Fri 14 September - Sporthotel Floralpina, Seiseralm

Today is our last day of walking, tomorrow we will travel back down to Venice and on Monday we will fly back to Edinburgh airport. We cannot believe how quickly the fortnight has passed.

When we awake it is still cold and there is still snow on the mountains. There has been a hard frost last night. The weather forecast though says its going to be scorching later in the day. Alistair wants to climb to the top of Plattkofel, but I am not feeling that great and so we decide to do the medium level option walk to the Langkofelhutte instead.

We take a few hundred meters off our journey by taking the cable car up to the Williams Hutte. The bus has just come in from Kastelruth and there are around fifty people ahead of us in the queue for the cable car. The queue moves quickly though and we are soon on our way. We've taken our rucksacks off prior to getting on the cable car and so there are no pathetic moans from Alistair about not being able to breathe!

At Williams Hutte there are fantastic panoramic views of all the mountains, still dusted in snow. After looking around we set off for the Murmetier Hutte at 2132 meters above sea level. It seems like most people are going up to Plattkofel and so it's quite peaceful here. We hear a few marmots squeaking, but other that that it's very quiet.

Path 527 is a really beautiful route, it passes under the peaks and rock walls of Plattkofel, then crosses a hanging valley. The walking notes say this is a good place for a picnic, but today it is frosty, shaded and mysterious. We then start along a narrow path alongside the mountain, hemmed in by solid rock walls. There are a couple of recent landslides here and we pick our way over the rubble. We then turn a corner and see Langkofelhutte framed up between the mountains and the blue sky. As we turn onto the wide steep path zigzagging up to the Hutte I don't know whether to laugh or cry as everything is so beautiful. We slog ever upwards to the Hutte, where we partake of some much needed refreshments.

The food at Langkofelhutte is lovely, the staff are very polite (and the Italian climber who serves us quite nice eyecandy)! The building itself is picturesque. If Carlsberg did mountain huttes this would be the blue print. There is still quite a bit of snow here, which seems incongruous given the blue sky. From outside the Hutte we can see all the hills we have climbed during the last week. It really is a splendid finale to our fortnight's walking holiday in the Dolomites.

We take our time coming down from the mountain, we are in no rush to leave this all behind. We join the Santner Weg and follow it downhill. We sit for a while in a big clearing, where all we can here is the chirping of birds and the occasional rock falling. We start walking again, leaving the main trail to walk across a meadow, then join the main route again to walk down into Saltria. It has been a lovely walk and a fitting goodbye to the Dolomites.

Thurs 13 September - Sporthotel Floralpina, Seiseralm

Today we leave the Hotel Plaza at Compatsch and walk over to the Sporthotel Floralpina at Saltria and with it a further opportunity to climb to the top of the Sciliar. We awake early as we know it will be a long day. I get up and look out of the window to see what the weather is like. The forecast said it would be overcast but dry in the morning, becoming sunny in the afternoon. I peep round the curtains and start to laugh hysterically. Outside it's a winter wonderland, everything is covered in snow!

Outside on the balcony it feels like a cold winter's day. There is a brisk wind too. Well there will be no climbing of the Sciliar today either. Alistair cannot hide his disappointment. I tell him we need to take today for what it is, which I have to say is very different from how I imagined our holiday!

We go down to breakfast unable to decide what we're going to do today. Inntravel offer four options for today, an eight kilometre route to the Hotel Floralpina via the Almrosen Hutte (which we've never been able to pinpoint on our map). We decide this option will get us there too quickly, as will the second option following paths 30 and 7/S3 - a seven kilometre walk. A third option is to go via the Rosszahne Gap and the Tierser Alpe Hutte, a beautiful 15km walk, but this is a high route and not suitable for today, the fourth is the long high route via Rifugio Bolzano, the Tierser Alpe Hutte and the Sciliar, which we've already discounted.

After breakfast we go back to the room, pack up our stuff, then study the maps for inspiration. As I mentioned earlier, the paths around here are really well signposted and, except on the high mountains, are quite wide tracks, so we decide to make up our own route. We plan a route where we can switch paths / easily turn back if required. I have to admit I'm only half listening to what Alistair is saying. On these holidays he has control of the map and I have control of the notes, as we're planning our own route, there are no notes and I leave everything to him.

We leave Compatsch on route 7. I'm wearing a long sleeved t-shirt, long trousers, my waterproof /wind proof jacket and my hat. I still have a fleece, my waterproof trousers and gloves in my rucksack, which I can put on if needs be. Alistair is kitted out in long trousers, a short sleeved t-shirt, a fleece, gloves, a woolly hat and sunglasses. He too has further clothes to put on in his rucksack. We felt a bit silly packing all our winter walking gear a couple of weeks ago, but not today! As walking is our main hobby, we do it a lot and have spent quite a bit on good gear. It certainly pays off on days like this. Although it's freezing I'm like a little furnace as we walk up past Santner.

As I expected, there are loads of people out walking the lower paths today, everyone wants to take pictures and experience the snow. Just before the Goldknopf Hotel, there is a party of about twenty five to thirty people ahead, we overtake them one by one. The paths here are also roads and they are clear of snow, but the surrounding fields are still covered and we pass a poor horse trying to find some grass to munch.

Later we pass the Almrosen Hutte, which we discover is only marked as "Schwaige" on our map - hence the reason we could never locate it. Past the Mahlknecht Hutte, the path stops being road and is quite slushy and slippery. There is a stream we have to cross, which is quite icy, afterwards Alistair tells me there was a woman helping a blind man across! They are two very brave and determined people!

Just before the area where the Dialer Hutte used to stand, we turn off onto route 8. We're getting higher now (2145 meters above sea level) and the snow has drifted a bit and the path is covered in ice. Alistair reminds me that we can turn back at any time. I'm not really worried by the ice, it's no worse than walking through Glasgow City Centre a couple of winters ago. There are no steep drops, so it doesn't seem all that dangerous. There are far fewer people on this track. Our progress is obviously spotted by some marmots, as although we cannot see them, we hear their shrill calls reverberating around the mountains.

