When the weather doesn't cooperate on a trip, simply find the nearest place on the radar where it's sunny and go there!
That's exactly what we did when we were staying in the lovely village of Seefeld in Austria and planned on visiting the highest mountain in Germany, Zugspitze, but when we woke up that morning it was so rainy and foggy that we wouldn't have been able to see more than our own two feet.
The weather radar revealed that only two hours south of us, in the Northern part of Italy, it was a beautiful sunny day. We postponed our Zugspitze trip and headed to Bolzano, Italy instead. The owner of the B&B where we stayed recommended we check out the Wine Street or "Wein Strasse" and Kalterer See only 15 minutes from Bolazno.
The drive from Seefeld to Bolzano was a treat in itself.
he breathtaking Alps were all around and as we crossed the borders into Italy, the landscape changed - we passed an old castle on top of a hill every 5 minutes and the vineyards sprawled along the mountainsides.
Bolzano
An epitome of Italy with its narrow streets, trendy shops and boutiques, gelato, and an antique cathedral, with an added bonus of a gorgeous mountain backdrop!
Strada Del Vino
After taking a stroll in Bolazno, it only took us a few minutes to get to Wine Street - the Austrians call it Wein Strasse, the Italians call it Strada del Vino. Although there are vineyards all around the area, this little village of Tarmeno has a street with about six wine bars.
Kalterer See
Before making our way back to Austria, we stopped at Kalterer See (Lake) and rented paddleboats to take in the beauty of the lake.
Our next adventure to Northern Italy will definitely include a visit to the Dolomites, about an hour from Bolazno and this surrounding area.