Change of plans. We are in Brixen for two nights instead of finishing our tour as previously planned. It’s only two days lost hiking, but a real surprise in Brixen that was recommended by our friend, Francesca.
There was a snow dusting on the mountaintops Thursday morning, but we continued our planned hike. In mid-afternoon Richard read an email from our tour company informing us that due to the weather changes they were no longer able to get us across the Timmelsjoch Pass between Austria and Italy. They offered to send us back to Fussen or another German location, but we want to continue our trip into Italy.
We decided that Brenner Pass between Innsbruck and Bolzano Italy is more likely to be kept open, so we made plans to retrace our route to Innsbruck with bus and train and then take a train from Innsbruck to Bolzano. Our decision was cinched when we awoke this morning to spitting snow and 32 degree temperature.
Here is a short video of the snow coming down as we woke up Friday morning. This was taken outside our hotel room balcony.
Michelle and Dan, if you are reading this I would love to have a copy of the selfie of the four of us that you took. Please comment on the blog so we can get in touch, or email us at [email protected]. Thanks for all the goodies and for helping us off the train!
Best laid plans sometimes fall by the wayside. The disappointment of missing the pass across the Alps was easily replaced by meeting new friends and having a party going over Brenner Pass. Who knew?
4 Responses
I see your adventures. Tree roots, mountain cows coming down for the winter, bridges that make your hike possible, food that surprises you, etc. I must say, is there a connection between the cat and a valley known for witchcraft? Hmm. I guess Italy is next. How are you legs and ankles holding up?
I love our adventures this year and nothing has stopped us yet. Maybe the magic/witchcraft is holding in our favor this year. Our quick diversion to Italy has been wonderful, starting with the train travel with new friends, and visiting Bressanone where we had hoped to visit but couldn’t fit it in. I’ll be posting soon (Richard did not make Relive videos over the weekend) but now (Monday morning) we’re back on track with about six days in the Dolomites of Italy. I had a bit of trouble with my toes from the steep downhill hiking—a blister on one and I lost a toenail on another, but a visit to the apothecary helped immensely and we have not had problems since then. We’re definitely slow hikers—always passed up by the locals who often don’t even use poles as they scramble over these tough trails! Oh well, we began hiking much later in life but I am happy to have several years of training and enjoying these active vacations.
You have entered parts of Italy we have toured in the past and are among our favorites. It is actually the part of Italy we were visiting in 2023 when most of tour group tested positive for Covid and those of us with Covid were forced to cancel the last portion of our trip and fly home early. Nice that we can experience and view this “missed portion” through your pictures. Glad you persevered to make it to this part of Italy. Sorry about the lost toe nail. Glad that it was the worse consequence from the very challenging experiences you are having!
Dan
It is indeed beautiful here. I haven’t been in the Dolomites since I was a toddler. We loved Bressanone and are so happy things worked out so we had two days there. The hotel was a splurge (pricey!) but we slept well and enjoyed it. We still double mask most of the time on trains and buses and know that Covid is a possibility (we are generally the only ones with masks). One lady on a bus got really mad at us and made us move back. I think she thought Richard had Covid because he was masked and she didn’t want to get it.