June 23 to July 14th….We went on a covid-postponed hiking tour of the Dolomite Mountains of Italy, preceded by a few acclimatization days in Innsbruck, Austria. The destination was a goal trip for my husband. This was my first trip to continental Europe. I was trepidatious about the amount of hiking (would my knees hold out?), language barriers, transport, covid, all of it. But it all turned out fairly well. We saw amazing scenery and wildflowers, ate delicious food, made some new friends, and despite a few transit delays and confusion, returned safely. Now I am home in the Pacific Northwest that I love, and recovered from the jet lag that I find so disorienting. I am thinking about our adventures, and adding my experiences of a new place into my world view. As I have found before, I wish I had more international experience at a younger age – it would be easier on the body. But I am glad we went, and I will enjoy many memories from this trip for a long time.

Part 1: Austria-

We flew from Portland, Oregon, to Newark, New Jersey, to Frankfort, Germany. There were unexplained delays in Newark, so we missed our connecting flight flight to Innsbruck. After sleepwalking back and forth for two miles on the concourses between airport terminals, we eventually were rescheduled onto a flight for the next day, and given room and meal vouchers for an airport hotel. The next day (June 25th), we flew into Innsbruck, admiring the mountains on either side of the city as the plane descended into the valley.

We were staying on the 12th floor of a hotel on the south end of town, with excellent views.

We spent the next few days walking around Innsbruck, and hiking in the adjacent mountains.

Tuesday, June 26th – We rode the Hungerburg Funicular to its upper station, on the slopes of the  Karwendel Mountains. We could have continued up higher into the mountains on the Nordkette Gondola, but the weather was not amenable that day. Instead, we took a short hike to the Arzler Alm, a farm with  a restaurant, then made our way back down to the funicular station before riding back to town. I was still fairly jet lagged, but enjoyed seeing the landscape and stretching my hiking legs a bit.

Wednesday, June 27th – Another partly rainy day. We wandered some of the streets in the old town and visited the Golden Roof Museum.

The Golden Roof Museum was built in 1494, and was a residence of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I. The museum highlights the life and accomplishments of Maximillian.

We also walked along the Inn River, and at some point, I walked past a yarn shop and bought some souvenir yarn.

Thursday, June 28th – A beautiful sunny day! We rode the gondola up the Patscherkofel, then hiked about 2 miles/1000 feet, to its top. Although it is capped with communication towers, there are stunning views back toward Innsbruck and the Alps to the north. And we got a taste of the abundant wildflower displays we would see during the rest of our trip.

A selection of wildflowers:

Friday, June 29th – We took the train south from Innsbruck to Bressanone, Italy, to begin our hiking tour – to be described in future posts.