130 inhabitants). |
Oct 4 -
We woke to rain and wet fluffy snow. No Dolomites in sight. We tidied up and got ready to go. Valentina, one of the owners, turned up at our door and offered us a ride to the bus stop, saving us a 10 minute walk with luggage. Check-out was at 9:30, so we'd arranged an early check in at our apartment at our next stop, Sterzing/Vipiteno. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8b67d72dca.jpg Non-views from our apartment balcony https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fe2e6bcded.jpg Colfosco Bill had begun to feel better, and then started feeling sick again. We took bus 460 to the St. Lorenzen bus station (again), and then wandered the parking lot searching for the train station, the whereabouts of which was a mystery. I finally asked a passerby where the heck it was, and she pointed up a hill behind the bus stop. Turns out it was only three minutes away, but not marked very well. There was a diagram, but it looked like a boat not a train, at least to me. We caught a train to Franzensfeste (again!), so named for the Franzensfeste Fortress, which we’ve yet to explore. Franzensfeste is a railway hub, and we’d seen it a lot as we’d traversed Tyrol on this trip. Once there, we located our bus stop a few minutes away and waited for the 310 bus to Sterzing. We waited, and waited and waited. Just as we were about to give up and go find a train, the bus showed up - some 15 minutes late. We took it to the Flainer Brücke/Ponte Flaines bus stop in Sterzing. Today’s journey took about 2.5 hours, all covered by the Südtirol card. We then walked about 10 minutes to our apartment. Well, it would have been 10 minutes had we found it on our first try. We were both following Google Maps on our phones, but both showed different routes. Were it not for Bill's masterful sense of direction, we'd still be out there looking for it. Turns out the apartment was tucked behind a shopping center and parking lot, accessed via steps and/or a ramp. The location would prove to be excellent, really close to the Centro Storico. If you haven’t already noticed, just about everything in Südtirol has two names, and sometimes three, one in German, one in Italian and occasionally one in Ladin. It can make things confusing, as the Südtirol app doesn’t consistently list locations in the same language. Sometimes they use the German name, other times they use the Italian name. One needs to know the name in order to search for it on the app. We got settled and wandered out for lunch; it was already 2 pm, some kitchens had closed at 1:45; we seem incapable of getting to a restaurant during lunch, so it was pizza or nothing. We wandered into the very busy Kolping Restaurant and Pizzeria in the pedestrian zone. Here we had a very good lunch (yep, pizza again, €34 with 1/2 liter white wine and coperto). https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1ace18a8cb.jpg Surprise! More pizza! Vipiteno/Sterzing is situated very close to the border with Austria on the road that leads to the Brenner Pass. It’s Italy's northernmost city, and considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Afterwards we poked through the medieval old town, it was love at first sight We took a gelato break at Angolo Focacceria, pistacho and topfenknödel for Bill, dark chocolate and topfenknödel for me, delicious, €3.40 each for two scoops. They had some interesting sandwiches here, we vowed to come back. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f8b68a36dc.jpg Dessert Then it was off to the tourist office, where a helpful young woman claimed to only know a little English, and then proceeded to rattle off a massive list of suggestions, speaking so fast that we could barely follow her. She seemed chuffed when I told her that her English was better than mine, and she told us she’s out of practice, but several Brits, Americans and Australians had been in lately. She told us that Germans like to visit Vipiteno because it feels Italian, but they speak their language, and Italians like to visit because it feels German, but they speak their language. She told us that they don’t usually get many English speakers in Vipiteno, but that it had recently changed. We loaded up on maps, and then set out to find the laundromat we’d asked about. Then it was back to the apartment to wash our laundry, and then back to the laundromat to use their dryer. There was a drying rack in the apartment, but our fleece items were in desperate need of a wash, and we knew they’d not dry overnight. We’d only packed one pair of fleece lined pants each, thinking we’d not need them, but they’d been getting quite the workout. The laundromat only had two dryers, one was being used. It took two rounds, about 45 minutes and €7. On the way back to the apartment we stopped for a limoncello spritz at a random bar, which happened to be blasting Johnny Cash at high volume. Really, Johnny Cash? €6 each and quite refreshing. In addition to being in an unbeatable location, the apartment was clean, quiet and comfortable, and it was nice to have a washer. It had a big bathroom with nice shower and soaking tub. We were quite comfortable here. To be continued... |
I looked up Vipiteno and it looks so cute! I am really enjoying your report. Thanks!
