After an uber ride, a shuttle van where I was once again the middle seat of the front row right next to the driver, a tram, three trains, a bus, a hike up a hill and four flights of stairs, (all of this in 93 degree weather!) I made it to my place in the Dolomites. After all that, I didn’t even notice how stunning this place was until I left the hotel to get some dinner.
The town I’m in is perched high up a mountain side but it looks a little Disneylandish because it is so cute. I’m not really sure what the name of the town is because everything around here has Italian names and German ones, since we are on the border of Italy and Austria. What I am sure about, is that the combo of craggly gray mountains and green hillsides is a 1-2 punch to the eyes.
Val Gardena
This part of Italy is a big valley that strings together a couple towns. In the winter they ski a lot and in the summer, people hike. I spent my first day here wandering around the main streets of my cute little town. I shopped for hand carved wood items, and due to size and wallet constraints, settled on an adorable little Christmas tree ornament. And, as one does in Italy, I ate pizza for dinner.
The valley has a cool bonus feature for tourists…although it might just be a strategic ploy to encourage tourists to use public transit instead of driving their own cars here. My hotel gave me a pass for all transportations (which means train and busses for me) but it also includes entrance to a swim park. I visited this yesterday and they had multiple pools, some indoors and some outdoors, a steamroom and a sauna. Normally I’d be all over the sauna, but this one is mixed gender and no clothing is allowed. I am too much of a chicken to participate in those kind of shenanigans.
Seceda Ridge Trail
My big adventure here in the Dolomites was to hike the Seceda Ridge Trail. This hike requires you to go up a gondola and a cable car before you even start. My sister asked if I then just got to walk down the hill…but no. This hike was six and half miles and had enough of a climb that I had to take breaks about every minute.
I was so lucky to get a great day here. It was a little hazy at first, but was blue skies and in the upper 70s/low 80s. I was blown away by how beautiful the mountains here are. I took about a billion pictures, so here are some of the best.
About halfway through the hike I made a pitstop at a rifugio (mountain hut/restaurant) and got a homemade apple strudel to help me finish strong. Didn’t really work, but it was delicious!
And I’m spent…
I’d like to say I went out on the town after my hike…but I was so tired I only emerged from the hotel again to get dinner! It was totally worth it, though. The Dolomites did not disappoint! The next day I packed up and took a couple busses before flying from Bolzano to London. I had been in continental Europe (plus a little Eurasia) for 97 days. I was sad to leave but excited for meeting up with my family in Ireland.
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