Up the Coast from Bonifacio

We see some of the beautiful Corsican coast in our exploration of the old town and want to experience more of this delightful place.  Our hotel tells us that we can start down a path toward town,  turn right in a few hundred meters, away from town, and head along the coast.  We're on our way a few minutes later.

 Heading down the path from the hotel

 Emerging at the channel, opposite Bonifacio's old town

 We continue along the water and pass the entrance to the Bonifacio harbor.

 Continuing along the ridge

Bonifacio fades from sight and the views of the coast ahead get even more spectacular, with the inland mountains visible on our right.

Along the coast

 Inland mountains

As we reach a small, sheltered channel, the path turns inland and descends to a protected cove with a fabulous beach.  There is a small sailing school in the cove and several groups of people who hiked in from town (about an hour and a half walk) are unpacking and setting up on the beach for a day of fun and relaxation.

 Sheltered cove, private beach

We, however, had no idea that our hike would arrive at such an inviting beach and wish we had known to bring our swimming suits (as did the locals hiking in).  But, we pause and enjoy the view and the beach experience before heading back up into the hills for the walk back along the inland route.

 Return path

We return to the edge of the channel (on the other side from yesterday) and stroll back up toward our hotel.

 Back at the channel

What a fabulous coastline!

Bolzano, Italy

One of our favorite things to do in Bolzano is to hike up Rittner Horn (Corno del Renon in Italian), 2260 meters (7415 feet, 1.4 miles) high, with a peak 2000 meters (1.25 miles) above Bolzano.  We start with a ride in the Rittner Seilbahn (Funivia del Renon) cable car up to Oberbozen (Sobrabolzano) at 1220 meters (.76 miles) and take the Rittner Bahn train (Treno del Renon) along the side of the mountain to Klobenstein (Collalbo) at 1160 meters (.72 miles), where we start up Path Number 1 to the top.

 Gondola ride up from Bolzano

The map tells us that Path Number 1 takes us 11.4 km (7.1 miles) to the peak, with a difference in elevation of 1100 meters (3600 feet, .7 miles),  and should take about 4 hours.  We start by hiking through several fields separated by gates.

 Starting up the trail, through fields and gates

The next stage of the hike is on paths through the forest, still continuing up gradually, with great views periodically appearing through the trees. 

 Through the woods, past the cows

Eventually, we reach Pemmern at 1538 meters (5045 feet, .95 miles).  From here, the trail continues up more steeply and we have the option of taking a gondola up rather than walking.  We continue on foot, hiking through fields of cows, goats, and horses, all of them seeming curious about us.

 Continuing up

 Hello

The entire way, we're seeing incredible views of the surrounding mountains, as well as occasional glimpses of the summit to which we are headed.

 Surrounding peaks

The summit, our destination

 And, we're starting to walk through snow, which gets deeper as we approach the top.

 Starting to see snow

We pass Gasthof Unterhorn, the last Gasthof (and opportunity for food, beer, wine, and toilet) before the top and start up a set of steps to the summit.

 Gasthof Unterhorn

Steps to the top

We arrive and quickly admire the views.  It's beautiful, but very windy and cold.

 At the summit

We don't linger long and 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,    dining on speck dumplings in hot broth, which are warm, 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.

 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.

Curiosity

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 station.

 Continuing down

At the train station, there is time for a glass of wine (1 euro, $1.17 USD) before the next train departs, taking us to the gondola back into Bolzano, treating us 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.