Sam came back to the hostel after a slightly frustrating morning of trying to find trails and we decided to take a cable car up the mountain to get a view. It seemed like a chill activity, and definitely something you ought to do in the Alps.
Well, surprise! it was gorgeous.
That night we had a nice dinner and some frozen yogurt. That's right, I didn't have gelato for an entire 10 days whilst in Barcelona and Trento. It was kind of a big deal.
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Saturday turned out to be not at all as we anticipated. We started by going to the bus station to go to this town that Sam had been told was a great place to visit and do some walking. Turns out, though, the next bus wasn't until 1.30 so we suddenly had the whole morning to do something in the Trento area. We found a path near the cable car and decided to try that.
We went for a walk along the river for a little while too and then had a picnic that consisted of baby bell cheese (among other things). The main reason to mention this is because the cheese came with a present.
A game! One of the more random things I've seen, but I was still entertained by it, even without playing it
So, 1.30 rolled around and we hopped on the bus. It was supposed to be a 20 minute ride, and we would arrive in a place with botanical gardens and lots of beautiful places to walk around. Turns out, the information was just plain wrong.
We should have been clued in when we asked the bus driver how many stops until we should get off and he looked at us like we were crazy. An hour and ten minutes later, we were at the top of the mountain, and yes, there was snow. The bus driver said that it was the last stop and we had to get off. The next bus would take us back in two and a half hours. Oh, also it was raining.
So there was a single restaurant at the top of the mountain, so we went inside for some hot tea and cappuccinos.
Then it started to hail.
I found the situation to be kind of hilarious actually, and pretty cool. We were really in the snow at the top of one of the mountains in the Italian Alps. Even though we both wished we could have done some hiking, I thought it was a valuable experience, and the views from the bus were absolutely stunning, so it was worth it even for that.
When the hail stopped, we walked around the area a little bit before getting back on the bus. It looked like the kind of place that would be stunning in...August.
But let's face it, it's also pretty gorgeous at the end of April.
We went out for dinner again that night, and I ordered something off the menu that I actually had no idea what it was. I guess I was feeling adventurous. I'll admit, I don't remember what it was called, and I certainly don't know exactly what it is that I ate, but basically it was 2 balls of dough about twice the size of a golf ball in cream and mushrooms. It may sound weird, but it was super delicious, and a fun little adventure, because I had never eaten anything that looked like that before.
And we got frozen yogurt after dinner again.
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Sunday was a little rainy, and if we wanted to leave our bags at the hostel we couldn't pick them up until after 2, which wasn't going to work for us, so we had to carry them around. This combination resulted in a lot more coffee, and a lot less walking than either of us were expecting. Then we headed to the train station for our very long journey home. We talked about how much less stressful it had become to travel, though. Both of us have much larger capacities for long periods of transit than we had before.
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So in conclusion, this weekend wasn't exactly what we were expecting, but it still turned out to be pretty relaxing and amazing. I still can't quite believe that I was really in the Alps. It really was that beautiful. We had really interesting experiences, and definitely a memorable weekend.
Trento is a nice little city, and while it would have been nice to be more remote, it worked nicely to be in a town like that. The transportation was easy, and it was actually a really beautiful place to walk around. It never failed to amaze me that we could see a snow capped mountain at the end of the street we were walking down.
When we got back to Siena, we were relieved, definitely, because of the long period of travel, but it was also a little bit emotional for me. It was the last time that I would be arriving in Siena for a very long time. The next time I leave, it will be next week at the end of my program. I'm so excited for my next adventure, but it's still scary how fast time has gone by. It's been such and amazing experience, and something that I will take a lot away from.
I'll get sappy on you again next week though, and again when I get home in June, so I'll stop for now. Just enjoy the pretty mountain pictures!
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