Heading Back Down Rittner Horn (Corno del Renon)

We don't linger long at the top of Rittner Horn, it's cold and very windy.  Clearly, winter is coming.  We start back down the steps from the top, surrounded by sheep, cows, and goats.

 Heading back down

 Company along the path

At the bottom of the steps, we pop into Gasthof Unterhorn for warmth, a little lunch, and some wine,  We dine on speck dumplings in hot broth.  Warming, filling, and just what we need.  Inside, we find almost everyone we've seen on the path, all with the same idea: warmth, food, and drink.

A German Gasthof is an inn or tavern, with a bar, dining, and, often, rooms to rent.  There have been several on our path up the mountain and Gasthof Unterhorn is in the perfect location to feed those of us coming down from the summit.  Lunch is served cafeteria style and after I pick my tray and walk over the the serving counter, I find that the sever doesn't speak English.  I ask for speck dumplings and she smiles, lifts a lid, looks at me quizzically, and I tell her, "Ja, zwei bitte (Yes, two please)", about the amount of high-school German I can remember at this point.

 Lunch inside Gasthof Unterhorn

Warm, rested, and ready to face the weather, we head out and continue down the mountain, passing through fields where the cows and horses have come out to graze.

 Descending through the fields

The animals seem as curious about us as we are about them and the young ones wander over to say hi as we go through.  The older ones just stare.

Hello

And, I think I know that look, I get the same one from Laura occasionally.

As we get back to Pemmern (the base of the second gondola, which we didn't take), we stop to look at the maps of the mountain trails and ski paths.

 Rittner Horn / Corno del Renon

From here, it's only another hour or two back to Klobenstein (Colalbo) to catch the train to the Rittner Seilbahn gondola back to town.

 Continuing down

And, at the train station, there is time for a glass of wine (1 euro, $1.17 USD) before the next train departs.  As we ride the gondola down, we are treated to more beautiful views of the mountains and the approaching city.

Our reward

 Descending into Bolzano

It's been a great adventure: we've seen beautiful scenery, met some livestock, had a simple, tasty lunch, and hiked up (and down) a mountain.  Not bad for a day's work!