7 day Hike in the Dolomites - Day 1 & 2

I had searched on the Internet for guided hikes in Italy and found that there was quite a wide choice. I settled on using the organisation Sherpa as the cost was reasonable and the dates fitted in with my other plans to include a visit to Graham and Myriam during their June stay in Spain.

I had been instructed to meet the leader and group at 19h00 on Tuesday 19th June in the Panda Hotel in Cortina, Italian Dolomites.

Making my way to Cortina had been simple as the instructions were clear. A walk back from my hotel to St. Lucia station in Venice was much more straightforward than in the reverse direction as there was a stream of commuters making their way from the station into the city so it was easy to find the way. I knew that I had left it a little late to catch the train considering that there were uneven streets and five or six bridges to wheel the suitcase up and down. But I was lucky, the train was delayed and I bought the ticket to Calalzo for €8.90. Not a bad price for a a journey lasting more than two and a half hours.

The train seemed to take a good 30 minutes to leave the built up areas of Venice and then travelled across plains with prosperous looking farms intersected by rivers in a couple of places.

My excitement grew as mountains appeared and we started to climb past lakes and through tunnels.





In Calalzo the Dolomitibus was waiting to take passengers to Cortina. The bus ticket cost €3.50 for me and another €1.50 for my suitcase!

Once we arrived in Cortina it was a bit of a mission to find the Panda hotel from the instructions provided and I had to ask at the Tourist Information centre.

Cortina is a resort town with a thriving tourism industry based on skiing in winter and hiking in summer. There are also Via Ferrata's (iron stairways) that can be used to climb up the peaks. The town is largely made up of hotels.

The church bells chimed a long peal as I wheeled my case down the road.




I checked in and found that the lady that I was to share a room with had gone out for the day. I left her a note and went off to explore and to buy some supplies for a packed lunch the for the following day's hike.

My roommate's name was Jeanne and she came from Utah. The 3 couples in the group were all Australian and I was thrilled to find that Mark, the leader came from Kendal which is only a few miles from the village in England where I was born.

We had an introductory meeting and a briefing on the next day's hike.

The hotel provided an early breakfast at 7h15 so that we would have time to walk up to the bus station and catch the Dobbiaco bus for a 30 minute ride to Hotel Drei Zinnen. We met outside and walked up together.



We all climbed off the bus and then Stephen realized he had left his wallet by his seat and he and Dana decided to wait by the road for the bus returning from Dobbiaco. They managed to catch us up half way through the morning, with the wallet which had been handed over by a smiling driver.

We gathered at the route board to check the map and found that we must follow route 102.




We had a steady climb beside a river with stunning views of the surrounding mountains.




We paused in a grassy meadow where many of the flowers that I grew up with in England, also in a limestone area, were thriving.



We zig zagged up the mountain to the Rifugio Locatelli (not quite a small mountain hut!)



I took a photo of Jeanne standing in front of the three jagged peaks of the Tre Cime to the south.


The Rifugio was closed for repair work so we ate our packed lunches outside.



We passed a snow drift and a limestone pavement which reminded me of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.



Overhead a helicopter seemed to be practicing rescue operations.
We had a long climb up from the Rifugio and I was quite stunned when a vehicle came driving towards us along the track. Then once we were over the ridge we could see a car park down below and I realized that they would have to get supplies somehow to the Rifugio which was more like a hotel than a hut.

From the col Forc Lavaredo we descended below the Tre Cime to the Refugio Auroza arriving just as the rain started. A good opportunity to relax and wait for the bus back to Cortina.



After an hour or so we left to catch the bus back and made it just as a thunderstorm began. The rain started to flood the road and the bus driver descended the hairpin bends very carefully.



We arrived back at the Panda Hotel and agreed to meet for supper.

Location:Italy

Alicante

Graham, Myriam and I were all due to fly out from Alicante at around 18h00 so we decided to leave Los Lobos at nine and spend the day exploring Alicante.

We found a large underground car park near the replica ship of the Trinidad and decided to take the lift up to the castle as it would give us a great view of the city.



We paid to use the lift and had to walk down a very long tunnel to reach it. Our friend Barrie would have become claustrophobic after their first few meters.


.... But the view was worthwhile




The permanent umbrellas are laid out so neatly.



Like in Barcelona the beach front is part of the city.

Alicante to the east with a view of the bullring.







Back down at ground level we noticed that the town hall was being prepared for next week's summer solstice when the biggest festival of the year is celebrated.





The esplanade is quite splendid and stretches along the front. It is a favourite Sunday walk for residents and visitors and is made of thousands of marble tiles.




The wavy pattern creates an optical illusion of trenches.




We ate lunch on the esplanade and then crossed the road to visit the sailing ship.




It is a full size replica of the Spanish Galleon the Trinidad, which was the largest ship of its time and carried very important passengers....




They were not going up to the crow's nest.....



Instead they had a drink...



The castle is on top of the hill which you can see in the background.


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Location:Spain

Exploring a city

I walked the 3 kms to the old town centre of Bologna and was surprised to notice that nothing was open. Then I remembered that it was Sunday morning.

I had been struggling to cross roads in Spain as I have a bit of a mental block when trying to remember which way the traffic is going. Graham solved it by telling me to reverse the old Highway code which we had all had drilled into us at school in England. As soon as I could say "look left, look right and look left again" I was fine. And I crossed many roads in Bologna.

