Salzburg

Our final stop! I hadn't realized that they were celebrating Octoberfest right now. The whole city is crazy! People everywhere, many dressed in traditional drindls and lederhosen, pretzels, beer, sausages, hundreds of booths of crafts, church bells ringing all over the city, and lots of music, both classical and Bavarian.

We are staying at a hostel up on Monchsberg, the cliff that sits right above the old part of the city. We have tremendous views of the whole city from there.

HALLstat

We stopped for one night in Hallstat, Austria. It is considered one of the most beautiful lake villages in the world. While it was really beautiful, I think that I am becoming jaded about superlatives. Our only morning there we took the funicular up the mountain to the salt mine but we didn't tour the mine (it sounded awfully Disney-esque). Instead we hiked down the mountain and learned a lot about the salt trade from signs along the way. There was a cemetery at the Catholic church in town with graves are beautifully maintained. Because space is at a premium, people were traditionally only buried for ten years. Their bones were then dug up, cleaned, skulls painted, and stored in the charnel house, below. It was actually quite beautiful.

Dolomites

The Dolomites are an extension of the Alps in northeastern Italy. The region is variously known as Sudtirol, the Tyrol, and the Aldo Adige. It has historical roots as part of Austria/Hungary until it was given to Italy as a spoil of WWI so there is a real mix of Italian and German in language, architecture, and customs. The hostess at our BnB only spoke German and communication was difficult. She runs a working farm with a vineyard and large orchard. I would have loved to learn more about it. Our room was in a loft over an ancient water mill, next to the goat pen and duck pond. As with several of our accommodations, we were served a delicious breakfast that included homemade bread, jams, yogurt, fresh eggs, and local cheese.

The whole Dolomite region is much busier and more populated than I expected and the roads are difficult to follow, even with GPS. Both mornings here it took us several hours to find the area where we wanted to hike. Both days we took cable cars up into the mountains and hiked from there. The first day it was a rugged hike in a remote region of the Val Gardena. The second day hiked in the Alpe du Suisi, the largest alpine meadow in Europe. Both hikes were spectacular, although low clouds and a myriad of cable cars/ski lifts marred many of the views the second day. I think my next big hike may be in the Dolomites!

5 Terre

We had visited Cinque Terre before, with Gracie in 2010. That visit was disrupted by bad weather and, unfortunately, this one was too. Cinque Terre is five small towns on steep hillsides on the Mediterranean. There are virtually no roads. They were connected historically by trails and more recently by rail. Heavy rains close the trails and sometimes the train lines. We had to take the trains more than we planned, but some of the trails were open and we got some nice hiking between rain showers. We stayed in a hostel here. It was very utilitarian but had a great view from our window.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Well, not so much sun, but we were still able to appreciate the beauty of the region for two full days. I found our accommodation on Airbnb and it is truly amazing-a working farm high on a hill between Pienza and Montichiello. The buildings are an old monastery.

The first day we explored the small towns around Pienza by foot. We put a lot of miles on our boots and saw a lot of countryside up close. The second day we explored a little further out by car. Unfortunately, the afternoon of the second day was interrupted by torrential rains. All the villages that we saw were quite charming, but my favorite were San Quirico, Montichiello, and Bagno Vignoni.

Lake Maggiore

We spent one night at Lake Maggiore on our way from Switzerland to Tuscany. The trip down through the Alps was stunning, with twisting mountain roads, pretty chalets, and beautiful views. A 10+ mile tunnel near the Italian border put an end to the scenery and spooked me.

Lake Maggiore is kind of a sister lake to Lake Como, where Merilyn and I went after Mont Blanc-same area, similar size, also surrounded by beautiful steep mountains. The next morning our host directed us to a hike on ancient trails high above the lake and town.

 

Berner Oberland

The Lauterbrunnen Valley of Switzerland's Berner Oberland region has three main mountains-the Eiger (ogre), the Monch (monk), and Jungfrau (young lady). We stayed in a mountain village, Gimmelwald, accessible only by cable car, and spent two days hiking the mountains on either side of the valley. The area is so spectacular and I am glad that Derek got to see the Alps (since I had already seen the Mont Blanc area.)

We chose to not go to the top of the E/M/Js the first day and instead took three cable cars further up our own side of the valley yesterday, to the top of the Schilthorn. From there we had an incredible 360 degree view of the entire region. The building at the top is where the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (the only one starring George Lazenby) was filmed and they really played up that connection. After some real Swiss hot chocolate we hiked all the way back down to Gimmelwald. It took us all afternoon. It was one of the most memorable hikes I have ever been on-once in a lifetime views combined with scary drop offs and knee-busting descents. (But I find the cable cars even more terrifying than walking along the edge of cliffs!)