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Thanks for joining me Pagngo!
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Oct 5 -
It was cold and windy, so we rugged up in our clean fleece and walked two minutes to the nearest coffee shop, Frick, where I asked for, and actually got, a hot café latte, although the pastry wasn’t very good (€10.10). https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f44edd3e0d.jpg So many choices... Then we took bus #313 towards Pflersch, getting off at the Fleres Cabinovia Ladurns stop, planning to take the cable car before it closed for the season tomorrow. https://www.ladurns.it/en/summer We’d been given a new Südtirol card, which covered transportation and offered a discount on the local cable cars. We purchased tickets (€17.50 each with 20% Südtirol card discount) and were whisked from the valley to the ski resort of Ladurns, which had received some snow overnight. I fully expected it to be cold and windy up here, but it was actually windier in the valley below. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b966410305.jpg Ladurns map They also have go carts up here, which looked like a complete blast. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dfef25a55e.jpg Ladurns Once there, we undertook the ‘gentle' hike to the Edelweisshütte, which took us about 40 minutes. From there, we continued walking through the snow up to the Wastenegg viewpoint, which took another 15 minutes (2,023 meters). There are loads of trails up here, and this one continued from Wastenegg to make a circular trail, but we opted to backtrack to the Edelweisshütte for lunch. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...61480cc02a.jpg Walking to Edelweisshütte https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cf171d6be4.jpg Snow chef, walking to Edelweisshütte https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b10448a91f.jpg Walking to Wastenegg Great choice this, a huge bowl of barley soup for me (€7.50), Rosti with speck and egg for Bill (€11.50), chased down with a large wheat beer (€5.50), and an Aperol spritz (€6). Good food and good value, €30.50). Our waitress even gave us a complimentary hay schnapps – which I can only describe as “bracing”. We rather like hay schnapps; we’d brought home a bottle from Austria last year. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...93e1e05739.jpg Edelweisshütte https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e86d73e8a5.jpg Edelweisshütte Then we returned the way we’d come. That ‘gentle’ hike was a 991 foot ascent, and then a 991 descent, giving both sides of our knees a workout. But the semi views, the food and the friendly waitress at the Edelweisshütte made it worth the effort. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b55c75d6e9.jpg Walking back to Ladurns cable car station https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...93cd2cc8a5.jpg Walking back to Ladurns cable car station We took the cable car back down, and then the bus back to Vipiteno/Sterzing, where we caught the tail end of a local beer festival and had a nice chat with one of the stall operators who told us six of the 15 Süd Tyrol microbreweries were dispensing their goods, free of charge. For a €5 glass deposit, one could drink free beer until 3pm. Unfortunately for Bill we got there at 2:30, but he did himself proud by trying a sample from each of the vendors. Had it been wine, I’d be all in, but beer? Nein. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e085ba9e0c.jpg Walking back to town from bus stop https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...804cd70aad.jpg Our kind of Oktoberfest, Vipiteno/Sterzing I had to pop in to Angolo Focacceria for another gelato fix, €3.40 and Bill picked up one of those delicious sounding sandwiches to take home for later €8. He said it was good, but would have been better fresh and heated. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1068e0364c.jpg Sandwich from Angolo Focacceria https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...46094a04fd.jpg Sterzing/Vipiteno We poked through town a bit, and then sought out the big Eurospar, about a 15 minute walk from our apartment, me looking for a specific Italian cookie to take home to my mom. It was absolutely heaving. The parking lot was full of campervans, the store aisles crowded as if tomorrow were Christmas Day, making me wonder if it’s always like this on Saturday. Meanwhile the smaller DE Eurospar near us was empty, but didn’t have what we were looking for. It’d been a good day. To be continued... |
Mel, that snow 😍 I’ve seen a light snowfall twice in my life, and I was giddy with excitement.
We had that same problem at St Lorenzen. No signage and no people. Obviously our one night in Vipiteno was a mistake, we thought it very sweet but didn’t do any research on walks/ cablecars. Look forward to reading about the rest of your time there. |
Adelaidean - there's really quite a bit to do in/around Vipiteno. An added bonus is that's all so close and easy to reach.
