Hiking on Monte Sole in South Tyrol
Welcome to my new series from South Tyrol in Italy!
My husband planned this trip to Naturno as a birthday present for me. We spent there 3 days and let me tell you that it was not enough. We will have to go there at least one more time.
It's around 300 km from Schaffhausen (where we live) but it takes almost 5 hours by car to get there. We left home at 3 am because we wanted to arrive to the hotel on time for breakfast. My husband had to work that day and we agreed with the hotel that they would make a space available for him and I would be enjoying the hotel facilities. This didn't sound too shabby to me.
On the way we had to drive through two mountain passes, and I was happy to finally arrive in Naturno. We were even able to check in to our room at 9 am without any additional charges, so our stay started very well. I spent all day at the pool or in sauna, I got a massage, did some yoga and read my book. I think that this is enough details for you to feel envy 😊
One day of doing almost nothing was enough for me and the next morning we went on a hiking trip to Monte Sole/Sonnenberg mountain.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/8 35 mm
We were lucky as the cable car to the top of Sonnenberg is in Naturno, 5 minutes walk from our hotel. The station is called Unterstell and it takes about 10 minutes to get to up to the mountain.
The start of our hiking trail is right next to the cable car station. The trail starts with a short but steep and narrow path and leads us through the forest and meadows to the observation platform.
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
Already at the start of our tour we got some stunning views of the Alps.
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/8 24 mm
Shortly after that we reached the observation platform.
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
I was so excited about the views that I didn't even realize what I was walking on. Once I looked down it was not that easy to walk there anymore. I headed to the railing to hold onto it like it would save my dear life if something happened there 😊
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
Yep, that is me 😊
(taken by my husband)
After a short while we continued on our trail. It was supposed to take us 1.5 hours but it was clear from the beginning that it would be much longer as we stopped too often to take photos.
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
After a steep climb we sat down on a big rock and checked the map if we were on the right trail as we didn't expect it to be so difficult. Well, it was and we promised ourselves to work on our stamina 😊
ISO 100 1/100 sec. f/8 24 mm
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 24 mm
Climbing, climbing, climbing.. would it ever end?
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/8 24 mm
Finally we reached the top and saw large meadows in front of us - no climbing anymore, yay!
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/8 24 mm
We could see Naturno in the valley and we even spotted our hotel - or I should say we guessed where it could be..
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/8 24 mm
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/8 24 mm
I'd love to tell you something about this 'guy' but there was no information available.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/8 40 mm
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/8 26 mm
We saw many different insects and plants on the way and I managed to capture some of them.
ISO 100 1/320 sec. f/4.5 70 mm
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/4.5 70 mm
ISO 100 1/400 sec. f/4 70 mm
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/3.5 40 mm
ISO 100 1/640 sec. f/4.5 62 mm
We stopped at the small mountain hotel at the end of the trail for a cup of their homemade lemonade. After that it was time to literally run back to the cable car station so that we would catch the next cable car. We came there right on time!
I hope you have enjoyed our hike in South Tyrol.
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
Can't get enough of your photos, that was indeed an unforgettable birthday present and experience, even the weather was celebrating with you. Thank you for this wonderful geography lesson from South Tirol!
Posted using Partiko iOS
That is a lovely compliment :) I'm glad that you enjoyed the photos and the lesson ;) I'm thinking about writing a little more about Tirol as it's an interesting region but we'll see.. for now I only have a couple of more posts ready to show what we did there..
I would personally like to find out more about Tirol from you, it's such a beautiful region that I haven't visited yet. Look forward with great interest for your next post from the region, don't know how you write them so fast, you need to tell me your secret method one day.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I'm still waiting for the right place for the restaurant so I have time in between. I prepare posts for the week on Monday and for the rest of the week I'm creating recipes for my cookbook. I have realized that there is no book with vegan recipes from a Slovak author so would like to bring it to my country :) it's a lot of cooking so I started to invite my friends over for dinner as myself and my husband can't eat that much :)
wow those are some breathtaking views of the ALPs... I thought I lived on a mountain, but looking at that makes me feel like I live on a hill... I can imagine you and your husband are in pretty good shape as that has to be super tough! Awesome job of showing us another great adventure Martina, you never disappoint!
ps... I like the guy in the tree... very cool looking :P
Hahaha, well, you must indeed live on a hill Dave :D Or maybe it's just a perception. Maybe that hill is considered a mountain in the state where you live :)
I wish I would be in a better shape. My stamina is pretty good but I struggle with my hip (I was born with a degenerated hip). It started to bother me last year and now I can't do what I used to do before. When I walk more than 10k steps it starts to hurt and there are days that I can't even walk. It's frustrating and I'm even considering a surgery to replace my hip as I'm not sure how long I can face it..
