till Alpe di Siusi

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ― John Muir

The last two days of our stay in South Tyrol were full of sun. The mornings and evenings were chilly but the majority of the day the temperature rose up and the light was too harsh for photography. This was also something that worsened my eye condition and unfortunately getting so bad that it got inflamed as never before even while wearing sunglasses all the time. However that didn’t stop me for hiking all day long and couldn’t have stopped me from enjoying that beautiful place which I’m missing even now while I’m writing this.

We explored the surroundings of the Tre Cime Natural Park from Sesto to San Candido and our journey went till the idyllic Alpe di Siusi, the largest alpine pasture in Europe. Here it is impossible not to notice the cows and their bells. The sound is just as memorable as the horizon landscape, it is a landmark for the region and when I happen to cross a bell ringing somewhere in the future I will be brought back to the Alpe di Siusi and its lush green scenery. We spent the day hiking and making contact with some animals on our way. From horses to rabbits and yes, the cows! There was one in particular that came close to us and gave us a bunch of energetic Kisses, but that moment is only registered in a camera of a man that happened to be passing by and found the moment as funny as it was adorable. We all laughed so much! And the cow took a long time to get its fill of sharing kisses until it eventually went on to its life.

Going to visit the Dolomites means going through deep valleys, emerald crystalline water lakes and rivers, to be surrounded by tall Pine trees to have high above us the peaks of the mountains, to hear birds chanting and watch them flying, to see cows and horses roaming freely. The path is as sinuous and dangerous as it is beautiful and jaw dropping.