We finally pick our way through the snow and ice and make it to the very windy Tierser Alpe Hutte at 2440 meters above sea level. It's warm inside, but that is the only thing going for the hutte. We are approached by a really arrogant waiter who rattles off something in German so fast that we cannot make out anything he is saying. Finally, after Alistair tries a couple of times to speak a bit of German to him to find out what he is saying, he says in perfect English that we need to order from the other waiter. I'm not sure why he needed to come over to tell us that! We order and a few moments later he comes over with two bowls of soup in his hands. Alistair has ordered soup for himself, but pasta for me, so he checks that he's only bringing us one soup. The waiter brusquely tells us he knows it was one soup. The cappuccino coffees he serves us are awful, the coffee is really bitter, like it's been burnt, but we can't face the bother of complaining. We jokingly say we wouldn't be surprised if he spat in them on the way over! We leave thinking it's just as well they've got such a captive audience, as their customer service leaves a little bit to be desired!

As we leave, I ask Alistair which direction we're bound next. He tells me back down to Dialer, along route 8, then route 9 to the Floralpina. So we slithered all the way up to Tierser Alpe Hutte just for the hell of it, better still we've now got to negotiate the icy paths on our way down! Alistair says he told me this all along and that was why he said we could turn back at any point. Actually I'm glad I misunderstood him, otherwise I'd not have agreed to go up to the Tierser Alpe Hutte, which felt quite an achievement given the weather.

The rest of the walk is a doddle, as it's much warmer once we pass the area where the Dialer Hutte once stood and it's all downhill. The snow has disappeared completely from the lower paths and the sun is trying to come out.

When we arrive at the Sporthotel Floralpina the receptionist confirms that snow in early September in the Dolomites is a very rare occurrence. So we decide to think we have been lucky seeing it in such a different light.

Weds 12 September - Hotel Plaza, Seiseralm

We were told a few days ago that the weather would be fine until Wednesday, then it wouldn't be so good. It looks like the weather forecasters in Northern Italy are much better than those in the UK, because they seem to have got it right. It's very grey outside.

We had hoped to climb the Sciliar today, but it's a high route and shouldn't be attempted in bad weather, so we have breakfast, then ask for the password to the hotel's free Wifi to look up the weather forecast. What we see isn't good. It's meant to be fine up until lunchtime, then heavy rain all afternoon through to 5am tomorrow. The temperature is also set to plummet to -2 degrees overnight. We can't really believe this, it was 26 degrees yesterday and last night we were sitting outside on the balcony in shorts and t-shirts.

It does feel cooler though. We decide that the best thing to do is to walk to Mont Seuc and take the cable car down to Ortisei (also known as St Ulrich). All plans for climbing the Sciliar are shelved until tomorrow.

For the first time I'm glad that I packed a couple of long sleeved t-shirts, as Alistair and I reckon it feels like it's around 11 degrees outside. This is the lowest temperature we both feel comfortable walking in without needing a jumper or coat.

It's quite a straightforward route and we march along at a brisk pace. Alistair gets a few weird looks from other walkers as they are all wrapped up, whilst he still has shorts on and a short-sleeved t-shirt, but then he is Scottish!

We follow route 6b and pass by the Sanon Hutte, but don't stop, as we only had breakfast a little while ago. There is a bit of boggy ground and after that, a section where two cows have taken up all the path. We stop to give them a scratch and notice that they have a yellow tag in each ear, one gives a number and the other a name. These two are Gloria and Heidi.

On the way to the Hotel Sonne Sole, there is a wall, which is a great place to put the camera on and set it to automatic so as to get shots of both of us with a splendid mountain backdrop. Unfortunately, there is a huge gaggle of German tourists there doing just that. They each go through the procedure of taking a group photo, then start showing each other all the other photos they have taken this holiday - it's going to take an age. Alistair is quite cross as he thinks it'll be raining by the time we get back and we'll miss the opportunity. A little further on the ground is quite marshy again, so he has the genius idea of screwing the camera onto the top of his walking pole and using that instead. The photo is duly taken. As usual, I'm not particularly worried as I hate having my photo taken!

Eventually, after a bit of a climb, we reach the cable car station, but bypass this for the moment to get to the top of Mont Seuc. There are some good views down, with just a few white clouds in the sky below. We wonder briefly whether we could have walked up to the Sciliar. I stop Alistair before we get to a telecoms pylon and mutter to him about microwaves. We then turn round and walk back to the cable car. After parting with €31 we receive two return tickets.

The journey down is as steep as the price - Mont Seuc is at 2005 meters above sea level and Ortisei is at 1265 meters. The first bit of the journey is a steep plummet over the side of the cliff. As we dangle hundreds of meters above the ground I try not to think about James Bond films and also how we would be rescued if the cable car was to stop.

Once at the bottom, I recognise Ortisei as somewhere we visited some ten years ago as part of a package trip. Alistair isn't so sure, but I'm convinced. We see a shop with walking poles on offer. I've had my very cheap walking pole for years now and think about refreshing it. The average price seems to be €35 for two Leki poles, then I stumble upon the most beautiful set of walking poles I have ever seen. They are feather light, but super strong and fold really small, making them ideal for taking on aircraft. They are also €125! Alistair agrees they are nice, but points out they don't have the removable handle and camera fixture that his has! I decide to look in other stores and see whether they are cheaper anywhere else. One of the few things I miss when I'm abroad is the ability to just surf the net on my phone and check prices.

We walk through the town and look at lots of stuff, when it starts to rain. So we head for a cafe and sit outside under cover. We're lucky to get our seat, because of course everyone has the same idea. After some refreshments and feeding of the sparrows (which I'm sure is forbidden) the downpour stops and we start to walk back through town. This is when we notice that all the shops are shut and with it, the opportunity to buy expensive walking poles! Then the rain starts again and this time it doesn't look like it's going to stop, so we head off back to the cable car.

We spend the whole of our journey up, putting on jumpers, waterproof trousers and coats. We also put the protective rain covers on our rucksacks. There is nothing to see outside of the cable car, it's all just mist. We can't even see when we're about to pull into the cable car station. Back up at the top it is teeming down with rain and noticeably colder, but at least the visibility isn't too bad.

We take the fastest route back to the hotel, surprisingly noticing only a few other people on the way! We are outwardly soaked by the time we reach the hotel in just over an hour, but our trousers and jumpers etc are dry. The great thing about the hotel being principally a skiing hotel is that they have a drying room and we leave everything there to dry. We agree there is no way we would have wanted to have been up a big pointy mountain in this weather.

