Bolzano

Today was a busy day. We slept in, then took the bus from our hotel to old-town Bolzano. We had chocolate croissants for breakfast, then headed off on a walking tour through the town and along the river. Our destination was an aerial tramway up to a smaller town about 2000 ft above Bolzano. The tram ride was fun with great views of the city and mountains.

Once on top, we attempted to go on a hike, but the trail was poorly marked or nonexistent and we got lost in a farmers field - which Carrie reports is not a good place to be lost, as she learned while hiking in England. So we headed back to the village to return to Bolzano, but were sidetracked by a small Italian restaurant overlooking the Dolmites. We had a leisurely lunch of caprese salad and pasta (which was probably filling enough to also be our dinner). After lunch we caught the tram back down to Bolzano.

Another hike beside the river took us to Runklestein Castle (a name worse than Stekelberg!). Runklestein was built in the 13th century and has amazingly well preserved frescoes depicted medieval life, including lance fights, bear hunting, giants, and dwarves. We looked around the castle for an hour or so, then had a LONG hike back to the city center.

A train ride brought us back to our hotel, sunburned and tired. Now we are ready for a swim, a chocolate bar, and some BBC news in bed. Tomorrow we plan to hike or rent bikes.