Quick food post

 I haven’t done many food posts lately but don’t worry we’re not starving. Here’s my lunch today:

Hey gimme a break we’re practically in Austria!

Wald‑Wild‑Wunder‑Weg (“Forest–Wildlife–Wonder Trail”)

We thought about doing a spa day to today but we can do that anytime…how many chances to you get to hike in the Dolomites?

Today’s hike started with a walk up to and through an “interpretive area” designed for kids. You know “Wally the Woodpecker” and “Frankie the Fox” stops that explain the local wild life. We didn’t really read the educational stuff but each spot had a play toy that was fun:

It was actually a beautiful walk through the forest, even with all the educational materials. Then we emerged into farmlands and meadows eventually winding our way back to the starting point of Oberbozen. Here are a few pics from our journey:

A hike above Bolzano

 A few pictures from our hike on the 19th above Bolzano. Easy in a way (wide paths free of roots and rocks) and hard in others (steep hills and switchbacks). All with beautiful views of vineyards and the city of Bolzano.

Otzi

 Saw Otzi the ice man today. 

Earth Pyramids

 Took two hikes today (a bit over an hour each) to two “Earth Pyramid” formations in the Dolomites. Specifically the ones near Klobenstein and the ones near Oberbozen (the former are probably the most famous in the mountain range). The first hike near Oberbozen was down (and up) steep rock trails that were jarring on the knees. The second near Klobenstein was on mostly pavement that was jarring on the knees. Not quite as dramatic as yesterday’s hike but worth the effort for sure. Pictures below.

Tagliata De Manzo

 I eat a pretty low carb diet, not Keto anymore most days but close. Here in Italy everything is carbs: Pasta, Bread, Pizza, Calzone…well you get the idea. My saving grace has been Tagliata De Manzo (pronounced Tah-lee-ah-ta de man-so). It’s on every menu and basically it’s a sliced steak on arugula with some grana padano cheese (the poor cousin of Parmesan). It’s relatively cheap steak (like $25 to $35) and a decent beefy cut weighing in at a half to three quarters of a pound. Here in northern Italy/South Tirol they always serve it with potato’s…which is fine I can mostly ignore those as I’m not a huge potato fan. Probably four nights out of seven this is my dinner here.

Hike to Ritten

 Got out for a hike today. We had no destination in mind so we chose one randomly - a hike to Klobenstein (Also known as the heart of Ritten - many of these places have multiple names). Turns out this was a favorite area of Sigmund Freud and the walk had benches with quotes from him. Wasn’t inspired by that but I understand why he liked the area.

Lots of choices about where to go. Well marked with even estimated hiking times.

Some of the spectacular scenery on this hike

A heart shaped rock on the trail

Obligatory selfie on the hike

Meadows and farms with the Dolomites in the background

Through meadows

Hmm. Which way. Actually trails are really well marked and it’s easy to pick and follow a hike.

Meadow with Dolomites in the background

Some amazing views of the Dolomites

The paths wound through the countryside but also skirted homes

Probably can’t see it in this photo but this said it was a restaurant. I’m skeptical

These “Snow in Summer” flowers were all over

Returning down the cable car…Fran was fine and even managed a smile!

Beautiful day and spectacular scenery in the Dolomites. And for the record a little over ten miles on the day.

Language

 I was just getting used to Italian...then we came far north to the Dolomites. The dialect of Italian is significantly different here from central Italy. It's hard for me to understand the dialect. Even common words like glass (Biccere) are different here (Chalice). I'm picking it up but slowly. Good news is they speak a bunch of German here. Bad news is I don't remember much German. It's hard to tune my ear to a new language. I've joked that I can ask for a pencil or a lamp in German, but that's about it. Although, I was asked in a restaurant this evening "Alles Gute?" (Is everything good?) And I responded "Sehr Gute!" (Very good) kind of automatically. Maybe there's hope?

Bolzano

 Made it to Bozen/Bolzano. A few pics from our walks around town.