Allen started planning our trip to Italy while vacationing in Aspen with the Hyatts and the Mettenburgs back in February 2020. Finding that winter ski trips were becoming increasingly complicated to plan with all the competing school schedules, it was decided that a summer 2021 trip to Italy would be just the trick. But then shortly after we returned home, the Pandemic hit, delaying the trip until summer 2022. And then a labor strike in Belgium, an ill-timed rain storm at Dulles, a missed connection in Amsterdam, multiple canceled car rentals, a night in the Venice suburbs, and some confusion regarding how to put our manual transmission rental car in reverse, delayed us an extra three and half days. Eventually, though, we made it to the Dolomites.
And it was amazing.
To be fair, it was a little terrifying driving there from Venice, as Allen had to navigate winding mountain passes filled with cyclists, touring busses and locals all while driving our neon green, Opel Mokka, but once we made it to the Chalet Rönn in the Alta Badia area of South Tyrol Tuesday afternoon, we could finally relax. I read and unpacked, the kids quickly got sucked into some games with Kaden, Liam, Gigi and Hugh while Allen, Joe and Nabeel headed out for a short hike to a nearby waterfall.
On Wednesday, I nursed a migraine while the rest of the crew hiked Trail 645A (or maybe some other trail -– the Italian trail map numbering system is a bit of a riddle which we seemed to have trouble cracking) around the shoulder of the Sella Group mountains. Afterwards there were more games, some swimming and sauna time and a lovely dinner in town.
Thursday we drove over the Gardena Pass to the town of Ortisei in Val Gardena where we took the cable car to Seceda. The intention was for a long hike, but while the children quickly finished their lunch, the adults lingered (and ordered appetizers in addition to entrees) at Sofie Hütte, which ate into our hiking time. Fortunately, the kids had other distractions while we finished our meal and then set about taking in the amazing views of the Fermeda Towers.
For Friday we went more local, taking a gondola to Gardena pass, and hiking trail 2 (at least we think it was trail 2...) up into the high mountains. As we neared the summit, we discussed continuing to the other side, but after we were passed by a number of other hikers heading back due to storm clouds, we opted instead to trek the high meadows on trail 8. We climbed above our house, stopped for lunch at Ütia Forcelles, and eventually headed back into town for a fancy meal before we had to pack for our drive the next day to the second half of our trip: Tuscany.
(To see all of our Dolomite pictures, click here.)
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