Sterzing to Feltre Day 1: Sterzing to Niederflans

Friday June 14: Sterzing to Niederflans

The S-Bahn to Munich was running late this morning, but we nonetheless arrived in good time to catch the Flixbus to Sterzing, where we had ended last summer's hike over the Brenner Pass and are starting this summer's hike to the southern edge (well, almost) of the Alps.

Soccer fans were already appearing in droves by mid-morning, as the Euro Cup was commencing this evening in Munich. It was pretty easy to tell from the national flags draped over shoulders and tied around waists that Scotland was pitted against the home team. I missed some good flag photo ops on the train, but did manage to catch a kilt while we waited for our bus.

Thanks to the combination of soccer frenzy in Munich, a bike protest clogging the roads in Innsbruck, weekend traffic over the Brenner Pass, and police security checkpoints at the Italian border for the G7 conference 1,000+ km further south in Puglia, our bus arrived 90 minutes late into Sterzing. 

Carly's kin hanging out at a rest stop en route

By that time--5pm--we were ravenous and tired, and we hadn't even started the day's hike yet. 

First order of business was detouring into downtown Sterzing for an Italian SIM card, then looking for a quick hot meal. 

The problem with looking for a hot meal at 5:30pm in Italy is that civilized Italians don't even think of eating dinner before 6pm. After two restaurants told us to come back in half an hour, we were directed to Angelo's, "where you can at least get a hot focaccia." 

Oh my, it was the tastiest thing I've eaten in a long time. We capped off dinner with some gelato. My scoop of green apple-basil was a delight.

Pesto, mozzarella, tomatoes, olives, arugula...

By 6pm, with 3 hours of sunlight remaining but only 6.7 miles to hike, we headed out of town.

We had originally planned to hike up to Burg Sprechenstein, but since we were short on time, and since the castle is both privately owned and not in ruins, we skipped it. But we had some decent views of it looking incongruous above the Wipptal Biogas industrial complex. Judging by all the logs and sawdust, we assume the biogas is generated from wood, yet the cow on the roof made us wonder if cattle methane--or as E calls it, "dairy air""--is also involved.

Our route soon joined up with the pilgrimage trail to the church Maria Trens in...Trens. One of the stations included a spring with potable water. The water here is pleasantly soft compared to the calcium-rich water in Steinebach.

Cow on a cool slate roof:

Our route headed up to Trens, where we checked out the church, which dates from the late 1400s. The statue of Mary is from ca. 1470.

Lots of Maryobilia

The Baroque painter Innozenz Barath painted the cupola fresco in the church, as well as the facade of the house pictured below with contrasting modern chalk art in the street.

After leaving Trens, we followed the Bienenweg.

Looking back at the church in Maroltner 

The trail ended abruptly and without warning, due either to road construction or possibly a mud slide that necessitated the construction. In either case, it was a bit of an adventure climbing up to the road from below.

Ta da!

Once on the road, it was a straightforward walk up to Niederflans and our room for the night.

A room with a view

Ta da? 6.7 miles, 1,300 ft elevation gain--an easy start. This route was more east than south, due to a desire not to have to ascend 5,000 ft on our first afternoon. Good decision!