Kim: Castelrotto was beautiful. We stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast with our own private patio overlooking the beautiful green valley below. We ate at a little diner called Bar Toni's where we ran into a young couple we had met in the Cinque Terre. Small world. We had spinaci dumplings, turkey and potatoes and salmon. Yum! It was great to have some meat and potatoes after so much bread and pasta. Our first full day in Castelrotto we took a ski lift up to the Alpe de Suisi, Europe's largest high-alpine meadow. Talk about absolutely breathtaking!! I felt like I was Heidi frolicking in the hills of Austria. Green rolling hills everywhere. Wild flowers, cows, streams, little mountain huts, farms, snow capped mountains, waterfalls. It was awesome! On our hike to Panorama Point, we were surrounded by cows and horses. We heard the cows and their bells coming down the mountain and before we knew it, they had us surrounded. I wish we could have gotten a picture of that :) After a few minutes we were able to maneuver between them and continue on our hike. Later horses came up to us digging in our pockets for food.

Darren: Oh yes, the "cattle incident." These cows were more than friendly, they were out to get us I swear! No lie, they wouldn't let us pass. They seriously "surrounded" us and then kept blocking any escape. I felt like we'd walked into a bad neighborhood and felt like we were about to get roughed up. :)
The town there was very interesting. It's history is a bit complicated but what resulted was a town where they speak both German and Italian and really recognize both languages everywhere you look. Every sign, brochure, menu and bus stop schedule had information printed in both German and Itialian. Seeing as how we were headed north to Austria next on our journey we started to learn and practice some German. Funny stuff just laughing at each other at how we sounded. Just ask Kim how to say "I want to buy two postcards, please" in German. It's hilarious. She learned it by memory and it sounded like she'd memorized it to the tune of "red rover, red rover, send whoever right over." Oh the laughs!
The hiking was great. Huge open meadows, sunny and breathtaking. The second day hike we did we followed alongside a creek and saw multiple waterfalls along the way.

Kim: The next day we went hiking again in the Alpe de Suisi. This time we went in the direction of Schlern mountain. We had a picnic in the meadow listening to a nearby stream. Our hike down took us by some beautiful waterfalls and some cool water fountains. It was a pretty long hike. By the time we got done our muscles were pretty tired and sore. It was way fun though. That night we ate at a restaurant where we tasted some bread that tasted like black licorice. Interesting but good.
We dedicated our last day in Castelrotto to a day of relaxation. We went swimming in the B&B pool, sat in the solarium, and took a nap. Perfect!