Jamikins and Bikerscott in Le Marche and the Dolomites
Oct 2nd, 2013, 09:06 AM
#22
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Just got back from the Seceda - Col Raiser hike and it was unbelievable!! My glutes are not happy haha!!! Uploaded today's pic to my link above...
This is my kinda hiking...hut to hut - great food and beer and wine and nicer bathrooms than most pubs in London!
Time for a well earned glass of wine and some schnitzel!
This is my kinda hiking...hut to hut - great food and beer and wine and nicer bathrooms than most pubs in London!
Time for a well earned glass of wine and some schnitzel!
Oct 2nd, 2013, 11:33 AM
#23
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Bikerscott finally updated his photos - take a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/radio-f...7636126927553/
Both of us are enjoying a quiet glass of wine, waiting patiently for our legs to start working again - a LOT of hills up in these Dolomites....
Both of us are enjoying a quiet glass of wine, waiting patiently for our legs to start working again - a LOT of hills up in these Dolomites....
Oct 3rd, 2013, 01:26 PM
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Ortisei, South Tyrol
The drive to Ortisei was a bit longer than we’d expected. We packed up Franco (our giant blue Citroen Berlingo plumber van we’d been upgraded to at Bologna – great because unlike most of the cars we hire, this one is equipped with an engine, however it is the favoured transport of plumbers and builders throughout Europe) and said our goodbyes to Jason and Ashley and the hills and valleys of Le Marche. The drive north was relatively uneventful other than a massive car fire near Bologna (a camper-van had cut off a volkswagon as far as we could see, hit it and drove it into the centre barrier where it burst into flames. No fatalities from what we could see, but not fun for anyone involved).
The roads got steeper as we went further north until I was going around corners in 2nd gear and I started to worry about hill starts (not being a manual-transmission-car-owner before we left Canada, and not owning a car in London, the only chance I get to drive is a few weeks a year on holiday, so I’m not great at the hill starts). We found the turnoff into Ortisei town and accidently turned into an alley to find Avita Suites – Marcel was waiting for us and opened the garage door as we pulled in, no fuss no muss.
Marcel showed us our room – a beautiful, very modern flat in the centre of Ortisei. He was very proud of the new building, having torn down the extremely old and decrepit family home to create a new block of flats that he shares with his aunt and uncle – the flat we’re in is amazing, with a separate bedroom and all the mod-cons you’d expect in a luxury flat (other than a shockingly dull knife in the kitchen – my personal pet peeve of self-catering flats).
We got settled in and had a walk around town before dinner at Tubladel just up the road. Fortunately we brought our umbrellas with us – the rain on the drive up had been pretty severe at times, and while it wasn’t actively raining when we walked up the road to the restaurant it certainly was pouring when we walked home. Dinner was excellent by the way – we stuffed ourselves on deep friend porcini mushrooms amd deer ragout pasta to start, followed by a fairly good fillet steak for Jamie and brilliant spare ribs for me. Given the rain, we were glad it was only 300 metres from the flat.
The following morning dawned dark and dreary. The clouds hadn’t shifted overnight, and we were completely socked in. We spent the day exploring Ortisei and buying proper hiking shoes (evidently the boat shoes, flip-flops and sandals we’d brought with us weren’t appropriate for the high alpine - €300 later we were fully outfitted for all the outdoors we could handle). Lunch, drinks, dinner, and home-cooked pasta later we fell asleep happy as we could be.
By the following morning, the clouds had broken and the sun was shining over the valley. Jamie was nearly beside herself with joy, but I knew what this meant – we were going to have to break in new hiking boots by hiking far away from home. We walked the short distance to the Alpe de Siusi gondola for our first real day of Tyrolean alpine hiking.
We spent the day in the high alpine, loving the views and taking more photos than was reasonable. We hiked for about 6 hours, stopping every now and again to catch our breath or have coffee and/or lunch. The views were amazing – lush rolling hills surrounded by bizarre spires of rock and cliffs – the Dolomites are like nowhere I’ve ever been before. We started to get a bit stiff at about the same time the clouds started to drift across the high mountain passes, and given that other than really awesome boots we were completely unprepared for any sort of inclement weather, we decided to head back down the gondola into Ortisei (stopping, of course, for a beer on the way).
To say that we were tired would be an understatement of the most drastic proportions. We walk a lot, given that we live in London and don’t have a car, however almost all of that is on flat pavement between pubs, not up and down bloody hills and valleys covered in cow poop. Booking the flat included free passes to the municipal pool complex, which we took advantage of. It was very relaxing, although the hot pool wasn’t that hot. Things looked up when we discovered the steam room, where we spent probably more time than was healthy. Dinner included schnitzel and wine, and was very tasty – we didn’t stay awake much past the final glass of wine.
The next morning was even more glorious than the previous – not a cloud in sight, and while it wasn’t really all that warm outside, it wasn’t that cold either. We packed up and took the Seceda gondola up to the really high peaks. The walking was a lot more vertical than the previous day (fortunately mostly downhill), however the valley was quite a bit narrower and we didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. It took us a few hours to get to the lift which took us back down to San Cristina, where we found the bus back to Ortisei.