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Oct 6 -
The weather looked decent today, so we caught a bus from Sterzing to Inner Ratschings Bichl and took the Ratschings-Jaufen gondola up to the mountain station at 1,800 meters, this the last day of the summer season, €18 each with 20% Südtirol card discount. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c20fb450e3.jpg View from base of Ratschings-Jaufen gondola station https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c7b1569fb4.jpg Ratschings-Jaufen gondola https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b860de5251.jpg Trail map Once there, we hiked along the Ratschinger Almenweg to Wasserfalleralm (mountain hut) and on to Saxnerhütte, where we satisfied Bill’s ongoing craving for polenta - this version with a chanterelle mushroom ragout. I wasn’t hungry so I settled for fries (€27.50 with drinks). https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...87a9603616.jpg Walking to Wasserfalleralm and Saxnerhütte https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b74e891909.jpg Walking to Wasserfalleralm and Saxnerhütte https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a48f0f76e7.jpg Walking to Wasserfalleralm and Saxnerhütte https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9c05566fe2.jpg Walking to Wasserfalleralm and Saxnerhütte https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0dffc193ee.jpg Walking to Wasserfalleralm and Saxnerhütte After lunch we hiked the muddy panorama trail to Rinneralm, where we took a break over an alfresco beverage while watching some kids play on a trampoline covered in snow, their mom annoyed at the cold wet mess. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...54751d0390.jpg Walking to Rinneralm https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3ce95e39ab.jpg Rinneralm Then we walked back down to the gondola station, and took it down to Bichl and a warm bus. That morning as we passed through on the bus, we’d noticed some sort of event taking place in Stange, so on our way back to Sterzing, we got off the bus to check it out. We then followed our noses to the sports area and watched some sort of sheep competition, which was entertaining as hell. Think county fair/4H competition, complete with food and drink stalls; something for the whole family. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aa7427185e.jpg Bus to Stange https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9e279ae0df.jpg Sheep competition, Stange https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...da3c2063e0.jpg Sheep competition, Stange https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bf0d5a42fc.jpg Unruly sheep, Stange We’d witnessed the cow version a few years ago in Switzerland. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...33c90f3d94.jpg Switzerland, 2019 Before leaving, we popped into the Sportzone Ratschings, which reminded me of a community center, for a beer and a very generous Aperol Spritz, €7.50 for both. Back in Sterzing, I satisfied my cake and coffee craving at Lilie with a nice hot cappuccino (I know, I’m a savage for ordering a cappuccino after 10 am) and a slice of black forest cake (€7.80) and then we poked around for a bit, rather enjoying the quiet Sunday. https://www.hotellilie.it/kulinarik https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6f166d2c39.jpg Vipiteno https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1b332bad39.jpg Vipiteno Later we returned to Hotel Restaurant Lilie for a light dinner of shared salami pizza (€13.20, including shared plate charge, no coperto). Bill said this was his favorite pizza to date…and we’d had a lot of pizza The restaurant staff was just as we’d left them, running their butts off. No idea if they’re always this busy or were busier than usual as most places were closed today (Sunday). We were both thoroughly Sterzing/Vipiteno. To be continued... |
Vipiteno was on our list of possibilities for days when we couldn't hike (weather or whatever), but we didn't make it there on this past trip. Looks like a nice town with interesting areas around it. Taking notes for next time!