Tues 11 September - Hotel Plaza, Seiseralm

We are genuinely sad to leave Kastelruth today. It's been really lovely having a base for a few days, which has avoided the need to keep packing up our stuff. There are also so many things to do around here from an outdoor perspective and just the right amount of amenities (shops, buses and an ice cream parlour). The Hotel Cavallino d'Oro has been great too - providing us with super food and free Wifi! The only thing we won't miss are the town's church bells, which start chiming at 6:00 every morning, every quarter of an hour until 22:30 and the large group of American cyclists and walkers who seem to get up at 6:00 then talk noisily in the square just outside our bedroom window!

We have decided to take option 2 to Compatsch since we have already been up to Marinzenhutte and as today's walk is a relatively short one, we take advantage and have an extra thirty minutes in bed, despite the noises previously mentioned! We also decide that since the first part of the walk follows the same paths as yesterday almost to Seis, that we will take the bus to Seis and walk up the route 1, joining the Inntravel walking notes a little later on. The paths are so good around here that it's quite OK to go off piste if you so choose.

Today is virtually all uphill and we start by climbing out of Seis and into the woods. We walk under the cable car that runs from Seis all the way up to Compatsch and cross over a Tarmac road from time to time, climbing steadily upwards. We pass a table with a large benches each side and two thrones at either end. It's beside a beautifully clear pool, full of ice cold water. Shortly afterwards, path 6 (Inntravel's route) comes in to join Route 1 and we're back on the notes again.

There's a lovely river by the side of our path and we follow it up to Bad Ratzes, now a large hotel, but where in the past people used to take the waters for their curative properties. After the hotel we cross the Rio Freddo (cold river, which is probably accurate) and follow a forest track. The walking notes (probably deliberately so as to give a lovely surprise) don't describe just how beautiful the walk up to the Prossliner Schwaige Hutte is, but between the views of the Scilar mountain and the endless supply of waterfalls it's an absolute gem. At 1832 meters it's quite a climb to the hut, but so rewarding when we reach it and sit with some drinks and a strudel admiring the view over to the Scilar and down to Seis.

We finally drag ourselves away and push on with the final 125 meter climb to bring us up to 1957 meters above sea level - our high point for the day. On the high alps at the top, their are 360 degree views of mountains, with a few pretty wooden chalets and barns dotted about.

We walk into Compatsch - it's not the prettiest of places, but will provide the perfect base for exploring this area. It's just a gathering of hotels with the odd shop and cable car and is crawling with day trippers. We finally find our hotel, after scouring the area, and for €6 per person per night are offered an upgrade to a room overlooking the mountains and with a balcony, which we take. Our luggage eventually turns up at 16:30, the day trippers go home and all is well with the world.

Mon 10 September - Hotel Cavallino d'Oro, Kastelruth

Today we decide to do the first Inntravel option of walks around Kastelruth. It's 17-20km long and will take us five-six hours to complete, but this is fine as we've been blessed with some lovely weather again.

We leave the hotel and cross over the main road through town, then up onto a Tarmac road which has way-marks for route 6. Once out of Kastelruth we walk over some lovely meadows and have good views of the mountains. The road we're on is part of a suggested running circuit and ahead of us is a wiry old man who looks in his seventies. He's in running shorts and whilst he's not going that fast, both Alistair and I agree we'd like to be that fit when we reach his age.

We cross over a small road, and pass by an ecological hotel, then walk to the church of St Valentin. It looks very pretty framed by the mountains. We then march down a concrete track, through a field with irrigation jets in full flow. We give them a wide birth and escape a soaking. We then carry on down the hill until we arrive at Seis. It's a nice enough place, but it doesn't seem to have the charm of Kastelruth. We stop at a bar for a drink, before continuing on our way through a residential area and over a busy road and escaping back into the countryside. We pass a sign for the Restaurant Pizzeria Salegg, which also promises "discotheque" and "dancing". We wonder what discos without dancing are like... We climb up a small slope to reach the lovely old Hotel Salegg and then enter the woods.

It's lovely and cool in here, but not dark & dismal like the pine forests back home. We think it's because the lives of the people round here are so interlinked with the forests. They walk in them, pick mushrooms and berries in them and harvest a few trees to satisfy their building requirements. Taking down a few trees every year manages the woodland, allowing light in, so that other plants can grow too. In the UK, pinewoods are usually just treated as cash crops and, in Scotland especially, whole hills are logged to leave unsightly gashes across the hillside until the next crop starts to grow. As we walk we come across three foresters who have just felled four trees and are clipping them to the back of a small tractor in order to drag them out of the wood. They have only used a chainsaw to fell the trees, unlike all the high tech industrial processing machinery we've seen in action in the Highlands of Scotland.

After a while we reach the Largo dei Fie, a man-made lake originally dammed in order to breed fish. There are several very chic looking Italians sun bathing on the lido at the edge of the lake, along with some mad Germans swimming in the ice-cold water. We take a seat at the little cafe at the water's edge and I try to eat a giant banana split. To be fair it didn't look so big in the picture! Alistair has to assist me by eating the final third.

After our break, we follow the lake round and take a path down by a field which has excellent views of the mountains. After a while we see the large village of Vols below us and the castle of Schloss Prosels across the valley. We carry on into Vols, where school seems to have just finished, as there are lots of small children wandering about sporting huge backpacks. We wonder what on earth they need to carry to warrant such huge bags.

The village is pretty, but closed as it's lunchtime. We've noticed a lot of the villages seem to close between midday and 15:30. We press on, marvelling at the parking skills of a Porche owner who is only a cigarette paper's distance from a stone wall!

As we are about to enter another wood, a BMW brushes past me, then stops about 30 meters in front of me. The driver gets out, as does his female passenger, they then try to coax a dog out from the back seat. It doesn't seem that excited by the prospect of its walk, as it still hasn't emerged by the time we pass by.

Later on we walk past a farm called Grimm with a chained up guard dog, he gives a few cursory barks, but other than that is fine. The walking notes suggest a diversion to avoid him, but there's really no need. We holidayed in the North of Italy once before and every homestead seemed to keep a large snarling wolf. They were normally clipped to a zip-line affair, so you thought the dog only had a few meters range, but in fact they often had much more. Next to those canines, this one is an angel!

