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Published: September 6th 2015
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We were up early this morning to get Daphne onto a train to Geneva at 7.30 which meant leaving Annone Veneto at 7.00am. We have enjoyed having Daphne as company and hope to meet with her again sometime in the future.
It was also farewell to our Italian cousins for who knows how long. As always, we have been superbly cared for over the past week and will remember the pleasure of attending the wedding, getting ourselves around the Veneto region and having to communicate in gibberish Italian, for better or worse. We got there and fully appreciate the hospitality shown to us.
Our destination in the morning was to Cortina d'Ampezzo where we were to meet Graham and Claudia for a catchup. The area had had thunderstorms so their trip to Tre Cima was put off until later which suited us all. The road towards Cortina is excellent with tunnels and viaducts, but the middle section winds around narrow roads with houses right up to the car lanes and walls that threaten to touch the car. It was easy driving and that is something to admit given that our NZ roads are often winding but not as narrow.
The peak of Sassolungo from the apartment
This peak dominates the landscape up the valley as it soars steeply to the sky from flat plateaus. As we approached Cortina the road widened and improved. Goodness knows how they ran the Winter Olympics from that location.
It was lovely to see some Kiwi faces and hear Kiwi voices from Claudia and Graham and their travelling friends. The weather had gone from warm on the plains to raining and eleven degrees in Cortina so we all headed for an indoor cafe for coffee and a catchup. They have been travelling further south in Italy, to the Dolomites then to Trento. As the morning passed the weather improved so their visit to Tre Cima was now back on so we all went our separate ways.
I'm not sure that we chose the best route as we keyed into the TomTom to get to the Val Gardena via Dobbiaco. It brought back memories of our trip to Braies a few years back. It is beautiful and maybe a better bet would have been to stay at Dobbiaco rather than Val Gardena where we are on our route to Austria next week. Our route took us via Brunico, onto the Autobahn then off and inland to the Dolomites again. We got stuck in a traffic jam before the autobahn for some untold reason. We crawled along at 8km/hr. On and on. Finally on the autobahn we raced south towards Bolzano and then finally headed for our destination. Once again we were on a narrow, winding road going steeply uphill for many kilometres before the valley opened out into the renowned Val Gardena. We were relieved to see that it was actually a beautiful location and not somewhere hemmed into a narrow valley. Finding our Apartment Montaniola was also a mission and we shouldn't have relied on the TomTom and just followed the yellow signs. We got horribly muddled by the 'taking the next exit' as the streets were steep and very narrow. The two way streets were only suitable for one way and we didn't know if they were roads or driveways. Never mind. All just a part of travellinng.
Our apartment is very comfortable and roomy. It is on the sunny side of the valley, right above the cable way and not far from the finicula so we have quick access to the mountain tops. Across the valley is another cable way to the tops so we will be taking the easy way uphill. The apartment has a large kitchen/living room and a large bedroom with living space as well as a bathroom. We have balconies looking out over the town on one side and to the mountains on the other. Everything we need is there and it's well setup to a high standard. That will keep us happy for a week.
We walked steeply downhill to the town of Ortisei/St Ulrich to the Tourist Office to get our bearings and some English maps so we can plan our week. There is an excellent transport system for the whole valley which is free to visitors so we won't be using the car during our stay. We can get a discounted Cable Way Card for 3 or 6 days so we will be well catered for while here.
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