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Oct 7 -
The day got off to a gloomy start, then suddenly, brilliant sunshine. We took bus 319 towards Bichl to Stange, planning to check out the Gilfenklamm Gorge, but we missed our stop (Jaufensteg), so we bailed one stop later at Moar, the bus driver looking confused, as there was nothing out here but farmland. https://www.ratschings.info/en/activ...amm-gorge.html From the Moar stop we hoofed it back to Jaufensteg via a rather dicey stretch of road with no shoulder. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...43e7bd9ede.jpg Walking from Moar to Jaufensteg There are three entrances to the gorge, just before Stange Bridge at Hotel Ratschingserhof, in the Stange village center behind Gasthaus Zur, and opposite Jaufensteg Hotel, which would normally let visitors use their loo, but today they were closed (Monday). We tend to swim upstream, and today was no different; we intentionally chose to walk down the 2.5 km long gorge accessed from opposite the Jaufensteg Hotel, while everyone else we encountered (and there were many) walked uphill. The entrance at this end wasn’t manned, but a couple nearby told us we could pay as we exited the gorge. We’d originally planned to walk through the gorge and then hike its parameter, but one look at the trails dissuaded us of that silly notion, as what looked innocuous on paper, was a doozy in real life. We followed a series of bridges and walkways clinging to the sheer walls of the gorge; evidently once pure white marble, now green. It was really impressive, and crazy loud. There were a lot of families and kids, making us wonder if school holidays were underway. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b6852e1f16.jpg Gilfenklamm Gorge https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...511b7d35c4.jpg Gilfenklamm Gorge https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e09891e5d6.jpg Gilfenklamm Gorge https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...52ff5910a3.jpg Gilfenklamm Gorge https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...84bb1726e9.jpg Gilfenklamm Gorge https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5e82908f70.jpg Gilfenklamm Gorge As we exited the gorge near the Stange bridge entrance, we paid the €7 each fee (no discount with Südtirol card, unless staying in Ratschings). Wanting to maximize this beautiful day, we then took bus 312 from Stange back to the Sterzing bus station, and then walked to the Rosskoph Monte Cavallo cable car station, and went up (€42 for both with 20% Südtirol card discount). Rosskoph Monte Cavallo is home to 20 km of ski pistes and the longest illuminated sledding trail in Italy. Three cable cars in three days...US ski resorts really have missed the boat. I can't think of a single CO ski resort that caters to hikers as well as skiers. Once at the top, we had lunch at the newly built Alpin Chalet, where Bill partook of more polenta, this time with goulash, but he didn’t like it as much as yesterday’s at Saxnerhütte, which tasted better and was much better value. I had the ravioli with spinach and ricotta (€51.90 with drinks). Okay, but nothing to get excited about. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d0fd37b774.jpg Rosskoph Monte Cavallo https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...476e6d183b.jpg Alpin Chalet https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b2b0bff16d.jpg Alpin Chalet https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...031c5f0417.jpg Alpin Chalet https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5b9cce4147.jpg Alpin Chalet After lunch we set out on the 3.2 km Rossy Walk, which caters to both kids and adults. There was playground equipment to keep the kids occupied, and four, yes, four hüttes along the route to keep the adults watered and fed. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1174de331a.jpg Something for everyone https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...04280be7bb.jpg Plentiful trails and hüttes https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d5e29b7259.jpg Rossy Walk https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c3af93d501.jpg Changing Larches The walk had a few hills, but was nicely graded. After walking for a while we stopped at Albergo Furlhütte to take in the views while sipping wine (€8) and to watch two kids wrangle the seesaw. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...eadf68e447.jpg Albergo Furlhütte https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...69c3263794.jpg Albergo Furlhütte https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a5a81d349e.jpg Albergo Furlhütte Then we finished the walk, returning to the cable car station, taking it down, and then walking back to the apartment. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bc36141d76.jpg Rossy Walk https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...79afe8c259.jpg Rossy Walk https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f2f2679971.jpg Rossy Walk We were loving how easy it is to get around here in Vipiteno; everything is close; we were actually able to fit more than one activity into a day. It’d been a beauty of a day; the temps reached 16c. Goodbye fleece lined pants (?) https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ae4b3af3fd.jpg View from apartment balcony To be continued... |
