South Tyrol hiking holidays

What? Mountains?

I've always been a sea kind of girl and my dream is to live at least within driving distance to a beach. So this year came as a first: family holiday in the mountains. The decision was fairly spontaneous, but suddenly everyone around us seemed to have been to South Tyrol before, and everyone was crazy about it.

Safe to say, I have never had a vacation pass this fast. There was a lot of hiking, swimming, eating the amazing local food (the desserts!), and, once, a visit to the nearby town of Merano. People mostly speak a German dialect (sounds like Austrian), but almost all of them are bilingual and speak Italian at least to some extent.

I didn't do much in terms of FB - only one written workout at the gym. The hotel offered a 30-40min bodyweight bootcamp class that left me a sweaty mess on the mat, muscles heavy, but interestingly enough not sore. I went to that class almost daily in addition to some stretching and pilates. The bodyweight workout was at 7am on most days. It made me feel amazing for the rest of the day, and I usually hate exercise early in the morning - something I need to remember when I start work this autumn!

I now have an extended version of the post-holiday blues and am itching to go back asap. Back in the city, I feel trapped. Something to work for :)

Also, can anyone recommend a mountainous area by the sea where I could move to (except maybe Tasmania)? ;D

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day, everyone!

PS: If anyone considers travelling to South Tyrol: do it!