The Giro d'Italia is an annual, renowned three-week bike race that tours Italy and sometimes surrounding countries (think Tour de France). Somehow, we timed it just right as a leg of the race closed down roads and blocked our bus from arriving into Castelrotto. We actually drove past Castelrotto trying to find a way in to town. Omar maneuvered his bus through extremely twisty-turn-y roads and tunnels. Other drivers were fairly patient with our big bus, but motorcycles revved by us just feet from the edge of the road and mountainside below. A couple miles from Castelrotto, the bus came to a complete stop. The road was blocked, but the bike racers would be passing soon.
We turned what most would consider an inconvenience into a moment of a lifetime. We hopped off our bus and walked to a traffic circle welcoming us to Castelrotto. Before we knew it, the lead racers were zooming past us with two helicopters soaring and swerving above us as they rounded each winding turn on the road. Rally cars, carrying extra bikes and equipment, screeched by following after each pack of racers. We were able to watch the entire group go by within 30 minutes.
Road Blocks Bring Unexpected Opportunity
The Taste of Germany in Italy
Sorry, you won't find any pasta dishes in this village. Nevertheless, we had two fantastic meals here.
We stumbled upon our buddies, Shawn and Bill, and decided to have dinner together at Hotel Zum Turm our first evening in town. The beverage of choice was beer by the regional brewery Forst. I had steak with fried potatoes and veggies; Dan had venison. This dinner was one of my highlights from our trip, because we got to know each other a little better. I’ve never really interacted with others not apart of my own traveling group before and since it was a My Way tour where we have the freedom to choose our own adventures, I thought we would all keep to ourselves. But the times our tour group spent time together getting to know one another really enhanced my trip more than I ever could have imagined.
The following night we went to a nearby pizza place I had my eyes on called Pizzeria Toni. We each got a beer, a dunkel and another Forst beer, and split a Feraristi pizza – it had mozzarella, brie, tomatoes, ham, and oregano. It was so delicious. For dessert we shared a coffee ice cream float. It came with some cookies and whipped cream with chocolate sauce. This was as close as we got to some gelato in Italy. There was an ice cream shop nearby, but they were always closed when we walked by.
One afternoon, Cynthia hosted a happy hour at the hotel for our group. The room was a buzz as we shared details about our day with the others. We had some great conversations.
A little more about our time in Castelrotto
We spent our day hiking the Panorama trail to Molignon Hütte and then to Zalinger Hütte; both huts were clearly open as indicated by the signs near the cable lift, but oh how these signs would betray us. We set off on a paved road and climbed some serious elevation right away. Other hikers were on the same path, but it was by no means crowded.
A couple hours in, we reached Molignon Hütte. An alpine border collie greeted us and we obliged with pets. The hut was open but we felt it was a little early to break for lunch and we still had a lot of stamina in us. We opted to keep going and have lunch at Zalinger instead– this was our first mistake.
Castelrotto's biggest attraction is the nearby Alpe di Siusi or Seiser Alm. This is the largest, high-altitude meadow in Europe ranging from 6,000 ft at its central base of Compatsch all the way up to 10,000+ ft for the nearby Sassolungo peak, the highest in this region. To give you more perspective, in order to reach this alpine meadow, you take a 15-minute little gondola form the village of Siusi/Seis situated at 3,200 ft above sea level. Europeans vacation at this destination for skiing and other cold weather activities during winter months, and hiking and biking during summer months. We covered 10 miles of hiking during our visit and we barely scraped the surface of this huge 57 square kilometers or 14,000 acre paradise.
This area of the Alps is referred to as the Dolomites, derived from the rock mineral this mountain range is mostly comprised of. The mountains are distinctly a pale grey and have sheer cliffs. They were the perfect backdrop against the next stop in our journey, Castelrotto. We were fortunate to have bright blue skies during our visit. In the evenings, the light would paint the cliffs a mixture of pink and grey.
The town of Castelrotto (in Italian), or Kastelruth (in German), is a bi-cultural town that has swapped back and forth between Austrian and Italian rule over the centuries. Today, it is located in northeastern Italy, but has a population that primarily speaks German. As a result, you’ll find signs and nearly all verbiage utilizing both languages to describe the same thing.
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CALVARIO STROLL
A couple blocks away from the village center is a short trail atop a little hill Rick refers to as the Calvario Stroll. It brings you to some fantastic lookout points above the village with the Dolomites in the background. We happened to stumble upon it while looking for our restaurant for dinner.
Reaching the Alpe di Siusi is very easy by bus. You can pick up one of many shuttle buses at the bus stop located in the center of town. Our hotel was generous enough to provide each of us with a pre-paid bus ticket during our stay. Shuttle buses drop you off at the lift station and round trip lift rides were €17 each.
The best part of visiting the Alpe di Siusi is the ability to travel from “hut to hut.” For example, you can stay in town at Compatsch or elect for something slightly more secluded on one of the many trails. Then, you'll literally walk from hut to hut (think small, or large, chalet). These refuges offer meals, drinks, and sometimes even a bed for the night. It allows you to cover a lot of ground but still be in reasonable range of modern-day, basic necessities. Grab a good trail map and you can spend loads of time here.
Riding up to the Alpe di Siusi.
Detailed info about the huts: trail #, name, distance in time, and green for open or red for closed.
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Our Adventure in the Italian Alps
Visit to the Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm
Castelrotto
Upon arriving to the meadow, you'll be in Compatsch, a centralized hub with sporting equipment, restaurants, stores, and lodging. The meadow limits driving during the day but they do provide a shuttle bus linking from Compatsch to another village at the back of the meadow called Saltria for €2 each direction. The winter chair lifts operate in the summer too; helping you quickly get from one section of the meadow to the other. The Alpe di Siusi was only officially open for two days prior to our arrival, so the chair lifts weren't running yet.
We found a bench next to a little chapel up there, so we took a seat and snacked on the food we brought with us. Finished with our makeshift lunch break, we easily found the trail down the mountain back to Saltria. Up until this point, we were primarily walking on paved roads. Now, the path downwards was a grassy trail. It was steep but the ground was soft.
The trail took us through farms and we had to close gates behind us. Near the bottom we encountered our first cows with large bells around their necks. The bus stop was located at the bottom of the trail. There was a map of the trails we traveled on and we were finally able to see the mistakes we made. We found these maps to be the most accurate, so grab a picture before setting off on your own adventure.
Little did we realize upon leaving Molignon Hütte, that we had somehow taken a wrong turn – our second mistake. We walked downwards and came to a fork in the road. I knew losing the elevation didn’t make sense, but the maps and signs weren’t clear enough. After reviewing our options, we decided to continue to walk downwards because we knew it would take us to our destination, albeit the lost elevation.
The next turn upwards was very steep and by this point in the day, we were tired and hungry. I had to take many breaks to catch my breath. At last we reached our destination, Zalinger Hütte! But they were closed… and there would be no alpine lunch for us.
