Elderhostel Italian Dolomites and
Austrian Alps Hiking Trip - May-2005 DAY 1 – DRIVE FROM MUNICH AIRPORT TO CASTELROTTO
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| Following some confusion at the airport
in Munich, our leader pulled us all together from various terminals and we headed south
through Austria, over the relatively low Brenner Pass at 4495 feet and
down into Italy and the bucolic village of Castelrotto (2,952’).
This provided a good chance to sample the “Autobahn experience” watching cars
rush by at breakneck speed. Felt I was participating in a NASCAR rally.
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Meet our leader, Brigitte. She was an excellent caretaker and knows the alpine trails like her own backyard. You might like to visit her hiking webpage at www.austriaguidenow.com. |
There were only 13 people in our
small congenial group, which was a real plus. We stayed at the Hotel zum Wolf al Lupo, (photograph
below) a very comfortable 3-star hotel in the center of the small village that
I can highly recommend to future visitors to Castelrotto. The owners opened the facility
just for our group since we were pushing the season a bit by about two weeks, but not the
kitchen (except for breakfast and picnic lunches). As
a result, we took our evening meals at the nearby Hotel Goldenes Rossl with its 4-star
restaurant. Splendid local foods.
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| Following our check in at the hotel, we took a pleasant orientation walk around the central part of the town. There are a number of buildings (photo below), including our hotel, with painted frescoes credited to E. Burgauner.
We continued our walk climbing a small hill behind the village and made a circuit of a Stations of the Cross pathway. There are very nice views of the countryside and village from the trail. The photo below was taken from this pathway.
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