There then follows a lot of uphill walking to reach the church of St Konstantin, it also looks very pretty framed by the mountains. We are a little dismayed when the path descends very steeply by a stream as we know this can only mean one thing - a big bit of uphill and yes, it's then uphill all the way back into Seis.

As the sweat is dripping off us both, all thoughts of walking on to Kastelruth fade and we call into the local tourist office to buy tickets for the bus. There is only one other person in front of us, but he asks about a trip, agrees to purchase a trip, asks more questions about the trip, pays for the trip, then, when we think he might leave, he asks a few more questions. When we finally get served, it turns out that the next bus, in 3 minutes, is one where you cannot buy tickets in advance and can only buy them on the bus! We just make it to the Bushof in time for said bus and are whisked back to Kastelruth.

On our return, I partake of a milkshake and Alistair of an ice-cream - I'm not saying we're being treated like regulars in the ice cream shop, but Alistair gets a "cheerio" as he leaves!

Sun 9 September - Hotel Cavallino d'Oro, Kastelruth

Today is another bright and sunny day, so we decide to do option three of Inntravel's suggested walks around Kastelruth. The notes say that this option is for the experienced fell walker confident on steep ground and should only be undertaken in good weather. Well we've got the weather!

Despite having done lots of walking in Scotland, the Lake District, New Zealand and the Pyrenees, Alistair & I never get too cocky about our abilities. Walking in a bad storm in the Pyrenees & being caught in the mist in the Cairngorms has left us both with a healthy respect for mother nature. Seriously though, we know we should be fine with this walk and carry the usual bivvy bag, medical kit, warm clothing and waterproofs. We also take a good bit of water with us.

We know it's going to be a long day, so cheat and take two and three quarter hours and 400 meters in height off our journey by taking the bus to Panider Sattel. We purchased the tickets yesterday and think them good value, as for €1.50 we can travel on any local buses all day.

The first part of the walk goes up over a meadow and through the woods, where it contours round. The views are great. We walk for a while until we get to a shrine and some seats - this is Pufels Bula. We then join path 24, where in the next 1.5km we gain 506 meters in height, as we climb the Schnuristeig to the Fillne Kreuz at 2130 meters. It is a long hard climb, but we've all day, so we take it nice and easy. There are more thoughtfully placed benches on the way, which we make use of.

Alistair and I have very different techniques when it comes to climbing hills. He tends to keep the same tempo all the way up, whereas I sprint a bit, then rest and sprint up another bit. I've learnt here though, that the best way is to amble up as slowly as possible, it hurts my legs a bit, but I'm not so out of puff.

After a time the trees begin to thin out a bit and the ground gets quite rocky. The walking notes get put in my rucksack, as I need both hands to haul myself up the hill. In fact there are four sections where there is either steel cable or rope to cling onto. I don't trust this though and carry on scrambling up using all four limbs. I'm a little bit scared at this point, as the contents of my rucksack seem to keep changing my centre of balance, but there's no way I'm going down this slope! Eventually I reach the top and a wide plateau at 2130 meters, where I have great views in all directions.

There are around fifty or so other people up here, including small children and I realise we have come up the most difficult way, many of the people have come most of the way by car! Still, I bet they don't feel the sense of achievement we do, as we jostle for position to take some pictures.

We then continue following the path and reach Mount Bulacia, which at 2174 meters is our highest point today. We pass by the Hexenbanke and gradually descend to the mountain cafe at Arnica Hutte. The place is crowded, not surprisingly as it's a beautiful Sunday, but a kind German couple let us share their table. It takes an age to order, get served and pay, but we are very hungry after our climb up.

Finally we set off down to Tschonadui Hutte and Schafstall Hutte traversing over some boulder strewn terrain on the way. There are wooden walkways and steps over the worst of it, but these are still quite slippery. We decide to carry on down to Marinzenhutte and take the chairlift down to Kastelruth. This seems like a good idea, until we get on the chairlift and Alistair gets his rucksack caught in the safety apparatus. There we are dangling a fair way from the ground and he is bent at an unnatural angle. I tell him to stay still as his jiggling about is making me scared. He says he can't breath as he's so squashed, but he makes a lot of noise for someone with little breath! Luckily we make it down to Kastelruth in one piece. I tell Alistair that I am in shock after that experience and need a reviving icecream! In fact we both partake of an ice-cream to calm our nerves!

Back at the hotel, Alistair shows me his arm, which appears to sport two big bruises. I feel a bit bad that I wasn't very sympathetic earlier. Post-shower though, the "bruises" have disappeared - they turn out to be just dirt!

Even with the drama at the end, we both agree that it's been a brilliant day.

Sat 8 September - Hotel Cavallino d'Oro, Kastelruth

Today we leave Bad Dreikirchen and walk to Kastelruth, where we'll spend he next three nights. We can see, without looking at our walking notes that today will involve a lot of down (700 metres) followed by a lot of up (550 meters) as we are crossing the valley.

The first part of our walk takes us straight down the hill to the village of Barbian. The walking notes say that we use route 8a, but we only see one sign for this, the 8a seems to have been renumbered 11a. Barbian is a charming place, where even the windows of the barns are decorated with beautiful flowers. In the centre of the village is a quaint church with a leaning tower. It seems a miracle the tower hasn't fallen down.

We leave the village and start to descend through and by the side of fields; managing to escape the irrigation hoses as we go. All the while getting closer to the bottom of the valley and a busy motorway and large river. On the other side of the hill we can see Trotsburg castle, which we'll be passing by later. After a while we reach the village of Kollman, which has the most decorative pizzeria I think I've ever seen, set amongst the chequered walls of a mock castle. Finally we reach Waidbruck, where we stop for a quick coca cola. The walking notes say there are two options up to Trotsburg castle, one is on a medieval trail, the other is less picturesque, but also less steep. We decide on the medieval trail. Oh my word! The path is incredibly steep on ancient cobblestones. At the start of the holiday I was going to sub-title this blog "slippery when wet" as everything was, but now the paths seem equally slippery when dry. We eventually reach the top and immediately need to rest on one of the thoughtfully placed benches.

