Eppan, South Tyrol Part One

Eppan, South Tyrol could possibly be one of the most magical places I have ever been. We had such an amazing week there and have decided and promised each other (Daniel and I that is) that we will definitely be going back there. So, to back up - last Thursday we packed up our car and said good-bye to rainy Munich heading south to the Italian section of the Alps called the Dolomites. Once we crossed the border into Italy, the rain miraculously stopped and the temparture rose from about 10 degrees Celcius to about 27 degrees Celcius! Hallelujah!! Anyhow, we arrived into a small town called St. Pauls which is one of the communities within Eppan and met up with our good friend Dane who happened to have a week off from his tour with the Eagles so he joined us for three nights during this part of our adventure. After grabbing a quick beer and sandwhich in St. Pauls the four of us (Daniel, me, Dane and Mia) headed towards the place we would call home for the next days - Weingut Dona! It is actually a winery that rents out vacation apartments and is set in the middle of the most amazing vineyards with views of the Alps and castles everywhere! It was magical! The picture above and to the right are views from our cute little balcony which we spent A LOT of our time on. That first night Dane spoiled us by bbqing up some chicken and making some delicious pesto pasta, which even picky Mia devoured! While Daniel and Dane tried to figure out the BBQ which was more like an outdoor griddle, Mia discovered the tractor which helped occupy a lot of her time!! See the picture below ... she looks like a pro (just like her dad who took tractor driving at UC DAVIS!!).

The following day we woke up early and after another delicious meal cooked by Dane we headed off on a spectacular hike directly from our "vacation home" to three different castles, all of which had phenomenal beer gardens at them. I think this day was probably one of my favorites as far as hiking was concerned - the first few hours were straight up hill but once we arrived at the top we had the most amazing views of the valley and vineyards below and the castles and their beer gardens provided some of the most memorable settings on our entire journey. Below is a picture of the place we stayed, taken from the trail we hiked that first day as well as a pictures of Dane, Daniel and Mia with all of our gear!

Below are some more pictures taken on this hike. One of my favorites is the picture of Mia who refuses to sit in a stroller (EVER), but has come to love the hiking backpack she fondly calls "hosey" (aka Horsey). She loves that thing and "rides" in it for hours! Thank you to Mimi, Jon and Charlie for letting us borrow the PIGGYBACK - it has been a lifesaver!

After our hike and a quick nap at home for Mia, we walked through the vineyards (literally) to a Pizzeria which was less than 200 meters from our house and ate a fabulous meal! Even Mia enjoyed a big slice of Pizza Tonno and her new favorite drink Apfel Schorle which is apple juice mixed with sparkling water (I am pretty sure this is because it looks just like the beers mama and dada drink!).