Alpe di Siusi

DAY 4

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​Early on in the tour, we learned the importance of eating a hearty breakfast. Never knowing for sure when we would have lunch, coupled with the long distances we walked each day, we needed the energy that a large breakfast provided.  No need to worry about gaining weight on this trip! We burned off those calories quickly and after arriving back home, we discovered that both of us actually lost a few pounds!

 

After breakfast with the group, we were on our own all day with various suggestions from Stacy. At first, we joined Stacy and some of the other tour members and meandered through the Alpine meadow. Stopping at a mountain hut café, we enjoyed a cup of steaming hot chocolate with warm apple strudel. We then continued our walk to the cable car station where we boarded a cable car that took us up to a spot at 6,000 feet, which had an amazing panoramic view of the mountains and the peaceful valley below. After taking photographs with our tour buddies, we took a gondola ride and a bus down to the small, quaint town of Castelrotto.

 

Castelrotto

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Following Stacy’s advice, we visited a small, ornate cemetery. Each gravesite was maintained by the family members and adorned with a myriad of colorful flowers, brass crosses, elaborate decorations of wrought iron, and pictures of the deceased. We learned that some grave sites had up to 7 or 8 family members who were buried on top of each other. While we were there, we saw an elderly woman on her hands and knees pulling weeds and carefully tending to the grave site of her family members. We could feel the love and respect for the people who were buried here.

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We then walked around the town but since it was lunch time, the stores were all closed. Not having a lot of time, we decided to stop by a local market to buy some snacks for a quick bite to eat. We chose a couple of bananas and some crackers. We weren’t sure of the protocol, but I noticed a roll of plastic bags and a scale with a touch screen. We watched the locals easily weigh their produce and calculate the cost. We decided to make an attempt on our own, but couldn’t quite figure out how to do it because the instructions were all in Italian. We must have looked completely lost because a friendly local man, seeing our helplessness, came to our aid. Apparently, each item had a special code number that you needed to enter in order to calculate the cost. This was just one of many times that the local Italians proved themselves to be exceptionally warm and caring people and we truly appreciated the help.

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Back at the Hotel

 

For dinner that night back at the Hotel Seelaus, we were given many choices of salads, appetizers, and breads followed by barley risotto in a parmesan cheese cup, tortellini soup, steak with cheese flakes and arugula (they refer to arugula as rocket), cooked carrots, and tater tots. Dessert was a delicious vanilla pana cotta  (custard) with hot wild berries and mint. 

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After dinner, Stacy informed us that it would be best to downsize our bags for Venice the next day since we would be taking a crowded vaporetto across the canal and then walking a long distance to the hotel. Lightening our load, we took one backpack for the two of us and one packable tote and left the rest locked on the bus. Following her advice really did make everything much easier.