Back in the Saddle Again

I didn't sleep very well last night...the Albergo we stayed at was very nice and the linens were starched crisp and white, but I couldn't seem to get comfortable.  The Germans have this thick rectangular quilt that they snuggle in at night, which I think would be terrific in the winter...but I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted to sleep on top of it, or cover up with it.

We made a phone call to our Warm Showers Host right after breakfast to get directions and see if we could leave our bags at his house.  The answers were yes and yes.  Fortunately, he and his wife only lived a few kilometers away from where we were staying and we were there by 8:30.  With all of the bags off the bike, and a map in hand that Moritz gave us, we headed north towards Stertzing.  The bike path (Radweg) is well marked and we enjoyed it despite some gravel sections and one section that was undergoing some repair.  There aren't many services between Brixen and Stertzing and we saw about twice as many mountain bikes as road bikes. There are some steep sections...we saw signs that said 12%, 15%, and 17%.  And you can probably tell from the pictures that is was a gorgeous day...sunny with a chance of freckles.

We stopped in Stertzing for some lunch.  The menu was varied and we thought pasta would do nicely. Spaghetti with aglio and olio...sounded yummy, but what exactly WAS aglio?  Our server went into a hilarious pantomime...first she huffed, breathing out hard like a dog panting.  Then she held her nose.   Ohhhh...cheese?  Limburger cheese?  No.  Strong, she said.  Like spicy, we asked?  No.  Vamparra.  Finally, and I mean to tell you we were so dense we didn't get it for a full three or four minutes, we figured out aglio was garlic.  Vamparra=vampires.  Sold...we'll have two plates.  

We kept riding until we hit 30 miles, about 3000' of gain, and started a long descent.  Because we were on the bike path, we didn't see a sign that said Brenner Pass, and Moritz had told us that the town of Brenner was very busy with traffic.  We would have liked bragging rights and to have been able to stand with one foot in Austria and the other foot in Italy, but we were both very satisfied with the day's ride and headed back towards Brixen.  I will put riding a Col, or Pass on my list of things that I need to come back to do.

We stopped in Sterzing again and I ordered some gelato.  Patty asked the German woman for an iced coffee.  Here's a pic of her iced coffee...nothing at all like the ones she has ordered in the States, but pretty yummy.

We got back to our room around 5, showered and watched the US/Germany soccer match.  Did I see where they get to advance to the next round?  Das ist wünderbar!

There seems to be more German spoken here than Italian.  We ate dinner at a restaurant that had a German menu (and a biergarten) and our waiter told us his favorite item was the Grillteller...so, that's what we had.  Turkey, beef steak, and veal, the latter being the third new meat for me on this trip.  tomorrow we head south to Mezzolombardo and I could tell you that the forecast is calling for a 60% chance of rain, but you would just laugh at me, wouldn't you?