Thank you! I'm still waiting for some of YOUR adventures to be shared here! :)
lol... MY adventures are not anywhere as exciting as yours!
and on your hip, I'm sorry to hear you are going through an issue with it.... but if it makes you feel any better, I've seen many people that have had hip replacements and they are up and walking on it within days.
and I don't know how far 10k steps is, but it sounds like a lot (way more than I think I do when I walk on my "hills". :P
But at least you should share something. I am sure that others miss you too!
10k steps it's about 6.5 km which was no distance to me in the past.. yes, I've heard that the recovery can be quite fast but I'm just so afraid of anesthesia and pain afterwards as I read that you can feel strong pain even though they give you painkillers..
But on the other hand it's maybe better to do it when I'm still young..
if it truly bothers you, then definitely the earlier the better... they can do wonderful things these days!
and haha on me sharing something... while I doubt anyone would really care, I will think about it ;)
muy bellas todas sus fotos realmente me gustan y disfrutos mucho de los paisajes..excelente su trabajo..
Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad that you like my work :)
de nada, siempre me gustan fotos de paisajes por que así conozco e imagino como son otros países.
well well...looky here..just when you think it's impossible to see another perfect post..here it is! lol. Spectacular scenery once again, gorgeous flowers, thrilling shot of you WAY out there on that observation point. Wow, just totally amazing. I think you should make that place a tradition, every year on your birthday!
Hahaha, I agree! It was WAY out there on the observation platform. But look.. I'm an impulsive person.. very often I do and then I have this oh shit moment :D and this was the case :D There are so many other places in the world cowboy! No traditions here! :)
Howdy Martina! So I'm guessing that you were looking at the views and contemplating your shots and didn't look down until you were at the end of the platform? lol. Did your husband go out there too? That looked exciting. No traditions..how about a tradition of going somewhere new on your birthday every year?
I was just running there to take pictures and didn't realize what I was walking on :D These things happen to me often :D Yes, he did. And he didn't mind. He trusts such constructions more than I do :)
That is a good tradition! I think I'll start it :)
Howdy again Martina! Well we all benefit from your daring actions. So the plan now is to continue to save money for the restaurant and continue to look for a location?
So beautiful Martina...you have brought back a flood of memories to me with those glorious photographs above AND the follow-up post which I just finished replying too as well (I kept having connection issues trying to up-load my comment here) so I tried there and it worked after having to log back in three times???
S0...I guess I'm working backwards with these responses :>) Maybe the last comment I tried to up-load here had NASA frowning upon it for divulging secret military information from fifty years ago, and cut me off???
Hahaha, yeah, that is definitely because of divulging secret military information from fifty years ago :) OR it's because you live in a cave or somewhere similar, isn't it? ;)
I love this kind of old photos... I wish my family took more of them when I was a child..
Weren't you cold? So much snow and you don't seem to have many layers on :)
My family didn't take many photos either when I was a child; it was not as easy as it is today with the technology at hand.
I wasn't dressed very warmly in the photo you referenced, but I do remember how warm it felt that day up high on the mountain closer to the sun (?) My friend Don and I were riding in his old VW Bug...we were young, and gave little thought of perhaps breaking down and having to brave the cold.
Sorry it took me so long to check my comments and respond...I've been busy with life's other stuff lately.
I hope you and your husband are happy and well.
Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @futuremind.
@helpie is a Community Witness.
For more information about our project,
please visit this month’s UPDATE post.
What an adorable cupcake! Thank you!
What a beautiful place to spend your birthday Martina! When I go on scenic walks it always takes me double the time as well as I keep on taking photos like you, but yours are much more stunning!
Thank you so much Pauline! It's not difficult to take decent photos there :) BUT your photos are always stunning too!
Oh my! What a great birthday gift! The scenery is breathtaking. That is a huge husband win! Awesome. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Yeah, he's the best :) I cannot complain..
Thank you for stopping by! :)
What an adventure! Having a couple days off and being able to spend a few moments sharing your awesome trip was just what I needed!
Such a great photographer with great shots. I tried to grab the rail on that one shop too.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thank you! I'm glad that you like the photos. I don't consider myself a photographer so feel flattered when you say it :)
Gosh, I felt envy in the very beginning after I googled your hometown, lol.
The place and your photos are fabulous! That one with a shadow from the wooden fence, and from the forest, and flowers - your shots make me ... okay, I cannot quit my job right now as I wish to ))
Amazing report! <3
Hahaha, oh, I hope you will be able to quit your job soon enough to travel and enjoy life to its fullest!!! :)
Thank you for stopping by my dear friend!