Again, pool to relax (although the steam room was out of service for maintenance – very disappointing) and dinner afterwards – bizarrely at a very nice restaurant AT the municipal pool complex, overlooking the pool itself. We passed out not long after – all this fresh air and exercise can’t be good for us.
Today was a bit cloudier, however the most spectacular views we’ve had the entire trip. We loaded up Franco the Berlingo and drove up the valley past Selva to the Passo Sella – a ridiculous gondola consisting of telephone booths attached to a line of dental floss strung up into the mountains (at least that’s what it looked like). The gondolas were exactly big enough for two adults, as long as you were friendly. They required careful positioning to get into as they didn’t slow down at the bottom, and two loaders to shove everyone in as the car whipped around the corner before heading back up the hill. Adrenaline rush for two, please (we’re city-folk, it doesn’t take much).
The view was incredible, out over the mountains of the south Tyrol and the hills we’d hiked the previous days. The clouds were a bit frustrating for photography, but we got some good shots before having our traditional cappuccino and jumping back (literally jumping, by the way) into the gondola for the ride back down to the valley.
We had a quick lunch in Selva, then dropped off Franco and headed up the Funicolare Resciesa for our last mountaintop adventure in the Tyrol. Sadly the clouds had continued to gather on the drive down from Selva and the view from the top wasn’t great. We started the 30 minute circular was but the lack of anything to see combined with the sheer exhaustion of our legs resulted in us giving up fairly quickly and stumbling back to the funicular for a trip back town to Ortisei.
We stopped in at a little wine bar in town for a few glasses of local wine, hit the Conad for dinner supplies, and have spent the evening snacking on local sausages and cheeses, drinking local wines, and listening to music. One more day in the Tyrol before we drive to Milan for our flight back to London. Plans currently include a bus trip down to Balzano to look at the Ice Man, however this is subject to change with little notice.
The drive to Ortisei was a bit longer than we’d expected. We packed up Franco (our giant blue Citroen Berlingo plumber van we’d been upgraded to at Bologna – great because unlike most of the cars we hire, this one is equipped with an engine, however it is the favoured transport of plumbers and builders throughout Europe) and said our goodbyes to Jason and Ashley and the hills and valleys of Le Marche. The drive north was relatively uneventful other than a massive car fire near Bologna (a camper-van had cut off a volkswagon as far as we could see, hit it and drove it into the centre barrier where it burst into flames. No fatalities from what we could see, but not fun for anyone involved).
The roads got steeper as we went further north until I was going around corners in 2nd gear and I started to worry about hill starts (not being a manual-transmission-car-owner before we left Canada, and not owning a car in London, the only chance I get to drive is a few weeks a year on holiday, so I’m not great at the hill starts). We found the turnoff into Ortisei town and accidently turned into an alley to find Avita Suites – Marcel was waiting for us and opened the garage door as we pulled in, no fuss no muss.
Marcel showed us our room – a beautiful, very modern flat in the centre of Ortisei. He was very proud of the new building, having torn down the extremely old and decrepit family home to create a new block of flats that he shares with his aunt and uncle – the flat we’re in is amazing, with a separate bedroom and all the mod-cons you’d expect in a luxury flat (other than a shockingly dull knife in the kitchen – my personal pet peeve of self-catering flats).
We got settled in and had a walk around town before dinner at Tubladel just up the road. Fortunately we brought our umbrellas with us – the rain on the drive up had been pretty severe at times, and while it wasn’t actively raining when we walked up the road to the restaurant it certainly was pouring when we walked home. Dinner was excellent by the way – we stuffed ourselves on deep friend porcini mushrooms amd deer ragout pasta to start, followed by a fairly good fillet steak for Jamie and brilliant spare ribs for me. Given the rain, we were glad it was only 300 metres from the flat.
The following morning dawned dark and dreary. The clouds hadn’t shifted overnight, and we were completely socked in. We spent the day exploring Ortisei and buying proper hiking shoes (evidently the boat shoes, flip-flops and sandals we’d brought with us weren’t appropriate for the high alpine - €300 later we were fully outfitted for all the outdoors we could handle). Lunch, drinks, dinner, and home-cooked pasta later we fell asleep happy as we could be.
By the following morning, the clouds had broken and the sun was shining over the valley. Jamie was nearly beside herself with joy, but I knew what this meant – we were going to have to break in new hiking boots by hiking far away from home. We walked the short distance to the Alpe de Siusi gondola for our first real day of Tyrolean alpine hiking.
We spent the day in the high alpine, loving the views and taking more photos than was reasonable. We hiked for about 6 hours, stopping every now and again to catch our breath or have coffee and/or lunch. The views were amazing – lush rolling hills surrounded by bizarre spires of rock and cliffs – the Dolomites are like nowhere I’ve ever been before. We started to get a bit stiff at about the same time the clouds started to drift across the high mountain passes, and given that other than really awesome boots we were completely unprepared for any sort of inclement weather, we decided to head back down the gondola into Ortisei (stopping, of course, for a beer on the way).