The route here has also been renumbered, instead of being route 2 it seems to have become route 1. The route 1 track has been taped off, so we follow a cobbled lane round, which seems to be going in the same direction. We pass by a man at a table selling tickets, then pass by a field where there are benches, beer tents and a wandering troubadour playing a guitar and mouth organ. Something is obviously going on, but we pass by and continue our climb up the hill. It's a long old climb up to the top and another thoughtfully placed bench. We sit and eat our lunch and the first thing I do is squirt cheese and tomato all over my "clean on today" walking trousers, so much for doing laundry yesterday!

After lunch we reach the village of Tagusens, another very pretty place with an old church and beautiful views of the mountains. We carry on through the village and up into a forest. Walking in the forest is a treat as it's a very hot day, but cool under the trees. We reach an isolated Gasthof and are a bit dismayed when the path starts to go downhill, as this can only mean one thing... True to form, when we join a little Tarmac road next to the Brembach stream, the road goes steeply uphill. Even the sight of an eagle overhead, with the sunlight lighting up his wings, struggles to make this toil up the hill any more enjoyable. I'm very pleased when it starts to level out. Even more pleased when we see our first views of Kastelruth.

We easily find our hotel, as it's right by the bell tower in the square. The hotel gives us a whole heap of literature on the area, which is very thoughtful. I smile when they ask me if I have a car with me. I'd hope not to be so hot and sweaty if I had! After checking in, we shower and have a walk about. We find ice cream for the first time in a week and can confirm Italian ice-cream is still very good!

Nearly all the places where we're staying have two names, the Italian name for Kastelruth is Castelrotto, so we nickname the place Castle-rude-not-to! 

Fri 7 September - Gasthof Messnerhof, Bad Dreikirchen

Yesterday's walk really took it out of us and when the alarm goes off I set it to snooze. We are staying two nights at the Gasthof Messnerhof, which means we aren't forced to walk anywhere today and so for once we allow ourselves to have no plans. Today's suggested walk is up to the Rittner Horn, but we did that yesterday, so feel perfectly justified!

We eventually get up and go for breakfast at the Gasthof Dreikirchen. Unfortunately, we have left it too late to claim a table on the balcony, so we have to sit inside, but the extra snooze was worth it. After breakfast we sit outside and look at the view, it's already quite hot, but the big mountains are still shrouded in mist.

After a while we go back to our room and do some stuff we have never had time to do, like sort out the luggage, do a bit of washing so we have clean clothes for the entire trip etc. It sounds dull, but actually it's quite nice pottering about.

As lunchtime approaches we decide to go out for a short walk. We set off down the hill and after about 10 minutes find a shady bench where we sit and eat the remnants of yesterday's picnic. We've been trying not to eat very much at lunchtime as we've been having four and five course evening meals, we've also tried to cut down on what we eat for breakfast. One thing we've become very keen on though is the caraway seed bread and we joke about how we'll cope without it when we get home!

After a hard boiled egg and some fruit, we continue down the hill over a small stream and eventually find ourselves at a little Gasthof. We sit outside on a terrace with gorgeous views of the mountains, as the mist has now burned off. We sit there with a drink watching the flocks of swallows careering around the sky. It's so peaceful, all we hear are their wings in flight and excited little chirps. It is very different from the over-excited children around our hotel. Eventually we decide to wander back.

Once we've returned, Alistair orders another beer and looks for the map, then realises he has left it on the table back down the mountain. It's not just that we might have lost tomorrow's map, but the fact we may have lost our waterproof map pocket. Alistair sets off wearily down the hill to retrieve it (the map has been his responsibility all holiday)!

Eventually he returns and luckily he has the map & map pocket with him. We laze around a bit more until dinner - the only excitement being a cow and bull bellowing at each other just outside our window and looking like they are going to crush the Fiat Panda parked in front of the garage. When we go over to dinner, there is a beautiful sunset which lights up all the big mountains with a pinkish hue. There are fewer children in the restaurant tonight and things seem a little calmer. Although we love walking, it has been nice to have a day off.

Thurs 6 September - Gasthof Messnerhof, Bad Dreikirchen

It is with a heavy heart that we leave the excellent Gasthof Kohlern, taking with us the biggest picnic I think I have ever been given on an Inntravel holiday. Despite Alistair's faffing about, we still make the 9:30 cable car down to Bolzano. We decide against a taxi and walk to the Rittner cable car, using the hotel's excellent map as a navigational aid. We arrive and buy tickets both for the cable car and for the little train that runs from Oberbozen to Klobenstein.

The view from the cable car is spectacular, although following last night's rain it's still not possible to see the mountains in all their glory; however today they are sketched in like a watercolour in various shades of blue. When we arrive at the upper station,  we realise we have been to Oberbozen before and recall both the cable car and the train. The train is nice, but it's packed full with tourists all sporting name badges and chattering nineteen to the dozen. We have a seat, but for many it is standing room only. There is a German couple with a beautiful and well behaved dog. They tell me it ought to have its own seat as they have had to pay full price for it. I agree with them.

We arrive at Klobenstein and let everyone pile off the train and get counted onto their tour buses, whilst we wander off following a 1 route way-mark. As we arrive at an unmarked fork in the road, an old gentleman sees us looking lost & comes to our assistance. He is speaking Italian & I catch only about 10% of what he says, but one phrase I understand is that the route 1 to Tann is forever up!

As we climb out of the village we find that he is certainly telling the truth, but the views over to the mountains on the outskirts of Klobenstein are stupendous. In the woods, someone has made an incredibly arty installation from a tree & some stones. We follow route 1 all the way to the very posh Hotel at Tann, where we have a drink and look at the mountains again. As it's a nice day we decide to go up the Rittner Horn, so follow the road up to Pemmern at 1538 metres and get the gondola lift up to Schwarzseespitz at 2070 metres. We then walk up to the very top of the Rittner Horn at 2259 metres. Words cannot describe the views here. Alistair and I are grinning from ear to ear. My eyes start to fill with tears as it is so beautiful. We can totally understand why it seems the thing to do is park your car, get the gondola up and walk to the top; however very few people walk down the mountain on the other side, so we leave the small crowd at the top, walk round the back and start our descent totally alone. We march along alpine meadows containing isolated chalets, cows, sheep & a donkey. There are great views of the mountains all the way & we see only six other people until we reach Briol.

