South Tyrol/SudTirol/Dolomites

We've heard a lot of good things about this area for a while now. It's just over the border into Italy, close to where Switzerland and Austria all intersect. It is a very common spot for Germans and all other German speakers to visit - 70% of the people in the area speak German, while 30% speak Italian and very few speak much English (our hotel did, but other than that, we mostly operated in German). The weather report predicted upwards of 80F everyday with sunshine. We packed shorts, t-shirts, tennies and jeans, and luckily, threw in our raincoats for good measure.

After a long line for the rental car, a serious wrangle with the multiple GPS systems, and a few U-turns we were on our way. One GPS told us just under 5 hours while the other a 7 hour drive. As you can imagine, the trip started out with a bit of angst. Then, Mags proceeded to read endless, essentially useless facts from her book 'Swiss Watching'. A typical start to family holidays! We stopped in a cute town outside Innsbruck, called Hals, and ate what turned out to be the first of far too many slightly disappointing and highly bacon-concentrated meals. We got back on the road and a few hours later, we'd arrived at our destination.

I debated between napping, eating caramel/cheese popcorn mix or joining Joe & Mags for a walk to a waterfall. I opted for the later and soon realized; I chose poorely. If a trickle-trackle is now considered a waterfall, than this was a serious waterfall. We strolled back to the hotel, grabbed Nick and headed out for dinner. Things near our hotel seemed to quiet down quick once the sunset. So, post-dinner was mostly spent in the hotel bar playing cards and calling it early.

The next day, we were in the car again to catch some more mountain views and stroll around the lake that's pictured. We thought part of the day could be spent hiking near some of the mountains pictured, but it soon became fairly obvious that we were woefully unprepared for the trails we'd expected to undertake. People had full-gear, including ropes, and the place we had wanted to visit was over 5 hours hike through rocky, shifty, steep-ness. Joe & Mags set about to explore a bit while Nick & I sat in the car and drank FantaLimon, played with our respective IPads and snacked. Pretty sure I chose wisely this time. Later in the day, we stopped for what turned out to be one of the best meals we had on the trip, at a place called (basically in English) BaconRestaurant. They seriously love their bacon in this part of the world. We watched with disgust as the man next to us tore into what was essentially a 3 inch thick hunk of smoked pig/cold bacon. It was not warm, not cooked (just smoked), not sliced. Just a big side of bacon before it meets the slicer and the fry-pan. I feel ill, just typing this out. Needless to say, we all stayed away from the bacon-centric part of the menu and managed to all find something suitable (even though we definitely didn't understand what we were ordering). Soon we arrived to the lake for our walk which turned out to be quite a popular attraction. There were tour buses and a man taking money for parking, a very un-European phenomenon.

The next day was nothing like earlier predicted forecast. Rainy Sundays don't often make for stellar days in Europe considering close to nothing will be open. We decided to get in the car anyways and head to a few towns about an hour from our hotel. A bike race was shutting down all the passes near our hotel, so we basically had to leave by 8am and couldn't return to the area until 3.30 or 4. We stopped in Castelrotto, had a coffee, then followed the masses leaving church to a hidden little brewery. Joe convinced us that a beer at 10am was a good idea, so we all finally went in. Turns out it was a really neat spot and a great time taking in some local traditions. We headed to another town, where we had lunch, the only thing to do in these places on Sundays - eat or drink! Next we wanted to head to 'the largest high Alpine meadow' in Europe (R. Steves told us about it). We all agreed that it would have probably been really cool if one could see past the fog, wasn't freezing, etc.

Then, a mistake, we listened to our GPS and instead of just back-tracking, we got on a small road, almost akin to a hiking path. Soon we were passing cows, a small small wooden bridge, and then, the road was unpaved, with a sheer drop on one side and curves, and forest and oh yeah, literally one lane. The GPS told us 6k's of this. We all took a deep breath and thought, okay, 4 miles, that's doable. We came out on the other side and the GPS told us to turn down a road which was literally a 60++ degree decline and less than one lane, both tires would not have fit on this 'road'. So, we ignored her and she came up with another route which we thought might just work. Again, curvy, twisting downwards, one lane, sheer drops. All of a sudden, the road is completely torn up and there is a huge machine. There is no way to turn around and we are flanked by steep hillside to the left and sheer drop on the other. The decision was to reverse back up, in the rain, on a road that barely fit our car, oh and did I mention, it was a curvyass road with sheer drops?! Joe got us out of it somehow and we were back to screwed, go down the 60++ degree incline 'road' or go back through unpaved roads to where we'd just come from, or ahhh, abandon the car? There was a lady walking up the 'road' the GPS was telling us to take. Mags insisted we speak to her. So, we did our best with German (she spoke French, Italian, German, etc.) but no English. She told us that the 'road' our GPS was telling us to take was in fact a hiking path and not intended for cars. She said all the time people were getting lost over there as GPS's were sending people into this tiny, 5 house hill town in an attempt to get back to the main road. She explained to us in German the way we needed to go (the last option we hadn't tried), where to turn, etc. and again reiterated, Not a Road. We were shaking, in need of cigars, or stiff beverages when we finally made it out (almost 2 hours later) of that horrendous driving experience. Joe was a champ through it all, while the Viggianos sweated and shaked like the wusses we apparently are. Then, the next day, our nerves still shattered from the drive the day before, we woke up to snow. We had to drive to Munich where liters of beer were awaiting us, but first, we had to get through the snow (on curvyass, sheer-dropping roads). 80F Saturday, wake up Monday to snow. Sure. Of course Sudtirol, we'll be back, just maybe not in this lifetime.