Hiking the Sclern Mountain

Not much to write today as I spent the whole day hiking these beautiful Italian Alps!  In the morning, Tracy had to do some work, so I went off on my own for about 1 1/2 hours walking down from where we are into the meadows and back up again and then through the village and up to an old 12th century church from where I got some gorgeous views of the surrounding area.  I went back to the apartment for lunch of bratwurst and strudel (the strudel here is the best I've ever eaten!!) and then Tracy and I set out for a long hike.  We went about half way up the mountain, ascending from where we are at 2800 feet to mid way up at 4200 feet!  We were walking for 4 hours and by the time we got back my knees and quadriceps were having quite a conversation with me.  Actually going up the mountain was easier than coming down!  We're going out to dinner this evening.  This little village is incredibly picturesque.  Everywhere you turn there are beautiful views, flowers, animals.  I ran into a group of goats this morning as I was walking up to the old church and in the meadow right outside our window there are cows and goats grazing on the hillside.   I've posted pics of some of the vistas today.  Our walk took us to a couple of alpine lakes, through the woods, through exposed meadows with views out over the alps as far as the eye can see.  This is a really scenic and lovely place.