When waking up at our perfect snowy camp spot outside Pfunds we stayed in bed a little bit longer which messed up our rhythm. Susanne was cranky all day even though the weather was beautiful. Martin as always was in the best mood.

See our photos Alps to Reschen Pass and Reschen Pass to Meran

We were going up to Resschen Pass today, but were already behind from the start. the previous day Susanne had heard a click in the pedals and wanted to check it out. It appeared to be a broken link in the chain which needed to be fixed. This did not work well on Susanne’s mood although Martin had it fixed within a few minutes, great handyman! Then we also took a wrong turn. We followed the Reschen cycling route. There was a sign warning us (the route led up to cycletransfer not being operated in winter and which we didn’t want to use anyway) but only later we realized we were on the wrong track. We did see the Old Finstermunz border control post which was a bonus, but the delay took us about an hour which we needed to get up to Reschen.

 

The rest of the day luckily went quite smooth. The ascent to Reschen pass was very gradual, although we again made the mistake to take a cycling path and ended up in snow and ice again. We made it to the top and into Italy. We have really crossed the Alps! And we did it all by bicycle. We decided to camp at a campsite which was actually too much for us, but in Italy the snow was literally up to a meter high. So finding another spot was hard. Also the temperature dropped which did not work well on Susanne’s already tough mood. Sleeping at minus 7 is not the most pleasant of situations.

The next day was a cold morning but the sleeping had actually been quite perfect. The tent was not so wet as it had been previous nights and with the sleeping bags being made for this weather we had been very comfortable. We had talked about if we wanted to leave the Alps already and the decision was made to descend and see if we could get to Meran for some needed rest of mind and body. The weather was gorgeous with blue skies all around. Leaving Sankt Valentin at minus 4 and cycling down, which is actually very cold (we were wearing a lot of clothes), the sky got more and more blue. We were cycling at plus 15 during lunchtime and the mood compared to the day before had shifted 180 degrees for the better. We were on our way to Meran, the weather was great, we were descending and enjoying ourselves cycling through small Tiroler villages in Northern Italy.

For lunch we stopped at a small village called Mals. We had a look at the church and at that exact moment a parade was going to start. We do not know what the occasion was, maybe it just being Sunday, but it was a nice traditional parade. The men wore suits and some played a musical instrument. We followed them through the city and also saw them doing a ceremonial procedure afterwards. Just totally coincidental and nice to see.

 

We also visited the small village Laas which is known for its marble. It has a very steep railway going up the hill which is made from Marble. It is nice to be able to take in culture and history on our way.

Now we are in Meran, a beautiful town with nice views and rich history for some needed rest for the body, drying and cleaning time for gear and clothes and reflecting for the mind. It is quite a challenge and we will endure some tougher challenges on the road. The first three weeks have proven that it will be a hell of an experience! See our photos Alps to Reschen Pass and Reschen Pass to Meran