Oct 8 -
Today’s weather was miserable; perfect for exploring the Italian medical system. The patient was reluctant, but made the right decision; choosing medical care over the wrath of his spouse. Bill got sick a few days after we arrived in mid-September, then got better, then he got sick again, this time with something nasty. I thought it might be bronchitis, he was afraid it was COVID, despite all of our pre-trip vaccinations, airplane masking, etc. Knowledge is power, so we sought out a professional. I’d contacted our Air BNB owner the previous day, asking if she knew of a doctor who might be able to see Bill. I then contacted the doctor via phone and e-mail before business hours, but received no response. Not knowing what else to do, Bill masked up and we cheekily turned up unannounced at said doctor's office, which was a convenient two minute walk from the apartment. He sent us to the hospital for a COVID test. We returned to the apartment and looked up directions to the hospital online, and then set out to find it. It too was conveniently located, about a 15-20 minute walk from the apartment, although we had to stop once and ask if we were in the right place (we weren’t). Once at the hospital, Bill registered, and we were sent to a waiting area. He was taken back within a few minutes. A short time later, a nurse came out and gave me a mask, telling me they’d given him a COVID test and were waiting for the results. I put it on, expecting those around me to move away, while giving me the side-eye. Nah, that didn’t happen, I wasn’t sitting near anyone. The same nurse came out later and told me the test was negative and that I could remove my mask. Within 90 minutes Bill had been seen by a doctor, received an X-ray and been given a blood test. He was then sent to the ‘ticket’ office to settle up. He produced his paperwork and was waved away. No money changed hands. The diagnosis? Bronchitis. He told me that he felt chided by the doctor for coming to the hospital, but we’re not sure what else we could have done. Sterzing/Vipiteno is a small town, there are no urgent care/walk-in clinics (we looked). Yes, he probably could have gone to a pharmacy and purchased a COVID test, but what then? He still needed to be seen by someone. Oh well, we did what made sense at the time. We then went to a pharmacy armed with a prescription, and paid €63 for five medications. No way in hell would the reverse be true for a European visiting the US. The language barrier alone would be a nightmare for a non-English speaking European; not to mention the cost. Thank you Italy. We are still waiting to see if a bill shows up in the mail, but so far nothing. I have asked on Trip Advisor if we should expect to be billed, but no one seems to know for sure. Time will tell. Afterwards we returned to Lilie for more excellent salami pizza, this time getting one each. Neither of us could finish, so we brought them home for dinner, the waiter wrapping them up without being asked (€31 including one limoncello spritz each, no coperto). While Bill rested, I did a bit of exploring in the rain. I went to Lidl near the train station, poked through town, and eventually took cover at a table under a massive umbrella in the town square. Here I sipped an Aperol Spritz in a beautiful glass (I do love a nice glass) and watched people dodge the rain (€5.50). https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...869f89eb02.jpg Lidl - I was desperate for these during the pandemic https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...60b0548ad7.jpg Exploring Vipiteno https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...01aee311a7.jpg Exploring Vipiteno https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9b26dd92ba.jpg Exploring Vipiteno https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fa68befc40.jpg Aperol spritz in the rain https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...71c998ab27.jpg Watching the world go by There was a small market in town today, socks seemed to be a popular item again. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d2de574499.jpg Market - more socks https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dcfc551667.jpg A sea of umbrellas It had rained all day; serious rain. It was a good day to just chill. Thoughts and Impressions: We both thoroughly enjoyed Sterzing/Vipiteno. Our apartment was quiet, but right at the edge of the pedestrian zone, so everything was close. We could step out in the morning and be sipping coffee in any one of 3-4 coffee shops within minutes. The town is a photogenic gem and full of charm. It was the perfect size for us (population 6,955). Compact and friendly, yet with plenty of places to eat and imbibe. It’s surrounded by three valleys; Ridnaun to the west, Pfitsch to the east, and Pflersch to the north, each of which offers hiking trails, glacial lakes, alpine refuges and mountain peaks. We didn’t feel the need to wander very far as there was so much to see and do within a stone’s throw of town. To be continued... |
Very thorough report. Love the photos. The one of Innsbruck that included a McDonald's sign brough back some memories for me, as I believe that's probably the same McDonalds I went to in 1985, the first one that we saw in our post-high school whirlwind trip of the continent. The idea of a Quarter Pounder with beer was mind blowing.
