Five Stars and two thumbs up for the Italian Dolomites! After a short, very hot and uncomfortable afternoon in Verona we were all eager to find some place higher and cooler. Todd was really nice to research where we’d be comfortable. So the next morning we hopped into our rental car and drove up to the Dolomites. According to Julia, the Dolomites are ancient reefs. They look it. The are steep and craggly. We found a little place called Castelrotto where we had a wonderful lunch. The menu was small so I think we tried one of everything and it was all SO good. The culture there is very Tirolean and everyone spoke German. Lucky for us! Every town and street had both a German name and an Italian name. It made signs and advertisements so long.

We went roaming around in our rental car trying to find a fun bed and breakfast to stay in. The suggestions in our guide books were all full. We ended up going off in what seemed the middle of nowhere and stopped at a beautiful place called Hotel Plunger. No lie. It was better than perfect. We had three large beautiful rooms, they were new and smelled like the wood paneling. We each had a balcony facing the fantastic view of the valley and a very impressive mountain peak and they were all adjoining! The place had a great breakfast and an inexpensive and tasty 3-course dinner. It also had a new wellness center that had two saunas, a hot tub, a steam bath and quiet sun room. It was really something else! It was run by a young couple with a 3 month old. They were so nice and very helpful. We loved it and would go back in a heartbeat!

After checking into our awesome place we went on a chair lift up to a plateau and hiked down. It was really nice out. It was a blast to be with the girls again. We have so much fun together. Elisa and her cousins get along together like sisters. At one point Linda asked Morgan if she felt like a middle child because of me. I was shocked and pleased that they would think of me as that connected to their family. They are great!

We arrived back in time for dinner and more Durak out on the patio as the sun went down. What an incredible stay. Now I only wish we had stayed there longer so we could have taken more advantage of the great facility.

The next morning, before getting on the road again we took a cable car up to the Alpe di Siusi. It is a huge alpine meadow with tons of trails and hikes all over. We got a great view of more of the huge peaks and cliffs of the Dolomites all around the meadow.