The walk down route 4 through the woods is very slippery & strenuous at the end of a long day. It seems to go on and on. We start singing a little song about the day - "your euros keep lifting me higher than I've ever been lifted before" (to the tune of the Jackie Wilson song)  in celebration of our cable car, train & gondola rides! Finally we reach Briol and then there is a further endless section following a gravel track steeply down into Bad Dreikirchen. We arrive at the Gasthof Bad Dreikirchen to check in and end up being taken up two flights of stairs to the other side of the hotel and told to go up to the Gasthof Messnerhof. It's a short distance, but we are both exhausted!

Our room at the Gasthof Messnerhof is clean and spacious, almost a suite, but we are at the back of the hotel, essentially on the ground floor. From our window we have a view of the garage and the principle point of our balcony seems to be to provide somewhere to smoke, as it overlooks a storage area for garden furniture. It seems such a shame when there are such beautiful views available outside. After freshening up we go over to the Gashof Bad Dreikirchen for dinner and are seated at the very back of the room, furthest from the window! There are innumerable children running about, making a lot of noise. I'm suddenly thankful we're staying over the road, as this hotel seems anything but relaxing!

Wed 5 September - Gasthof Kohlern, Bozen

Today we have various options as to how we pass our time - we can just laze about at the hotel, borrow one of the hotel's free mountain bikes, descend by cable car down to Bolzano and see Otzi the Iceman or take a couple of cable cars and do a circular walk around Jenesien.

Alistair & I are not really the lazing about types, the hills around here are too steep to even think about cycling (unless you are very fit to get up the hills and have a death-wish re coming down)! We saw Otzi about ten years ago, when we last visited Bolzano & given that he's 5,300 years old, he's unlikely to have changed much! So Jenesien it is then.

Inntravel recommend an early start (in bold italics) so we think catching the 9:30 cable car from Kohlern to Bolzano should be fine. The walking notes say that the cable car costs €5 for Gashof Kohlern guests - I suggest if you are staying there that you don't mention this, as we got our return tickets for €4! We organise a taxi from the bottom over to the Jenesien valley station, but we haven't really considered that it's always rush hour in Bolzano and we get to the cable car station at 10:03. Unfortunately they run every hour or half hour, so we've 27 minutes to wait until the next one and it's 10:45 before we reach Jenesien itself. The walk is 5.5 hours long, the last cable car from Jenesien is at 18:30 and to Kohlern at 19:30 - we decide it should be do-able, even with an hour for lunch.

We start to follow the walking notes, but at the supermarket the description doesn't match up with what way marks we see, we use our initiative and find ourselves back on track. We follow some steps up to join a way marked path, but the notes say there is a wooden pole "Via Alpina" but there isn't. It's a really hot day, all the walking so far has been steeply uphill and tempers begin to get a bit frayed! There is no left & right turn as advertised, but there is a sign to the "Edelweiss" bar and so we follow that. Later, we come across two benches in a clearing & a Tarmac road a little further on and bingo we are back in business. It seems the signs or paths have changed a little since the walking notes were written.

There is an awful lot of uphill walking for the first half of the walk and it is quite strenuous. Past the Edelweiss (where we stop for a quick coca cola), the scenery though is lovely, all alpine meadows, larch trees and beautiful wild flowers. The route out is basically along the "1" or "E5" track and is quite straightforward. There are more three sided poles along the way featuring local fairy stories - some of which end quite bizarrely - we think they must have lost something in translation!

We arrive at the outer reaches of our walk, the cafe-restaurant at Langfenn, ahead of schedule by 15 minutes, which is just as well as the service isn't very quick. Unlike the rest of our walking so far, we have seen hoards of people on today's walk (mostly walking downhill in the opposite direction)! Those we haven't seen are here at the restaurant and we literally get the last table. We don't want to eat much, as it was another excellent four course meal at the Gasthof Kohlern last night and will be tonight, so we have what turns out to be a huge piece of apple cake and some drinks.

Although on the way to Langfenn we had very pretty scenery, the return journey is much more varied and interesting and we only see half a dozen people - although there are plenty sitting outside the Gschnofer Stall. We pass by, as it wasn't that long ago we stopped at Langfenn. We pass through forest, some meadows and walk along a tiny Tarmac lane, where we see four eagles, until we arrive at Gasthof Locher where we stop for another drink. We have about an hour & a half of walking left, so there are no worries regarding catching the last cable cars.

Past Locher we're into beautiful woodland, with a path that contours around. We find a slow worm basking in a sunny patch on the path, either that or a dangerous snake - in any case it quietly slithers into the undergrowth on our approach. There should be a wooden footbridge at a gully, but it's been washed away. Luckily there is very little water coming down the hillside, otherwise it could be difficult to cross. The forest is full of jays which we see and hear very regularly. Once past the gully we keep up a good pace and get back to Jenesien in time for the 16:30 cable car. Our taxi takes us speedily to the bottom of the Kohlern cable car and we just walk on it and away it goes - perfect timing.

It seems we've also timed the weather too, as once back in the Gasthof Kohlern we hear peals of thunder and the air is heavy with rain. A few moments later, the wind has got up, the rain is lashing down and there's a magnificent thunder storm!

Tues 4 September - Gasthof Kohlern, Bozen

When I wake up the sky looks full of rain and by breakfast it is raining steadily, by the time we're due to leave it's pouring down. Since the reason we decided to come to Italy and not finish off our LEJOG walk was to get some sunshine, it all seems pretty ironic. We are kitted out in full waterproofs - even our day sacks have their little waterproof covers on.

We leave the Gasthof Krone & are driven to the monastery of Maria Weissensteig. It's very impressive and the most visited place in Trentino Alto Adige. We can believe this, as it's not yet 10:00 and the car park is already filling up with cars & tour buses.

It feels good to leave all this hustle & bustle, by way of a pretty meadow, to enter a misty & ethereal forest. The rain is less heavy here and we divest ourselves of our rain jackets, not daring just yet to take off our waterproof trousers. We pass lots of shrine-like boards, each with a different religious carving on it. They are numbered and we are passing them in descending order, starting with 12. Halfway along we meet an old couple, the woman is praying out loud & we just nod a greeting. This is a pilgrim's route and do not want to interrupt her devotions ( imagine if she had to start from 1 again)!

