Germany and Italy 2023...Day 7: Val Gardena

Once again we woke and enjoyed a delicious breakfast at our hotel. Everyone loved having latte macchiatos every morning. 

Kind of last minute, Ken found a hike that we could do from Selva to Rifugio Puez. It was a part of the valley that we had not explored yet, so we were more than happy to try the hike!

We rode the bus to Selva, which was a gorgeous ride. We got off in Selva and walked about 10-15 minutes to the trailhead. There was a very cute cafe with a beautiful view. We stopped for a quick snack before starting the hike. 

Stopping for drinks and snacks with a view is always a good idea!

Refreshment stop. It was such a gorgeous place to stop for a bit.

The start of the hike down the valley.

We were greeted by some lovely cows taking in the scenery. 

Alpine cows are my favorite!

Gorgeous scenery 

The hike was pretty flat and then we started to climb. It became a little obvious that we must have missed a turn and ended up on a different trail because we could see the Rifugio and had way more climbing to reach it than we should have. Collectively, we decided to turn around. We could see the trail up ahead and knew that it was a longer hike than we had planned for the day. We did not have enough snacks and were all quite hungry. 

We decided to turn around and planned to stop at the cafe for lunch. 

The scenery was really spectacular. I was sad that we had missed the correct trail at some point.

We did get to see the cows again on our way back down to Selva.

It was a beautiful day.

Of course, Ken picked me a flower during the hike.

The beautiful Dolomites

A baby cow enjoying salt. It was so adorable.

We stopped at the cafe for lunch and drinks. The temperature was so hot, but a limoncello spritz made it better! We enjoyed our break before walking back to Selva. On the way to Selva, we heard some bells, and Ken and I both knew what the sound was! The cows were heading home for the evening! 

Val Gardena Cows going home for the night.

I was so excited to see the cows!

Ken and I were so excited that Mike and Katie got to see the cows going home. They did not see the cows in Lauterbrunnen with us so they felt this was quite the treat!

Scenery walking back to the bus to get back to Ortisei. 

As luck would have it Linnea, my friend whom we met hiking the TMB back in 2019, was going to be in Ortisei on vacation! She lives in Sweden, but she and I have kept in touch since 2019 and Ken and I were both excited to see her! 

We planned for the six of us to go to dinner. We had such a great time catching up with them. We closed down the restaurant and then went out for wine. 

Linnea and me. I hate that this photo is such poor-quality but I was so happy to see her!

Our crew at the end of a fun day!

Germany and Italy 2023...Day 5: Seceda

We woke up on Saturday and knew that we wanted to take the cable car up to see the Seceda ridgeline. We enjoyed breakfast at our hotel and walked maybe a tenth of a mile to the cable car. We were absolutely delighted when we saw the view even if it was a little cloudy. 

The Seceda ridgeline with the clouds. I think the clouds make it a little mysterious.

We were so happy to get to see the ridgeline!

Another gorgeous view of the Seceda ridgeline

The clouds were starting to disappear

We had plans to complete a loop hike that would include plenty of stops at the different mountain huts. 

Many different trail options to make it around the valley

I loved all the little wood huts scattered along the green pasture

Just like with all of Europe, the hiking trails were marked very well.

A view of the backside of the Seceda ridge

Our first stop of the day was Rifugio Troier.  They had a lot of great food options, but we just enjoyed a few drinks here along with the views!

Rifugio Troier

Plenty of lounge chairs to enjoy the gorgeous view

So many colorful flowers!

I was so excited to see Edelweiss even if they were in a potted boot!

Ken decided to enjoy the lounging chairs in the sun for a bit.

Once the clouds disappeared, it was a beautiful day.

The gorgeous view around Rifugio Troier

Mike, Katie, and Ken enjoy the sunshine, drinks, and the views!

We left Rifugio Troier and continued in the direction towards Malga Pieralongia Alm. 

The hike kept getting more gorgeous at each turn.

More gorgeous views

The wildflowers were everywhere! I, however, was singing Edelweiss after seeing the Edelweiss in the pot at the last rifugio. I was on very high alert to spot an Edelweiss!

Malga Pieralongia Alm

Malga Pieralongia Alm was quite busy and since we were not quite ready for lunch yet, we decided to continue on our hike. 

The scenery leaving Malga Pieralongia Alm.

Happy to be out and about hiking!

It was not long after leaving Malga Pieralongia Alm that I noticed a man bent over on the trail and taking a photo of something. I joked that it must be an Edelweiss and it indeed was!!!!

My first ever Edelweiss! I have never been so excited to see a flower in my life!

As you can imagine, me being the huge Sound of Music lover that I am, I started singing Edelweiss nonstop. Ken and Mike were thrilled.

The singing continued for the remainder of the hike. 

We ended up seeing so many more Edelweiss! There was one section where there was a grove of about 60 or so. It was just amazing to see.

The most perfect Edelweiss

Trying so hard to capture the beautiful of the Edelweiss with the mountains. It was so beautiful and this photo does not do it justice.

Ken, Mike, and Katie, continued on and I lingered behind taking photos and videos. It was just so gorgeous and unlike any other scenery I have gotten to see before.

More unbelievable scenery.

The Dolomites do not even look real to me.

I was so excited to see the horses! 

It his difficult to believe that this is real.

The Dolomites

Our lunch stop. The clouds started to roll in. It got a little chilly and it was lovely!

Enjoying my dumplings and Aperol Spritz

We left the rifugio and continued on our hike. We had a climb out of the valley to get back to the Seceda cable car. We found another rifugio and stopped for drinks.

Refreshment stop that included an Aperol Spritz for me! I would like to note that I believe this was the last time I was cold on this entire European trip.

The view was gorgeous and I loved all of the flowers.

Keeping with the tradition, Ken picked me a flower during our hike. 

I acquired a cold during our trip and this is the day I probably felt the worst. This specific Rifugio had an area with large sofa beds. I gave Ken the remainder of my Aperol Spritz and took about a 20-minute nap to help me feel rejuvenated.  After my nap, we were on our way to finish the hike.

We made it back to the cable car and Katie and I wanted to hike back up to the ridgeline to see it without the clouds. Ken and Mike decided to have a drink and skip the hike back to the ridgeline.

The view from the cable car. It is so gorgeous without the clouds!

The Seceda ridgeline without the clouds. Stunning.

Katie and I were so happy that we hiked back up here for the view.

We shopped around Ortisei after our hike before getting ready for dinner. We made reservations at one of Ortisei's Michelin Star restaurants, Anna Stuben. It was a wonderful unique experience. The food was absolutely delicious, but the very formal atmosphere is not something that we particularly loved. Everything about the experience was impeccable. 

Our food was gorgeous and delicious. I did take one photo of my gnocchi that was to die for.

My beautiful and delicious gnocchi

Katie and me outside the restaurant. As fancy as it was, it really was delicious.

It was a wonderful day in the Dolomites.