Sterzing, Italy

Let the Italy recaps... BEGIN! This whole trip was planned because I was invited to teach a workshop near the micro-country of San Marino - we hadn't been there yet so we thought, why don't we all go and turn it into a road trip and visit a bunch of places in Italy we haven't been to yet?! FUN!

Approaching the Bavarian Alps as we headed south. 

Gas station with a view!

McDonald's with a view! But for real, we have been to our fair share of McDonald's and this is, without a doubt, the most magnificent view from a McDonald's we've seen yet! It's located on the Brenner Pass a few miles south of Innsbruck, Austria.

We ate some lunch, took in the view, then were on our merry way.

First stop on our 8-day itinerary: Sterzing! Or, Vipiteno in Italian. Sterzing is a town in the region of South Tyrol of Northern Italy. The region is Italy's dramatic rooftop with valleys and towns surrounded by the Dolomite mountains. A hard fought history has left this region bicultural, with an emphasis on German. Most locals speak German first and some wish they were still part of Austria. By losing World War I, Austria's South Tyrol became Italy's Alto Adige. Mussolini did what he could to Italianize the region, including giving each town an Italian name (e.g. Vipiteno). But, even as recently as the 1990s, secessionist groups agitated for more autonomy.  We parked our car in some free parking and went out to enjoy this unique mix of Austrian and Italian. The colored buildings tho!

Fox and Jane are such great posers, lol.

Cute.

Quaint.

 Pretty sure this is one of the cutest towns in all of Europe, definitely a must see! At the end of the street you can see the Zwölferturm, a 46 meter high tower erected in 1470. This tower is the symbol of the city and it divides the New Town from Old Town.

Ornate post office sign.

Fountain.

Fancy door. Horse ride anyone?

The part of town around the tower feels very Austrian.

Why don't we paint buildings all over the world such vibrant, yummy colors?!

Methinks it's time to start getting Fox the next size up clothes! He's getting so big!

Running amok, I'm sure she was searching for pigeons to chase, that's her thing. Vibrant yellow.

Another super fancy wrought iron sign. I just want one.

Once we reached the top of town we turned back around. All in all it took about a half hour to meander through town. A perfect little stop!

Framed by an archway.

Our family in Sterzing, Italy on Sunday May 22nd 2016.

Bye bye beautiful Sterzing! Hope we meet again!

Next stop: Bologna!