The 6 week summer holiday period seems short compared to American standards. However, this also seems to have left the market for summer camps in Germany more limited and even with 6 weeks holidays the math doesn’t add up. To fill in the gaps, Chika proposed a visit to the Dolomites. But then the weather in Tyrol wasn’t looking very good. We just decided to wing it, and Chika and the boys made the plan to drive to meet me in Munich. Thankfully, the weather showed a positive change and early in the morning we booked an Airbnb, purchased the gondola passes to the top of the Seceda, and got the obligatory highway vignette to travel on the Austrian highways.

We managed to fit in a few hours of work (and I was able to do some work in the car while Chika drove), and we were off to Italy. Our Airbnb turned out to be in Brixten, just before the local roads up into the mountain.It turned out to be a great place — coveniently located not far from the old town center and very clean and modern. After dropping our gear, we decided not to head to one of the national parks (which turned out to be a wise choice) and instead went for a local hike near by. As the trail was quite steep, we shorten the trek and headed into town for some proper Italian pizza.

The next morning, we checked out and head up into the mountains. It was a beautiful day and we were charmed by the local village where the lift departed. The views from the top at Seceda were spectacular, and we stopped at a local alm for lunch (sadly was more German than Italian, but could not complain about the Kaiserschmarm. We started the hike down, but with Teo’s new shoes we decided to grab the cable car down to the village, but not before seeing some friendly cows grazing with their classic cow bells ringing.

In town, we stopped for some gelato and shopping for Chika’s friend’s birthday. We caught a bit of rain on the way back to Munich, but at that point we had accomplished our mission. While a short visit, it was definitely a great experience to be repeated.