Today I celebrated my birthday. I'd kind of wished that I'd saved yesterday's amazing day for today, but I figured I would have a slightly more relaxing day today, enjoy my day, treat myself and just be happy to be doing this amazing trip!
I wrote on the previous post that I had planned on staying the night at Pragser Wildsee to see the sun rise over the lake. I was glad I didn't this morning, as it was cloudy and drizzly! I think I made the right decision!
I started off the day driving to Mühlwald. This little village in South Tyrol was up a road all on its own, but it was surrounded by huge mountains so it's little wonder! Like some other places, I had seen some photos on Instagram and randomly added places to my map, not really knowing what to expect. Mühlwald was a treat, however, because I was the only tourist there. I'd obviously found a real gem because not only was it pretty, but it was quiet as well.
I'd picked up a pastry at a bakery along the way and sat in the camper eating it before getting out and walking uphill to the church at the top of the town. What an amazing place it was, perched right at the top overlooking the lake far below. I had a wander in the church - it was quaint and pretty.
I drove back down the hill to the lake below and stopped there too. Honestly this whole South Tyrol area was so pretty!
From there, I drove back along the road I'd come in on and headed on to Brixen, also known as Bressanone. It wasn't that far away but took about an hour - those mountain roads really did add time to the journey!
By the time I'd arrived at Brixen, it was nearing midday. The parking lot I drove into was already chock-a-block with cars. After driving around for a bit, I saw that someone had just parked on the end of a bay, not in a spot but not in the way either. So I did the same. Then wandered into town.
The first thing to do as it neared lunchtime was to suss out somewhere to eat. I walked around the main touristy area then decided on a place just off the main drag so it wasn't TOO touristy. But it was a little early for lunch yet so I looked around first.
I went back to my chosen restaurant, had a good lunch with a glass of wine. Then I went to the gelateria in the main square and had some delicious gelato. After I'd seen the town (and the effects of the wine had worn off a little), I walked back to the camper to head onwards.
I stopped next at a little place called Villnöß. Like Mühlwald earlier, it also wasn't on the tourist trail. I stopped there because it had the most amazing mountains nearby and I kept walking around to get a better view - I ended up walking quite far down this country road to see more of them! The town had a pretty amazing church considering how tiny it was!
The final sight-seeing place for the day was Santa Magdalena/St Maddalena. I was following the road to see if I could get a better view of those mountains. And it didn't disappoint! The view from Santa Magdalena was incredible, even more so after I walked up the hill that overlooked the church and village...
The problem with camping in Italy is that there aren't too many campsites. It just so happened that the nearest one to me was an hour and a half away, up and over a mountain. It was quite frustrating, but I did the drive there because I wanted a hot shower! I had to drive over Passo Gardena to get there. I mean, it was beautiful, but it also meant that I would then have to drive back that way in the morning!
The campsite itself was CROWDED. There were very few places left, and they were all way too close to other people - I kept having kids looking in on me as I tried to read my book. So I drunk my little bottle of sparkling wine and got ready for bed. It was thunderstorming and cold that night in the mountains which called for an early bedtime snuggling into my sleeping bag.
Campsite: Camping Colfosco Almi
Rating: 3/10. The only campsite I've ever been to to charge me €2.50 on top of the exorbitant nightly rate because I only stayed one night. Site was cramped, everyone squashed in together with no privacy. Only gets the stars because the bathrooms were nice.