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Oct 9 -
It rained throughout the night, but we woke to a wee bit of sun, the clouds dancing against the mountains. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ac22b8f6a7.jpg After a good hot coffee and so-so pastry at Bäckerei Konditorei Cafè Häusler (maybe we should have tried the cake instead, it looked really good), we tidied up the apartment, sorted the recycling, and then walked 16 minutes to the bahnhof and caught a train towards Merano. And here we discovered something we didn’t like about Sterzing - no elevator or escalator at the train station. My heart always sinks when I turn a corner and am met with stairs on a travel day. We had to lift our luggage, which wasn’t getting any lighter as the trip progressed, up and down two flights of stairs. There wasn’t even a ramp. Ugh. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ad53fb3a73.jpg Bäckerei Konditorei Cafè Häusler https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9444195962.jpg Bäckerei Konditorei Cafè Häuslerhttps://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...47cf0695ef.jpgOn board the train We changed trains at the now very familiar Franzensfeste; fortunately there was an elevator. Then we boarded a train to San Candido in Alta Pusteria; all free with the Südtirol card. Both trains were pretty empty so we had no luggage storage issues. Today’s journey was a short 1:45. We’d been zigzagging around for weeks in a pretty small area, our itinerary based on summer closures, and an attempt to circumvent accommodation check in and check out times. Yesterday I’d notified our San Candido apartment proprietor of our early arrival and they assured us they could accommodate us. They’d requested I call from on board the train once we reached Dobbiaco and they sent a driver to pick us up. Sweet. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...71cd8270aa.jpg San Candido We’d stayed at the Residence Silvia last December and had really enjoyed it. It’s part of the Post Hotel, which is owned by the Wachtler family, who seem to own most of San Candido. The location is unbeatable, directly across the street from the tourist office, minutes from a large Eurospar, and a short walk from several bus stops and the pedestrian zone. Everything we needed was right at our feet. This year’s apartment was on the third floor, an interesting layout of two interconnecting rooms, probably meant to do dual duty as both a studio with a pull-out bed, bathroom, and kitchen and as a regular room with an attached bathroom. Both rooms had TVs, which are pretty useless to us when we travel as we seldom turn one on. There was an abundance of doors, which we had to keep opening and closing to get from one area to another, but they proved helpful in muffling Bill’s coughing when he was reading in one room and I was busy on the laptop in the other. The Post Hotel is undergoing renovation, and the Residence Post apartments next door to the Residence Silvia were also closed. After getting settled, we immediately set out to find some lunch. My first choice, a bistro we’d enjoyed from our last visit, was closed, so we wandered looking for an alternative and ended up at the Wiesthaler. Bill chose the penne pasta with ragout, speck, mushrooms and cream, which he said was really good, €15. I had a nice penne pasta with tomato sauce, €10.80 and the weakest Aperol spritz I’d ever had (the young man behind the bar was obviously in training so I gave him a pass), €32 with sparkling water. https://www.wiesthaler.com/ https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aa2502af99.jpg Lunch at Wiesthaler https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...03d8f3ae54.jpg Lunch at Wiesthaler Then it was back to the apartment to plot our course, and then across the street to confer with the tourist office, where the same grouchy woman from last year was manning the desk, and still grouchy. She told us to expect snow above 1,800 meters. We then walked through town and had coffee and cake at my favorite San Candido establishment, Wachtler Store, which is a combination coffee/apéritif /specialty food/gift/Christmas shop and also has a museum. I love this place. Bill doesn’t share my love for cake, so he chose the thick and rich hot chocolate, which he really liked, €4, while I chowed down on a slice of Tiramisu cake and a café latte. I also bought some Christmas ornaments so the total came to €29. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0c42d5f5e7.jpg Tiramisu cake https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dbf38b035f.jpg San Candido Then we picked up provisions at Eurospar, another favorite, as this particular location carries a lot of local specialty items and is surprisingly well stocked for a town of 3,340 people. Schaefer Department Store is in the same building, it too an interesting place. https://www.schaefer-innichen.it/de/...ichen/1-0.html We picked up ready-made salads for dinner only to discover later that no salad dressing was included, so we had to choke down dry lettuce. It was much warmer here; we got by with just our fleece jackets today - no top layer or hats. To be continued... |
Oct 10 -
