Day 3: Italy's highest cinema - the 'Knottenkino'

October 11, 2021

Today is the day!

I will be getting on a horse again for the first time in almost 20 years and I'm super excited! While the men get to sleep, I'll be sitting with my daughter at breakfast at 8 am, meeting at the stable at 9 am and allocation of the horses. Before anyone can ride in the terrain here at Gfreinhof, they have to take a riding lesson and show what they can do (or can't do 🤭). I had already inquired beforehand whether it was possible for a re-entry rider like me to go for a ride on a good-natured horse - apparently no problem. Well then, let's go!

On the way to the stable, we briefly visit our friends in the motorhome, they are still having breakfast.

When we arrive at the stable, there are already 3 saddled horses waiting for us.

2 Haflingers and a chestnut mare - as I later find out, this is a Quarter-Haflinger mix, so a real "Alpine Quarter" 😀

There is also a 14-year-old girl (Mara) riding with us, who also arrived yesterday.

My daughter gets assigned the Haflinger mare "Una", Mara gets the Haflinger "Wasti" and I get assigned the Alpine Quarter "Fany". We walk down the steep mountain with the horses to the riding arena - with a panoramic view.

I benefit from having completed years of dressage training in the past. While the girls have fun doing all the exercises for the first time, I unconsciously have my horse "on the bit" and work on the "dressage tasks" (but it's much more fun here 😇).

Sandra also notices this when she says that she can tell I come from a "classical riding style" ... 🙈

I still have to get used to the more relaxed Western riding style. Although we ride with classic saddles, the horses are all trained in Western riding - and you notice that a bit more. So I have to get used to keeping the reins a little longer and being 'cooler' - but that's happening quite quickly.

The horses are really soooo good and well-trained - great!!!

The riding lesson was so much fun. We hand over the horses to three other riding students (also a mother-daughter duo who are guests here and a local rider).

Sandra also tells us that they had a Haflinger mare in the horse race yesterday, which came in 3rd place.

Cool, unfortunately we didn't see the last mares' races yesterday. The Haflinger mare "Una", which my daughter got to ride today, is also a former all-rounder: she has won several prizes in both trotting races (we noticed that she can do that during the "race trot" in the arena) and in the "log-pulling" event. Now she is pregnant and gets to relax during the riding lesson and on light terrain rides.

After our friends drove further towards Lake Garda in the late morning, we think about what we can still do with the rest of the day.

Just below Gfreinhof is the entrance to the hiking trail to the 'Knottenkino'. We want to go there anyway, so why not today, with the beautiful weather!? So let's go, pack a backpack with snacks and drinks, and off we go.

We walk below the Haflinger pasture towards the forest, past a huge herd of goats with bells, which we already heard loudly in the morning.

Shortly after entering the forest, we leave it again towards the road, cross the road after a few meters, and follow a steep path up into the forest.

The path then leads us along narrow trails and wide forest roads up to the mountain, past alpine pastures and cows.

The last meters lead us uphill through the forest again, where there are already the first signs pointing to the Knottenkino and nice viewpoints.

We fooled our son a little when we told him where we were hiking. However, it wasn't a lie at all - maybe a bit exaggerated!?

· Italy's highest cinema

· 360° panoramic screen

· Dolby Surround system

· Showing a 'nature film'

Well.... Sonny is eagerly heading ahead, as he still thinks we're going to watch a movie....

Oops.... 🙈🙈🤭🤭

Welcome to the KNOTTNKINO:

It leaves him speechless when we reach the so-called 'Knottenkino'. This is an 'open-air cinema' in Vöran near Hafling, where a different 'film' can be seen at any time of the day, which can be enjoyed in the outdoor cinema seats.

The view is spectacular, especially because we also have such beautiful weather. Wonderful.

The ascent and the 2.5-hour hike here were definitely worth it!

We stay for about half an hour, take photos and snack on cookies, then we start the descent and return to Gfreinhof, which we reach around 5 pm.

We were on the road for about 4 hours. It was longer than expected, especially because we didn't expect so much elevation gain, but the hike is absolutely recommendable!