The wood is very scenic, with pretty streams, the odd cascade & trees entangled around rocks. Eventually we leave it and start the walk into Deutschnofen, first by rural lanes and then more urban streets. We spot a nice looking cafe and pop in for a quick cappuccino. When we leave, the German speaking waiter laughs and says he hopes we have a nice day. He tells us the weather should be nice this afternoon. We thank him and say we are ever optimistic. An Italian speaking customer looks outside and laughs.

As we leave though, the rain is already just a few spots and as we climb up the very steep lane out of town & into another forest, we stop to take off our waterproof trousers. There is a viewpoint here and we guess it must be spectacular if there's less cloud. This wood has lots of triangular boards, but instead of religious pictures, it has excerpts of local fairy stories. From the religious to the pagan, a well-balanced walk!

We pass the restaurant Wolfl and head up Totes Moos. We had planned to eat lunch once we got to Totes Moos, but there's another 1.3km to go. Instead, just past a farmhouse, we sit by the side of the Forststrasse Totenmoos and eat lunch, whilst looking out to a beautiful view. Now, the sun is so hot that we have to slap on the suntan lotion.

Just before Totes Moos we hear a bell in the undergrowth and look for a cow. The people of the Dolomites seem obsessed with bells, they chime continuously from churches or from herds of cattle or, in this case, from a dog. Alistair & I are relieved when it darts off into the undergrowth - not because we are afraid of dogs, but because one once followed us for miles in Spain and we couldn't get it to leave us. It was a beautiful animal & we were worried it would never be reunited with its owners. The whole episode has scarred us!

Anyway, when we reach Totes Moos (a lake and a shrine) we decide the weather is nice enough to leave the E5 track we've been following all day and take route 1 instead. We miss the deviation onto route 1a to a viewpoint, but as we've climbed a fair bit uphill and the notes say there's another similar viewpoint a bit later, we press on. There's been a lot of recent forestry work and some of the way marked trees have been cut down. The ground is also littered with bits of pine trees. At the next viewpoint we are glad we never retraced our steps to find the first viewpoint. There may be a view on some days, but today it's just a wall of white, we decide it's not worth hanging about like we did at the Bletterbach viewpoint, too much rain has fallen for that amount of mist to clear.

We carry on through the woodland to eventually reach the Schneider Weisen bar and decide to stop for a drink. As we sit in the scorching sunshine, four people appear with the dog we saw earlier in the day. The dog looks exhausted and its fur is matted with pine twigs. From their conversation with another couple outside, we understand this is not their dog, it has just followed them to the bar. Phew! After about 10 minutes a hunting type bloke appears and sometimes you don't need words to understand what's being said. He lovingly picks the twigs out of the dog's coat, gives him a biscuit & offers him some water, which he eventually gulps down. We are glad the story has a happy ending.

We have an equally happy ending, when we reach the gorgeous Gasthof Kohlern. This is another place where we took the upgrade option & when we enter our room and see the spectacular views over Bolzano and the surrounding mountains, we decide it was money well spent and that we're going to enjoy our time here.

Mon 3 September - Gasthof Krone, Aldein

Last night was our final night at Gasthof Zirmenhof, but we are told to just leave the luggage in our room & to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, so that's just what we do. After breakfast we check out & pick up our packed lunches - delicious rolls, fruit & a yoghurt.

The walking notes suggest an early start so that we can fit in another walk when we reach Aldein - today's destination, but Alistair & I don't do early starts when we are on holiday, so leave the hotel at 9:30am. It's quite windy when we set out and I need a jacket on, but as usual Alistair is wearing shorts & a short sleeved t-shirt!

We set off into a different forest from yesterday's, but it is similar in that it has wide clear tracks and the trees are set far apart to let light in. We debate why British pine woods can't be more like this. We spot a nearly black red squirrel in the forest, which darts up the nearest pine tree as we approach. After about 45 minutes we leave the forest & start the descent into the Bletterbach Canyon.

This is the same canyon we looked down upon from the viewpoint yesterday. Up close & personal, the canyon is very spectacular, but the whole thing looks in a constant state of flux and there are signs of recent avalanches. We descend very carefully, not trusting any of the wooden or wire handrails. On our way down we pass a board forbidding hikers to walk in the canyon in the rain or thunderstorms because of the danger from falling rocks. It's very humid (my jacket is off) and the paths are slippery from rain a few days ago, but everything looks OK today. We carry on descending until we reach the canyon floor and the Taubenleck - the fast flowing, tiny stream at the bottom of the canyon.

The canyon looked wonderful yesterday, but today we view it from a totally different perspective. If you like geology then this is the place for you, as it's easy to see the different strata of rocks (porphyry, sandstone, dolomitic limestone along with clay & marl). We walk along the bottom of the canyon with its 400 metre cliffs towering above us and feel both awe & wonder. Finally we start to climb out of the canyon on the Jagersteig - a new path. The "new" path doesn't look like it'll be there for long. At one point we see just how little is holding it up and despite being quite breathless (the climb out is very steep) we hurry along. Views of the Weisshorn & the waterfall Butterloch open up as we arrive at the top - to a piece of rope across the path! It appears the path we have just climbed up is closed. In Italian is a word that can easily be translated as perilous! Whether today or in general we do not know, as we cannot understand enough of the German or Italian, pity there wasn't such a sign at the other end! Anyway we're both safe and sound.

As we leave the Visitor Centre fat drops of rain start to fall - what impeccable timing! If it had started raining any sooner, we definitely wouldn't have been able to experience the walk through the canyon. My jacket goes on again.

The rest of the walk goes through woodland, then passes by some truly beautiful meadows. The rain has eased off, so we eat part of our picnic. As we set off the rain starts again, ( jacket back on) but it's just a heavy shower and stops before we reach Aldein. Despite not setting off early, it's only 13:40, so we decide to do the additional walk. Unfortunately I've only got the first page of the notes with me & our luggage hasn't arrived at the Hotel Krone yet, but there's enough of a description for us to improvise and we take a very nice walk to the Gollersee, a tranquil little lake in the middle of a forest. By the time we return to the hotel our luggage has arrived and we can freshen up before dinner.

The hotel started being used as a guesthouse in 1577 and is situated in a pretty village square. The only thing I have against it is that this is a mountain village and it's at the very top! Otherwise the large, attractive room with its traditional furnishings is lovely and I think we're going to enjoy our evening here, as it's another place that specialises in local, traditional cuisine.