Yesterday’s decent weather was long gone; the weather today was absolute shite; rain, rain and more rain. Bill was successful using the percolator in our Sterzing apartment, but the one in San Candido was small and too much hassle for too little gain, so he went back to using the stash of Starbucks packets I’d brought along. I’m not a fan of either, so I walked over to Senfter's Cafè Bistro for coffee and a chocolate croissant. When I made the error of asking for a very hot cappuccino, I was rebuffed with "very hot no good". I’m not sure who won, but my cappuccino was sufficiently hot for a change, €4.70. As I sipped and nibbled what turned out to be the best croissant so far, I noticed a man a table over drinking a glass of red wine while perusing the morning paper. Huh. Determined tourists that we are, we donned our rain gear and took a train to Neiderdorf-Prags/Villabassa, then walked three minutes to a bus stop, then took bus 442 to the Pragerwildsee stop, a journey of about 20 minutes. We learned later that from July 10 - Sept 10, bus 442 and bus 439 cost €12 round trip, and require a reservation. There weren’t many people on the train or the bus; we figured the sane tourists had stayed in their dry warm accommodation. Our destination? Lago di Braies in the Prags Dolomites, said to be one of the most beautiful lakes in Italy and the largest natural lake in the Dolomites. We'll just have to take their word for it, because what we saw today looked nothing like all those glorious sun-drenched images online. But if the number of people there on such a crappy day is any indication, it's not a place I want to be anywhere near on a perfect summer day. While most visitors were content to take in the non-views from the edge of the lake, we walked the entire soggy 2.3 mile loop trail around the lake; the weather becoming progressively worse. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e0cfa8ada8.jpg Walking to Lago di Braies from the bus stop https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0e4faf07dc.jpg Lago di Braies https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...51c2e149d7.jpg Walking around Lago di Braies https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...db2207ff3e.jpg Walking around Lago di Braies https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3174289293.jpg Walking around Lago di Braies https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fd063cac70.jpg Walking around Lago di Braies https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...963a8592ff.jpg Walking around Lago di Braies https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f4b67d2a9c.jpg A bit of color on a grey day, Lago di Braies When we finished, we warmed up in the absolutely heaving cafe at the Hotel Pragser Wildsee, where we had a nice chat with a young couple from Perth, Australia who were in Italy for a wedding. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fb4baec086.jpg Later we joined the mob at the bus stop for the return ride to Neiderdorf-Prags/Villabassa. A large group of middle school kids pushed their way on to the bus, and took what Bill and I refer to as ‘the old people seats’. The adults with them didn't intervene. I couldn’t help thinking that this wouldn't happen in Switzerland. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e0fc3004c2.jpg Queue for the bus The bus was standing room only. The digital display wasn’t working - again - nor was the ticket reader, the windows were fogged, and we couldn’t read the stops as we passed, so Bill followed along on the Südtirol app - again - to prevent missing our stop. As it happened, most people got off the bus at Neiderdorf-Prags/Villabassa anyway, so it wasn’t really an issue. Once in Neiderdorf-Prags/Villabassa we looked, unsuccessfully, for an open restaurant for lunch. So, it was back to the bahnhof to await the next train back to San Candido. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e98fa62991.jpg Just a little wet, waiting for our return train to San Candido Back in San Candido, I googled ‘open restaurants near me’, and we were led to Ristorante Miramonti, which, luckily for us was open until 3pm. Here we had pizza (surprise!), an Aperol Spritz and sparkling water (€38.20 with €4 coperto) while being chatted up by an American couple from CT who were in Italy - wait for it - for a wedding shoot at Lake Misurina tomorrow. Evidently, Italy and American/Australian weddings are a thing. The food wasn’t all that, but as Bill likes to say “availability is the best ability”. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3e1eec8dce.jpg Ristorante Miramonti We walked back through town, popped into Eurospar for a few things, then went back to the apartment to dry off. Bill didn’t feel well and was hacking up a storm; our cold wet hike probably wasn’t the best activity for someone with bronchitis. To be continued... |
It looks so cold!
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Catching up on this wonderful TR. Thanks for the detail and beautiful photos.
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I just walked by a display of those cookies (savoiardi) last night in our small, independent grocery in the outer Chicago burbs! Maybe back today to pick up some...
We visited Lago di Braies on a sunny July day in 2009, and the exact quote from my trip report was, "...although it probably would have been more pleasant with fewer than several thousand people there." |
ms_go - ugh! I felt like I'd walked into a photo shoot at Lago di Braies - I'd heard about it, but didn't realize what a tourist magnet it was - perhaps because it's so easy to reach? Maybe the Instagram affect?
I had to resort to making my own ladyfingers during the pandamic as I couldn't find any anywhere and I was craving tiramisu. Suffice to say, mine weren't all that. |
I think Instagram has definitely had an effect on some spots in the Dolomites (e.g., Seceda, Tre Cime). But it wasn't around yet in 2009, on our first trip. I think that lake has always been popular, maybe because of its accessibility -- and Instagram hasn't helped.
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