After yesterday's marvellous trip to Alpe di Siusi we were excited for another day of hiking. However, our somewhat tired apostle horses required a little respite so we started the day with a visit to the beautiful spa town of Merano. You can read more about it here.
After the city visit, we moved on to the nearby cable car, which was of a slightly different model than those we had ridden the days before. Here it was instead large carriages that held 30 people and ran according to a fixed timetable. The trip took a while and perhaps the most exciting thing was every time the carriage would pass a pole, which generated a proper "gung" and a subsequent "ooooiiiiiiiii" from all the travellers.
As the name suggests, this area is part of the natura 2000 and you can see that our EU money has been well spent. Incredibly well maintained roads rather than trails and all possible facilities without spoiling the nature experience. There are also significantly fewer tourists here, which was nice after the more popular and well-visited Alpe di Siusi.
There is active farming in the area, which means that some parts are fenced off, but this is not a direct limitation as there are still more than 100 km of trails available. When we planned the trip, I said a little tired "That area is probably just a panoramic tour for tourists that we do in 15 minutes" but that turned out to be completely wrong as it can satisfy any hiker.
I can't resist mentioning the cows, again. You run into them all the time and they really seem to have a good life. They graze freely and loll around at a slow pace, which must be optimal if you are a cow. I also get the feeling that they belong to a breed that has not been bred so hard as they really look like cows rather than deformed food monsters. In addition to their appearance, the difference in the products produced from their milk is remarkable. We highly recommend you try one of them as there are a number of milk products that are unique to the region.
The area is also home to a number of streams, making it even more picturesque. You can imagine that many artists have been inspired by this landscape.
Of course, we could have published a hundred pictures, but in order not to bore you, we have chosen a small selection of the amazing mountains and valleys we experienced. It's almost like you get a little tired after a few days in the Dolomites as it really is beautiful wherever you turn.
In this area, there were 'only' 17 refugios, but while that was more than enough, perhaps the biggest difference was that most had German food rather than Italian. We write a bit more about the differences from south to north in this the post. Exhausted after a long day of hiking, we passed out in a couple of deck chairs and were rewarded with some ice cream and another breathtaking view.
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