I left all the farm life behind. For now. It felt good to have no commitment, to be free to do whatever I want to do.

My next destination was Kastelruth, a beautiful small village not too far away from Bolzano. The town was surrounded by mountains, and it was right next to Val di Gardena, the famous Seiser Alm and Seceda.

So I came here to hike.

My host today was a German chef who moved to the mountain almost a year ago. His one-bedroom apartment was up the hill, just 20 minutes walk from town, but uphill. So that was pretty tough for me when I first got there with me backpacks. But the view was so worth it, I bet no hotels in town would be able to offer me the same.

Philipp’s apartment was modern and clean, with a big window in the living room overlooking the hills, and the balcony from his bedroom (which he let me take over during my stay, how nice is that!) was the perfect place to see the first ray of sunshine kissing Kastelruth and the range of mountains behind it.

There wasn’t much energy left in me on the first day I arrived, nevertheless the weather was too good to stay inside, so after I made myself some caprese salad, I took a walk around. Right from my doorsteps towards Seis was a wonderful walk, the sun was setting and the sky behind Schlern, one of the most well known peaks here, turned pink.


Again, it was one of those moments when I could feel how wonderful the nature was, and I wanted to cry. I felt incredibly lucky and blessed be experiencing this.

I couldn’t stop smiling.


Despite Philipp’s shift the next afternoon, we went hiking together in the morning.It was so nice to just follow him and not having to look at the map on my phone every five minutes so that I wouldn’t get lost. During the hike, we talked a lot of food (obviously, he was a chef and I was a food-obsessed) He also showed me some of his work (aka dishes) which looked very creative, just like a piece of art.


He took me halfway up the Schlern, and we walked over to Seiser Alm, the biggest plateau in Europe, with multiple stops (with food) along the way. I had apple strudel for breakfast, and then buckwheat cake, a typical cake from this area, for lunch (they eat a lot of buckwheat here, even kaiserschmarrn made with buckwheat flour!) Philipp’s fresh buttermilk with elderflower syrup was also divine.


But the panoramic view won over the food. It was just breathtakingly beautiful. It was so fresh, and I felt so free. After lunch we just had a nap on the grass not too far from the river, facing the sun.

Then I had a fantastic sleep, woke up to the sun, and went hiking on Seceda the next morning.


30 euros for the cabin car wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth it. I took the first ride up there which was a great idea, because the place was empty and I had all the freedom I wanted to run around. I felt like a little child in this room full of small colourful balls, only that I wasn’t in a room, and the green grass and bright blue sky was my world.


I hiked around a little, walking slowly with no hurry and taking a break every once in a while, writing and eating my cheese and bread. It was great to spend time with myself and do whatever I wanted, running around, taking a nap on the grass under the shade of a tree (and almost being walked over by a herd of cows, that was a bit scary)

It rained later in the evening, but I completed my loop and took the cabin down. Then I crashed again.

It was a great break, just hiking and talking about food. I learned so much from Philipp, food- and nature-wise. I was again the receiver of the kindness in this world.

There’s so much more to learn, but you’ll never learn it all. The most important thing to learn is probably learning that there are still a lot of nice people in this world, and it’s worth living just to give back, to teach others that what you’ve learned.