Sun 2 September - Berghotel Zirmerfhof, Radein

We wake up after an eleven hour kip & head down to breakfast. I am like a child in a sweetshop. I want to eat everything, as it all looks so delicious. Everything you could possibly desire is present. I opt for fresh fruit, yoghurt & a wild berry compote, followed by some locally made bread. The bread is really fresh & delicious, but I don't recommend strawberry jam with caraway bread!

Although we could happily go back to the room & snooze again, we kit ourselves in our walking gear for a stab at the Weisshorn, which is the most southerly Dolomite peak. The name means "white horn" but we cannot see it. To be honest, when we set out we think we won't be able to climb up it as there is a thick mist obscuring everything, but one thing we learnt from looking out of the window last night, is that the weather is extremely changeable. So we set off to see how far we can get.

The walk starts through larch & pine forests. We hear the constant tinkle of cow bells, so there are either lots of cows lurking in the mist or some skiing fanatics are warming up for the coming season. As we climb ever upwards, there are tantalising glimpses of what we could have seen if the weather was better. Finally we reach 2000 meters where there is a viewpoint over the Bletterbach Canyon. It's the only canyon in the Sudtirol and a UNESCO heritage site. Unfortunately today as we sit on the bench and gaze out, all we can see is a wall of white. The sun is shining brightly through the mist though & we worry we might get snow blindness.

Alistair & I sit there debating what to do next. Alistair thinks we should ascend the peak anyway. I don't, as I read in the notes about holding onto rocks to steady yourself and scrambles. On a sunny day, yes, no problem, but in mist, even with a GPS & compass I'm not so keen. Alistair says it's OK, we'll not go up, but his face says otherwise. Then, just at that moment, the mist clears away a bit and we start to see steep boulder strewn slopes. Then the canyon itself appears. It is awesome. As we wait a bit longer, more & more appears out of the mist. Suddenly we see the Weisshorn  itself with its cross on top. OK then we think, let's give this a go.

The path up is really good and it's not really that steep. Our legs are not complaining in the slightest. The main problem we have is with breathing. We find that we get out of breath very quickly. We decide it must be the altitude, as the way up is less difficult than some Monroes we've tackled in Scotland. By slowing down & taking lots of rests we finally get to the summit at 2313 meters, en route we have seen an eagle above us taking the easy way up. We feel a great sense of achievement and are both glad we made the effort. Whilst the peak itself is free of mist, all around clouds scud by opening up vistas for a few minutes. We don't get the full picture at any one time, but the snippets we see are wonderful.

I would say that the journey down to Gurndinalm (a mountain inn) is more treacherous than the climb up to the Weisshorn. It's very wet underfoot, which has left slippery stones, tree roots and muddy earth. We jar our bodies a couple of times, but luckily manage to stay upright. At the inn we treat ourselves to strudel & drinks, then continue the slither down.

We reach our hotel and each take a shower & chill out in the room before the evening's five course meal. We've thoroughly enjoyed our day's walking and staying at the hotel is like arriving at Rivendell - a mountain retreat that's quiet & soothing to the mind, body, & soul.  

Sat 1 September - Berghotel Zirmerhof, Radein

Got up at 3:20 following a fitful night's sleep - I'm always like that if I know we have somewhere to go. Had breakfast, cleared out the fridge, paid Alistair's car tax, unplugged the plugs and loaded up the car. Arrived at Edinburgh airport for 5:00. Dropped off the bags & wandered around the duty free shops. It takes me 10 minutes to decide which box of Molton Brown I want to buy as I'm that tired! We arrive at the gate & board buses to the aircraft. A woman moans about how rubbish Jet2.com are. I wonder why, if that's the case, she still uses them!

After an uneventful plane journey (except for the man with the disabled wife - he waited an hour for airport assistance & no-one came) we land in Venice. The airport staff are very friendly & sell us tickets to Venice Mestre station & even tell us what stance we should wait at. The bus comes, we remember we are not in Britain & swarm on with everyone else.  In approximately 30 minutes we are deposited at the station & ensconce ourselves in the station cafe, where courtesy of Alistair's pointing & fluent use of Spanish (!) we have a cheese & ham toastie & an Americano.

Afterwards we venture down a dodgy looking underpass & Alistair leaves me with all the baggage to find out where the trains leave from. I feel decidedly uncomfortable, but glean from a small electronic board that we need the Milan train. Once Alistair returns we venture up to platform one to get our regional tickets printed. Good job we have plenty of time! Inntravel advises that it may take 20 minutes to print the tickets, which probably indicates that they were at some stage in the past, stuck behind the same American woman I was! First she is perplexed at the limited number of destinations available, until I point out that if she taps out the name of her destination using the giant keyboard in front of her then more become available. Next she doesn't know which of the Bolzano stations she needs & cancels out of the machine three times. I explain the main station is Bolzano Bolzen, but she doesn't think it's the right one as there are no changes mentioned. I then point out the column on the screen that says changes... Some 10 minutes & numerous options later, she gets to the pay screen only to discover to pay by credit card she needs a PIN, which she doesn't have!! When I finally get to use the machine, I print all four of my tickets in a couple of minutes & we're in business.

The Milan train is large, clean & comfortable. There are luggage racks & seats with plenty of leg room. Firstscotrail please take note. There are heavy rain showers on the way to Verona, but it's dry by the time we arrive. There's a bit of panic when we see our next train is on the platform & the whistle has been blown, but we can't find a working yellow box to validate our tickets; however finally Alistair does & we board the train.  The journey takes two hours, but we don't mind, the views are sensational and remind us of why we wanted to come back to this part of the world. The train runs through the valley & on each side there are magnificent peaks. We get picked up at Ora station & driven up to the top of one of them, to the Gasthof Zirmenhof.

The hotel is at 1500 meters above sea level and has the most amazing views - apparently the snow capped peaks in the very distance are in Austria. Our room is a suite, with a balcony and commands sight of the very best of those views. I am glad we decided to go for the upgrade. In the dark, the lights from the villages sparkle like veins of silver. Our evening meal is a five course affair - all local dishes. It is very well received, although we are very tired. Straight after dessert, which is our waitress's grandmother's recipe, and served with much pomp & ceremony, we go back to our room & sleep like logs!