We all have that “go to” moment – you know the moment – when you’re having a stressful day, life is a bit crazy, and you close your eyes, take a deep breath, and allow your mind to go to that special moment that brought you peace and joy. My “go to” moment is the week in 2012 that I spent in the absolutely gorgeous alps of the Northern Tyrol area of Italy. The history of Tyrol is so interesting. It is a multi-national region in the heart of the Alps. Historically, the core of the County of Tyrol was part of the Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, from the 12th century to 1919. WWI caused a dissolution of Austria and the County of Tyrol was divided. My German friends still claim it as part of southern Germany as many of the residents in Tyrol still speak the Swabian dialect of German. We hiked for 5 days in the Seiser Alm, which Reinhold Messner (a famous mountaineer) calls “probably the most beautiful mountains in the world.” I’ve seen a lot of mountains, and I would agree with Messner. The Dolomite Alps are BREATHTAKING!!!!! The first day of hiking we started in the beautiful town of Kastelruth, then on to the ski area of Kompatsch. It is the largest high altitude Alpine meadow in Europe. We saw the most beautiful flowers and meadows. Yes, we even found an Edelweiss flower (I was told that it is very rare to find that flower). I wanted to run through the meadow singing “The hills are alive, with the sound of music….” The first day of hiking was a shock to my system, I thought I’d never reach our first hut. Our “hut” turned out to be a historic hostel that looked like a castle. All food and supplies had to be wheeled up on a hand cranked pulley device. The photo gallery below shows the true beauty of the meadows, the mountains and the traveler’s huts. After a festive night of playing cards, drinking libations, and singing along with the accordion player (you know the polka song “Roll out the Barrels”), we paid a heavy price the next day of hiking. We hiked through the hardest routes I’ve ever climbed – cable routes, scree (loose, pea sized volcanic rocks that cause a great deal of sliding), cliffs, avalanche areas, and finally on to our 2nd hut. This hut was smaller, the food was good, but we were all tired and ready for a good nap. Several ambitious members of our hiking group climbed a Via Ferrata (an Italian term which means ‘iron path’― it is a protected climbing route that often incorporates steel cables, metal steps and sometimes suspension bridges). The original Via Ferratas were routes literally across the Alps that soldiers used to carry munitions and supplies to their Allies in WWI and WWII. The next several days were just so lovely as we hiked in the meadows of the Alps. Beautiful fields, adorable animals, great yogurt treats, comfortable huts, and that mesmerizing sound of cow bells! That’s my “go to” sound. Some of my friends hated those darn cow bells – I loved them!!! We ended our week back in the Kastelruth and truly enjoy the luxury of fine dining and flavorful cocktails. We next traveled to Bolzana and toured Reinhold Messner’s “Mountain Museum”…..but that’s a story for my next blog.
