We traveled less than 30 miles but it took us over an hour on narrow windy roads with motorcycles and wild lotus and Porsche drivers swerving around us. Our destination was just past Cortina, the town the Italians stole from the Austrians and is also famous for hosting the olympics in the 1950s. Now it is a top tourist destinattion, ski resort and shopping mecca. we at stopped at Passo Falzarego to hike up around the Cinque torri (5 towers). If was one of the best views so far plus the history of the area. We walked along the open air museum with embattlements from WWI and ate at the rifugio where the Italian officers stayed, just out of reach of the Austrian artillery. Enjoy some pictures from the day.
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We hiked the Lagazuoi tunnels (gallery) open air museum and retraced the route of the Italians and Austrians fighting for Cortina and the Dolomites during WWI. The Italians won when they decided to go against the triple alliance they had with Austria/Germany and instead joined the Allied forces. Our hike started with with a huge gondola ride (could fit 20 people and had a druver onboard) that took us straight up the mountain to a high rifugio, where we had strudel and a cappuccino. The views were simply amazing, getting us above the clouds to where the peaks poked through the mist as if we were in an airplane. After, we had a bit of an airy walk, technically an easy via Ferrara where holding the cable was very welcome. Then it was into the tunnels, where headlamps and helmets were pretty much a necessity. Then it was down, down, down in the dark, over slippery wet wooden steps and boulders. Again, the iron cable was very handy. It took us quite awhile and our knees took quite a pinding on the 2,300 feet of descent. We saw barracks and shooting hikes along the way as well as cisterns and provision caches. After we finished with the tunnel, we again faced some very edgy parts of trail and rickety ladders on the rock before ending up back at the lift. We then had lunch and then visited the museum built into an old Austrian fort. Read more here. http://www.altabadia.org/en/summer-holidays/trekking-hiking/mount-lagazuoi-rock-tunnel.html Drizzly day but we stil hiked seven miles with two rifugios (refuges or chalets, similar to Granite Park). Cappuccino at One and nettle soup and bread at the other. Very pricey. $9 soup and $4 bread, neither very good. We learned About Ladin culture and Otzi the icemaneven though it was raining, we had an excellent time visiting the Ladin museum, which explained all about the Ladun peoples who inhabited the alps. The museum reminded me of my grandmother and great grandmother "Noni." I suspect her dialect may have been part Ladin, and that may be why her Italian isn't understood by other Italians. It seemed every fifth word or so is the same. The Otzi ice man museum was fascinating more for the science of how they learned about and continue to discover details of his life, from his wolf skin cap to his copper axe. lots Of travel, cute motel, lunch at rifugio and hikeA drive to Calgary, followed by a flight to Munich, followed by a drive through the alps to the Val di Fassa in the Dolomite alps capped our long two and a half days of travel. Tom had the horror and pleasure of driving through the winding back country roads, dodging trucks, hordes ofPorsches and motorcycles. He did an excellent job and said he was happy to know he could negotiate the autobahn and autostrada (Italian version). And he was happy to have a Hyundai similar to his Rav 4. Our motel is quite quaint, but well appointed. We had about an hour to look around the small town before our five course meal, all included in the $60 euro price. Breakfast buffet is also included, but don't expect bacon and eggs. It is continental breakfast of yoghurt, cereals, crescents, sweet rolls, meets, wieners and cheeses. Today we got up, had a leisurely breakfast, tried on our via Ferrara gear and then set out for a hike at 8:30. 13 headed out to one area for the harder hike and via Ferrara while some stayed for a shorter hike. Tom and I plus two others ended up hiking, saving the via Ferrara for another day. The day was chilly with intermittent clouds after a stormy night that left grapel on the trail, which made some of the scrambling sections a bit slippery. We rode a ski lift partway up the mountain and then up and over a pass, which required climbing a ladder and using a cable. But overall, it was an easy hike of about 5 miles, broken up with a lunch stop at Rifugio Road de Vael. We had polenta with pomadora sauce and pomme frittes (French fries). We returned by way of a high alpine circle that landed us back at the lift. In the trail, we saw several flowers, some familiar, some not: crocus, monks hood, hare bells, a thistle, dandelions, rock cress, a pretty purple flower maybe in the gentian family, douglasia, buttercups, and phlox. We thought maybe spring flowers bloomed twice here as we thought doughlasi, phlox and crocus were only spring blooms. Here is a preview of the places we will visit--our hotels along with the hikes to various mountain groups and "rifugios,' or refuges. Enjoy!
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