We were woken at 6am this morning by thunder - it didn't bode well for the day ahead.  But, undaunted by a bit of rain we set off after breakfast in the direction of Meran/o, where we'd read there were medieval arcaded streets to explore. Perfect for a rainy day, we thought.

 

 

 

Of course, everyone else had the same idea.  Not really feeling amenable to a s-l-o-w mooch along a crowded street with crying children and yapping dogs, we focused our minds beyond the souvenir shops

 

 

The bread here is excellent!

 

 

The speck is vacuum packed and we felt sure we could find room for it in the hotel minibar with the Mozartkugeln, if we took out a couple of things.

 

 

Then, since we can't focus solely on food, I left the men outside and browsed the trachten store where there was beautiful fabric to be found (for dirndls etc) - these two were in the window and cute as they are, I really admired the cushion they're sitting on.  Not really in keeping with our style at home, though, so not too hard to resist.

 

 

We'd had enough of Meran/o by then, but as we made our way back to the car, we spotted something to dance about - blue sky!

 

 

We decided to drive up to the village of Tirol high above all of those people and whilst we didn't quite have the place to ourselves, a short walk was rewarded with a quiet place to sit and enjoy a beer in the warm sunshine.  This is a great place!

 

 

 

Being the driver, Mark couldn't enjoy the Kapuzinerweisse that Edward and I did, but he was equally impressed by a glass of a more local brew - apple juice.  We'd driven for miles through huge apple orchards this morning and sitting there enjoying the view, we spotted them for miles in every direction.

 

 

 

The apples here seem to be grown like vines, with fruit low down on the tree and with fewer leaves.  We set off to walk downhill along the Falkenerweg through these fields of apples and some vines.

 

 

 

Beautiful.