Dearest Little Mountain Town

We woke once more to vibrant rays of sunshine lighting the gothic town below our AirBnb. From our balcony, the clock tower glistened as the bells tolled informing tourists and locals of the time.

Patrick and I opted for a long afternoon hike to the famed Castle Roncolo (Schloss Runkelstein) which was about an hours distance from where we were staying. Mom and Ian headed into town to explore and do a bit of window shopping.

Off Patrick and I hiked — up, and up and up until we (ok, mainly me because I was battling a respiratory infection) could hardly breathe. That said, the view of town was already breathtaking and you could make out the massive river running through Tyrol which wasn’t previously visible from our AirBnb. Several locals lined the trail with their dogs and children in tow; seemed like a very popular Sunday activity as the hike gives you options for a low key walk about the trail or a steeper more challenging hike to the Castle.

We continued onward passing rows and rows of grape vines waiting for maturation, with mountains we skied the day before looming in the distance.

Castle Roncolo (Schloss Runkelstein – in German), which is also known as “Painted Castle” because of all of the fresco cycles on the castle walls, rises on a porphyry rock high above the roofs of Bolzano. It is a majestic looking Mediaeval castle whose walls depict illustrations of authentic knight sagas, literature scenes, court ladies and life on the farm as well as hunting scenes. In 1237, the original complex was built by the Lords of Wangen, and in 1385 it was purchased by wealthy merchants – Franz and Niklaus Vintler – who used it as a summer home.

Many interesting facts and historical details were included in the brief but informative tour of the Castle, but the part we enjoyed most were the views of Bolzano from the open tower. We climbed our way up the wooden staircase where 360 degree views of Town, the mountains and vineyards opened themselves to us. We snapped some photos and headed back to the path in order to make the most of the daylight we had left.

We met up with mom and Ian back in town and stopped first for beers at our favorite corner pub, Batzenhäusel (Batzen). We continued on to dinner and then made our way to Hopfen e Co for more local brews. This venerable 800-year-old inn with its cosy bar and checked-tablecloth dining area is the perfect stage for sampling the cloudy, unfiltered Bozner beer that’s brewed onsite. According to their menu, Hopfen e Co is home to the oldest brews in Bolzano and while we can’t confirm or deny that fact, we all agreed that it was the most delicious beer (in the biggest steins) that we’d had all trip!

We made ourselves at home at Hopfen, exchanged pleasantries with the locals, and did our fair share of people watching. It was the perfect night cap to end our time in the picturesque town of Bolzano, which stole our hearts this Christmas. We would love to return to this dear little mountain town someday for another moonrise.