Following The Exodus Back to Germany

---

Our trip to the Dolomites went very wrong, very quickly. We planned to go there on a Saturday and it seemed that most of northern Italy had the same idea. Given the traffic, it seemed that everyone goes to the Dolomites for the weekend. The only other possible reason could be that, since the motorway carries on into Austria and Germany, all the Germans finish their holidays on a Saturday.

Anyway, whatever the cause, it took us four hours to get there, meaning that we didn’t have as much time as we had planned.

We were sure that we were still in Italy, but we did have our doubts as the first language here was German and not Italian. English had been pushed well aside, but we did manage to muddle through – just.

What scenery we did see, given how little time we had left, was stunning – like the Canadian Rockies, but with much smaller camper-vans.

We first aimed for a town called Bolzano, but this was the worst example of the typical Italian industrial surroundings and there was a road closed with a half-thought through diversion meaning that we were not actually able to find the nice part of the town. We gave up and headed for Cavalese.

Between Bolzano and Cavalese we came across a small lake that looked very picturesque so we walked around that, which was pleasant. I’ve got absolutely no idea where it was, however.

Calvanese was another town with a cable-car, but by the time we got there it was closing, which just about summed-up our day. The day wasn’t a total loss though. There was there was a slope with a track set-up across it that the kids could go down in some big rubber rings. It wasn’t what we had planned, but they really enjoyed it.

---

Photos

The Dolomites
The scenery on the way to Cavalese.

Small Picturesque Lake
No idea where though.

Cavalese Town
There is a definite German feel to the architecture.

Cavalese Scenery
There was lots of scenery to enjoy.

Foot-bridge
The bridge at Cavalese.

Alpine Track
Great fun to go down in some rubber rings.