I bought a ticket on the open air city bus and did a couple of circuits to get an overview of the town.












I walked for hours and was very grateful for the shade of the porticos. Each house fronting the main streets was obliged to build its own part of the portico.




Very civilized.

Suddenly in the afternoon the town started to come alive.
There was to be a concert at 18h00 to close a 3 day festival and the Plaza Maggiore was packed.

Families were promenading up and down the shady wide porticos of the Via Dell'Indipendenza. The shops had all opened and there were many designer labels on show...














Some of the ancient buildings are being restored and some may not be entered as they await engineering inspection after the recent earthquakes.

The iconic towers. One has a bandage....














A very pleasant city, well worth a visit.

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Location:Bologna, Italy

Venezia the terrible......

Perhaps it was just that the day got off to a bad start.........

I caught a bus to the Bologna Railway Station, noticed on the large electronic boards that a train was due to leave shortly for Venice and hurried to the automatic ticket machines. After two attempts it became apparent that foreign credit or debit cards were not the flavour of the day and I had to queue at the ticket office. Of course by now the train had already left....

A second class single to Venice was €10.50 and the next train was some 50 minutes later. Luckily there were lifts down to the platforms, not so luckily there were too many people around me smoking.

I was sitting in luxury heading for Venice when an inspector came along and told me that my ticket was not valid for the train that I was on and that I would have to cough up a further €26. I pleaded both ignorance and poverty and he told me to get off at the next stop and wait for the "ordinarie". It was not far behind and not too packed. I managed to sit with my case and next to an open window, joy of joys - a breeze to reduce the thirty degrees and an opportunity to take photos as we approached Venice.

To the left...



And to the right....




The prepaid data micro sim that I had purchased yesterday came online and I was busy emailing Peter when my iPad suffered a heat stroke and switched off. Luckily as with all things Apple it cooled down, switched back on and there was my email waiting to be finished. Why can't all computers work like that.

My next problem was the left luggage at S. Lucia station. I had been spoilt last year in Paris and Barcelona by the left luggage lockers which were coin operated and allowed you to sort out what you wanted to leave and what you needed to take with you. You could leave loose stuff as well as your case. In Venice it was the old cloakroom ticket system with a charge per case and nowhere to sit and re-organise. I was carrying my hiking boots in my rucksack and Peter's fleece was now in the suitcase which I had needed to sit on to close that morning. I decided to take the case along.

I had written down the walking directions to the hotel from Google Maps and set off confidently to the Hotel Bernardi Semenzato. What a maze of small streets and passageways! Bridges to cross with steps to be negotiated with the suitcase, crowds to avoid and street names to be spotted.

I got lost and had to get the iPad out to find myself on the map with the gps system. By the time I reached the hotel it was around 2pm, more than 5 hours since I had left Bologna.

Well it was a relief to jettison the luggage and set off to explore. But even with the city map that the hotel receptionist had provided I found it tricky to find my way around. Other tourists all over the place were stopping and looking at their maps. I would start to follow signs to the Piazza San Marco or the Rialto bridge and then at one of the turns the sign would be missing and I would guess - usually incorrectly.

I walked in quite a few circles!

Of course my first photo had to be of a gondola....



And a water taxi....



I stopped and had a really bad pizza for lunch and a bottle of water that exceeded even the cost of a Sun City bottle. I asked for an iced coffee and it came in a mug. Still, at least I got to sit down for a while. There was no 3G signal in the city so I made use of the wireless network in the restaurant to catch up on some emails.

Then the view of the Grand canal from the Rialto bridge..




In both directions...


Shops selling masks.....







Or glass....



Or pottery....



En route to...


The views from the top.....


The liner leaving down one of the canals....








One of the bells...



Back down in the square..






And to cap it all I became thirsty in the evening and went in search of a beer.
My first stop was at an outdoor restaurant which charged €5 for a small glass, not even a half.

Then, marking the landmarks carefully for my return to the hotel in the dark I stumbled on the ubiquitous Irish Pub.


It just happened to be half time in Euro 12 Italy v Republic of Ireland. The Italian guys were signing and jumping around. Especially when the second goal was scored. Beer was delivered to the tables in bulk in containers that had the appearance of giant blenders. Here a pint of Pilsener was €5 - a much better proposition.

As I was watching the match it took me back in time....
Last week I was in Spain watching Spain take on the Republic of Ireland, now I was watching Italy v Ireland in Italy.

It reminded me of Soccer 2010 when Peter, Geoff and Graham had travelled to Rustenburg to watch England v USA and then a group of us had watched South Africa play Uruguay at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria. We then went on holiday to England and watched England v Germany in Robin and Wendy's house in Milton Keynes and then once back again in South Africa, Peter and Graham had gone to Johannesburg for the final between Spain and Holland.
Memories.... That was a great holiday in England.

Not too impressed with Venice although the ice creams are delicious.....
Perhaps a guided tour would have been a better option?


Oh and just to round the day off nicely, I did a bit of laundry when I arrived at the hotel, 12 hours later it is still wet....
Off to Cortina in the Dolomites tomorrow. The temperature on the weather forecasts is half of what it is here. Still warmer than England???

Location:Venice