We met Bernd and Anna on a trip to Costa Rica, and liked them immediately. We “hung out” around the pool, took hikes together in the national park, and at the end of our week was the normal invitation, if you are ever in Northern Italy give us a call. We did. They answered. It was wonderful.

South Tyrol can seem a gnarly, impenetrable place to reach, entirely within the Alps snug with the Austrian border to the north and Switzerland to the west, and its landscape is defined by spiky peaks and dense forests.

Silandro is an idyllic enclave of medieval castles, steepled churches, apple orchards and vineyards in Southern Tyrol, an independent region of Italy. An Austrian territory for eons, it has been an Italian province since the First World. Today, our friends say, they speak German from birth and Italian from age 3, then English starting at age 6. Road signs offer you at least two, sometimes three variations of languages.

We so enjoyed this corner of Italy, we enjoyed the beauty of the place, the hospitality of friends, the German food, which was a welcome break from the Italian fare we have eaten for weeks on end, and mostly, Anna and Bernd’s 9 day old daughter Marta — the surprise of the day.

Bernd and Anna own/host a hotel in Schlanders/Silandro and we know how energies are split between guests, staff, phone calls and unexpected events, so David and I spent the day riding the trains up the valley, renting bikes and riding the fully paved bicycle path down the valley back home again. The path went through a couple lake areas with picnic tables and snack bars, serving good German Beer! Who would not enjoy this bike ride.

What an unexpected gem of a few days we enjoyed in a part of Italy that, in my mind, is on the repeat list. Bennie told us that the bike trail that passes through his town extends from Amsterdam to Rome. We saw miles of it as we drove northern Italy, now all I need is an electric bike and a couple of free months.