On the way back from our mountain experience, we drove the other way around the mountain as Per wanted us all to take a trip in a gondola to the top of an even higher mountain - where Per's been doing some skiing. The special thing is that this big gondola has no support poles going up - only the beginning and the end - and.... it's not a short ride.... Tina was not a 'happy camper' - sitting on the floor in the middle of the gondola holding on to me - but she made it!
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Tuesday morning we packed a few things and drove for a couple of hours to come to 'our' mountain. Per had booked a night for us on top of the mountain, and Per and I walked part of the way up - while Tina and Lucas was driven up to our hotel. This was a trip that Per had planned for a long time - always wanting to try and walk the mountains. I'm not very good at walking up, but was willing to give it a go. And so we did :) Going up: Our valley: The Lavarella mountain lodge in San Vigilio di Marebbe lies at the heart of the Fanes Sennes Braies natural park, one of the most astonishing natural paradises of the Dolomites. After an amazing day with the walk up - and the drive for Tina and Lucas - with Tina being scared of heights... we had a lovely dinner - including amazing desserts and went to bed early. And bed was in a small room with 2 beds and no toilet or bath - (this was on the floor below, shared with everybody else). But somehow it was OK. The atmosphere was amazing - everybody had walked from somewhere and we all had lots in common, so everybody was enjoying themselves no matter where you came from and what language you spoke. Next morning we woke up to the most amazing weather - clear blue sky and everything was sooo beautiful! We arrived in Cortina around lunch time (Sunday) and was lucky that our apartment was ready for us. We had expected something old, dark and very small (based on where we stayed before in Cortina....), but was very surprised to find a beautiful, good sized apartment - so sometimes the internet can actually be trusted ;) We stayed in Cortina for 4 nights (one of those nights we actually stayed on the mountain) and we still like Cortina very much. Good food, good shops and surrounded by mountains.
Sunday and Monday We relaxed; walked around town, went to the spa, the playground and ate pizza :) Very nice to be back in Cortina. Enjoying the restaurants and the fact that we've been here before, so we know our way around. Per is enjoying the snow - even though there's simply not enough of it.... but he's been very lucky - again - with the weather, so absolutely nothing to complain about. And we're back in Cortina - a place we've been before and we really like it here - despite the fur coat overload.... Never seen so many women in fur coats - even some of the men (and to me there's nothing worse than a man in a fur coat - well, maybe one thing is worse - socks in sandals....... Sorry guys, hope I don't offend anybody :) Here's a couple of photos from our drive towards Cortina. It's always so amazing when you first lay eyes on those amazing Dolomites! These mountains are just so different from any others - so majestic and rugged. What an amazing weather. Don't think we could have wished for anything more. Clear blue sky and it's not too cold.... cold enough for me - but according to Per 'very mild'.... The town itself is nice - lots of very nice shops and lots of restaurants. But the restaurants are not REAL Italian - it's a mix of Italian and Austrian food - and we do like authentic Italian best, but I think we'll survive :) So the only thing is that there are so many people up on the mountain and long lines at the lifts... longer than Obertaurn and Chatel... But beautiful, very beautiful - and that kind of makes up for everything :) We are now in Cortina in Italy after a couple of perfect days in Austria. Per really enjoyed having somebody to ski with and the weather was just perfect!! Cortina is different - much more dramatic and majestic mountains but also the Italians are just different people - even though these two places are so close... We had an easy drive - unfortunately it was foggy part of the way, but again - the fog lifted around noon and so we got to experience the amazing mountains surrounding Cortina. And... it was Valentines day yesterday, and my dear husband had arranged for a romantic dinner in Cortina :) And then we were woken up this morning by my mobile phone - friends from NZ wanting to know whether we were OK - very sweet. There's been a shooting in Copenhagen - a terrorist attack, so it's probably going to be a different experience to go to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks.... unfortunately. |
G&PThis is our blog - we use this to keep track of what we've done and where we've been.... as we can't always remember :) Archives
October 2019
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