Prad in Süd Tirol
Thanks to that marvellous German educational institution -The Excursionen Woche- when students go on trips apparently, we spent the first week of May in the small town of Prad, which is just 50 km outside Merano (called Meran in German). To get there we had to drive through miles of road tunnels and then over the Reschenpass a journey that is quite spectacular with peaks rising in the Ortlergebiet to a height of over 3800 metres which rather overshadows my local hill, Dumyat, back in Stirling which manages to tower over Forth Valley at 418 metres.
We stayed in a fantastic little campsite called Sägemühle which still has an old mill although I have no idea whether it was operational. I did mention to Susi that it would make a great restaurant although I guess from the number of properties that are simply wasting away, the local economy might not be able to sustain a restaurant. It is always important to avoid applying a UK business model to the things you see in this part of the world although when you see the simply stunning buildings available it is hard to avoid the tempation.
It took us about ten minutes to put up the Tipi (which for the record is really a Sibley tent invented by Henry Hopkins Sibley and manufactured in huge quantities by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Sibley never made a cent from it because he made the mistake of changing sides and joining the Confedarate Army) and about another ten minutes to set up camp inside it. There's loads of room inside and of course you can have a heater if you want although heating systems are just ridiculously expensive. It is simpler to make some coffee on the stove - that soon heats the tent up.
Observant readers will have realised that it wasn't constant sunshine in Süd Tirol at the begining of May. When the sun is out it is very hot and you will get burned, but when the weather changes you can watch the cold air rolling down off the glacier and the thermometer drops below 0' degrees Centigrade. Over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings it became colder each day and by Thursday is was pretty cold until I made coffee.
The campsite was fully equipped with all the typical 'kur' stuff, sauna, steamroom, swimming pool and loads of other facilities. The washrooms, showers, toilets and laundry facilities are absolutely top notch. There's a drying room for you ski equipment as you can snowboard on the Stilferjoch glacier during the summer months! So managed to finish on snowboarding again.
Thanks to that marvellous German educational institution -The Excursionen Woche- when students go on trips apparently, we spent the first week of May in the small town of Prad, which is just 50 km outside Merano (called Meran in German). To get there we had to drive through miles of road tunnels and then over the Reschenpass a journey that is quite spectacular with peaks rising in the Ortlergebiet to a height of over 3800 metres which rather overshadows my local hill, Dumyat, back in Stirling which manages to tower over Forth Valley at 418 metres.
We stayed in a fantastic little campsite called Sägemühle which still has an old mill although I have no idea whether it was operational. I did mention to Susi that it would make a great restaurant although I guess from the number of properties that are simply wasting away, the local economy might not be able to sustain a restaurant. It is always important to avoid applying a UK business model to the things you see in this part of the world although when you see the simply stunning buildings available it is hard to avoid the tempation.
It took us about ten minutes to put up the Tipi (which for the record is really a Sibley tent invented by Henry Hopkins Sibley and manufactured in huge quantities by the Union Army during the American Civil War. Sibley never made a cent from it because he made the mistake of changing sides and joining the Confedarate Army) and about another ten minutes to set up camp inside it. There's loads of room inside and of course you can have a heater if you want although heating systems are just ridiculously expensive. It is simpler to make some coffee on the stove - that soon heats the tent up.
Observant readers will have realised that it wasn't constant sunshine in Süd Tirol at the begining of May. When the sun is out it is very hot and you will get burned, but when the weather changes you can watch the cold air rolling down off the glacier and the thermometer drops below 0' degrees Centigrade. Over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings it became colder each day and by Thursday is was pretty cold until I made coffee.
The campsite was fully equipped with all the typical 'kur' stuff, sauna, steamroom, swimming pool and loads of other facilities. The washrooms, showers, toilets and laundry facilities are absolutely top notch. There's a drying room for you ski equipment as you can snowboard on the Stilferjoch glacier during the summer months! So managed to finish on snowboarding again.
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