Tomorrow will be the last day for walks. I might go off on my own, as the route is quite easily accessible. On Monday, I did the same thing, taking a cable car up to the Alpe di suisi, or at least on the fringe of it. No photos, as the weather was cloudy, and I was preoccupied with being able to climb back up to the cable car station!
The third day here was a free day, so I visited Bolzano, a city I know well from previous visits, but I went across the river to visit 2 churches. I then took the train to Bressanone, a nearby town with a walled old city, and was astounded by the richness of decoration in its church.
Yesterday was my favorite walk with Peter, our guide. He is a former RAF man, and still retains traits from his training! However, he was forgiving of my slow speeds, gave us plenty of rest stops, toilet stops, and good explanations. He is the route adviser for this area and his enthusiasm for walking is apparent in his thin legs!!
We took a cable car quite far up to the Col Raiser and then walked up about twice the height of Bukit Timah hill to a nice "Rifugio": a hut for hikers (but more like a hotel, with a restaurant). here we had refreshments. We then walked in the shadow of some dramatic limestone mountains. I regretted not bringing my camera, but there is just no time to stand and stare!
After lunch, there was a LONG descent to our hotel.
Today I had the other guide, Cathy. She also loves this area and is an experienced guide, having done it since her teens! We went right up to the foot of the Sassolungo, which dominates the views in town. We went up by coach!. The harder walkers did a complete circuit of the base of the mountain. We easy walkers just walked a very small part of the circuit, but were nevertheless in awe of the
vast block of the mountain. There was even patches of snow to walk through. after lunch, we descended into town again. it took 2 hours of unremitting descent. it was a bit tedious after a while.
The third day here was a free day, so I visited Bolzano, a city I know well from previous visits, but I went across the river to visit 2 churches. I then took the train to Bressanone, a nearby town with a walled old city, and was astounded by the richness of decoration in its church.Yesterday was my favorite walk with Peter, our guide. He is a former RAF man, and still retains traits from his training! However, he was forgiving of my slow speeds, gave us plenty of rest stops, toilet stops, and good explanations. He is the route adviser for this area and his enthusiasm for walking is apparent in his thin legs!!
We took a cable car quite far up to the Col Raiser and then walked up about twice the height of Bukit Timah hill to a nice "Rifugio": a hut for hikers (but more like a hotel, with a restaurant). here we had refreshments. We then walked in the shadow of some dramatic limestone mountains. I regretted not bringing my camera, but there is just no time to stand and stare!
After lunch, there was a LONG descent to our hotel. Today I had the other guide, Cathy. She also loves this area and is an experienced guide, having done it since her teens! We went right up to the foot of the Sassolungo, which dominates the views in town. We went up by coach!. The harder walkers did a complete circuit of the base of the mountain. We easy walkers just walked a very small part of the circuit, but were nevertheless in awe of the
vast block of the mountain. There was even patches of snow to walk through. after lunch, we descended into town again. it took 2 hours of unremitting descent. it was a bit tedious after a while. The last day of walking was in a beautiful valley (flat!) and then a stony ascent (slight!) to a view of two waterfalls.
I'm off to Venice for the weekend and will be back in singapore on Tuesday.
I'm off to Venice for the weekend and will be back in singapore on Tuesday.
This is indeed a serene place....must be very nice and inspiring when one is actually there.
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