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.
We left Zermatt early Sunday morning on a train to Verona, Italy. We weren’t able to get tickets on the same trains as everyone else so we met up with them in Verona. Verona was hot and muggy! I do not think any of us enjoyed it much. We saw the Roman arena which is now used for Verona’s upscale operas. We grabbed something to eat in the shade of a cafe on the main plaza. We got to see a guy lay his scooter under a taxi because he couldn’t drive. Then he tried to blame the taxi. Fun times. I was really glad that Chad went and asked him if he was okay. The taxi had stopped for us to cross the street so I didn’t know who the guy would take his anger (and embarrassment) out on first.
We walked through the winding streets and found where “Juliette’s” home and balcony are. It was hardly romantic. The place was all grungy and covered with graffiti. Our hopes weren’t soaring to begin with since the place is just a fictional location. The farmer’s market would have been fun, but it was so hot that we were just melting away and irritable. The best part about Verona was the Italian gelato. You cannot go wrong with Italian ice cream!
I am trying to work on my procrastination skills by writing a blog rather than cleaning, gardening, unpacking, doing homework, etc. Practice makes perfect.
We had a great extended weekend with my mom’s brother Todd, his wife Linda, and my cousins, Morgan and Julia. We met up with them in Zermatt, Switzerland on Saturday. Chad and I have planned to go see the Matterhorn (when I was little I always thought the Matterhorn was just a Disneyland ride) since our arrival in Switzerland and have been waiting for a Saturday with perfect weather to go. We knew when we planned to meet them there that we could very well not see the great peak after all since the weather has been so inconsistent. Wow! What a spectacular sight! We really could not have planned or hoped for a better day to visit!
We arrived around noon and checked into a great little place called Le Petit Hotel. Then we had lunch with the family. After lunch we road a cable car and gondola up to an area called Glacier Paradise. Poor Linda was not too fond of the rocky heights we were traveling over. We were super high, the air was thin and it was cold. We all had to breathe deep on the top. I get altitude sickness at 9500 feet and we were above 12500! On our way down we opted to hike the last third of the trip back down to Zermatt. It was steep but nice and shady most of the time. The only bad thing were the millions of ants climbing all over our sandaled feet. There were alpine photo ops all the way down.
We walked around town and got some great crepes and chocolate before the shops closed. We also ran into some enormous Saint Bernards at a tourist shop. I love BIG dogs. Before dinner we sat out on our hotel’s roof with a spectacular view of the Matterhorn. Chad taught the family (and retaught me) the card game Durak which became our mainstay for the rest of the trip. We had some typical Swiss food and then parted ways. It was a really wonderful day!