To say that we were tired would be an understatement of the most drastic proportions. We walk a lot, given that we live in London and don’t have a car, however almost all of that is on flat pavement between pubs, not up and down bloody hills and valleys covered in cow poop. Booking the flat included free passes to the municipal pool complex, which we took advantage of. It was very relaxing, although the hot pool wasn’t that hot. Things looked up when we discovered the steam room, where we spent probably more time than was healthy. Dinner included schnitzel and wine, and was very tasty – we didn’t stay awake much past the final glass of wine.
The next morning was even more glorious than the previous – not a cloud in sight, and while it wasn’t really all that warm outside, it wasn’t that cold either. We packed up and took the Seceda gondola up to the really high peaks. The walking was a lot more vertical than the previous day (fortunately mostly downhill), however the valley was quite a bit narrower and we didn’t enjoy it nearly as much. It took us a few hours to get to the lift which took us back down to San Cristina, where we found the bus back to Ortisei.
Again, pool to relax (although the steam room was out of service for maintenance – very disappointing) and dinner afterwards – bizarrely at a very nice restaurant AT the municipal pool complex, overlooking the pool itself. We passed out not long after – all this fresh air and exercise can’t be good for us.
Today was a bit cloudier, however the most spectacular views we’ve had the entire trip. We loaded up Franco the Berlingo and drove up the valley past Selva to the Passo Sella – a ridiculous gondola consisting of telephone booths attached to a line of dental floss strung up into the mountains (at least that’s what it looked like). The gondolas were exactly big enough for two adults, as long as you were friendly. They required careful positioning to get into as they didn’t slow down at the bottom, and two loaders to shove everyone in as the car whipped around the corner before heading back up the hill. Adrenaline rush for two, please (we’re city-folk, it doesn’t take much).
The view was incredible, out over the mountains of the south Tyrol and the hills we’d hiked the previous days. The clouds were a bit frustrating for photography, but we got some good shots before having our traditional cappuccino and jumping back (literally jumping, by the way) into the gondola for the ride back down to the valley.
We had a quick lunch in Selva, then dropped off Franco and headed up the Funicolare Resciesa for our last mountaintop adventure in the Tyrol. Sadly the clouds had continued to gather on the drive down from Selva and the view from the top wasn’t great. We started the 30 minute circular was but the lack of anything to see combined with the sheer exhaustion of our legs resulted in us giving up fairly quickly and stumbling back to the funicular for a trip back town to Ortisei.
We stopped in at a little wine bar in town for a few glasses of local wine, hit the Conad for dinner supplies, and have spent the evening snacking on local sausages and cheeses, drinking local wines, and listening to music. One more day in the Tyrol before we drive to Milan for our flight back to London. Plans currently include a bus trip down to Balzano to look at the Ice Man, however this is subject to change with little notice.
Oct 3rd, 2013, 01:27 PM
#27
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Also - new photos from both Jamikins and I:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/radio-f...7636126927553/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gir...7636058614266/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/radio-f...7636126927553/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gir...7636058614266/
Oct 3rd, 2013, 01:36 PM
#28
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I had read ms-go's trip report before we arrived but thought she was joking about running and jumping into phone booth like gondolas....but it's true!!!! Hahaha awesome experience but scary!!!!
Thanks for the compliments about our photos, it is just so beautiful up here!!!
Thanks for the compliments about our photos, it is just so beautiful up here!!!
Oct 3rd, 2013, 03:37 PM
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I'm glad you found the Passo Sella/Forcella lift! I was going to suggest that. Definitely not what we were expecting!
Your photos are wonderful--thanks for sharing! I would love to be back there right now...
Your photos are wonderful--thanks for sharing! I would love to be back there right now...
Oct 4th, 2013, 11:52 AM
#31
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OMG the Sella pass was amazing!!!!!!
So excited that you like our photos - they are some of our favourites.
We are not athletic by any means, so it has been an eye opening trip - we do enjoy the outdoors, and this will encourage us to do more of these types of vacations for sure!!!!
We spent the day in Bolzano today - not the most scenic town ever, but the Otzi museum (the Ice Man) was amazing - worth the bus fare for sure!!!!
Tomorrow we are off to Milan for our final night before flying home to London on Sunday. This has been a fabulous and relaxing vacation!
So excited that you like our photos - they are some of our favourites.
We are not athletic by any means, so it has been an eye opening trip - we do enjoy the outdoors, and this will encourage us to do more of these types of vacations for sure!!!!
We spent the day in Bolzano today - not the most scenic town ever, but the Otzi museum (the Ice Man) was amazing - worth the bus fare for sure!!!!
Tomorrow we are off to Milan for our final night before flying home to London on Sunday. This has been a fabulous and relaxing vacation!
Oct 4th, 2013, 11:32 PM
#34
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I have to say it again.......love love love your photos!
Oh I'm also really enjoying the TR, you guys without probably even knowing it, have helped me plan many trips. This is being saved to my bucket list
Oh I'm also really enjoying the TR, you guys without probably even knowing it, have helped me plan many trips. This is being saved to my bucket list
Oct 6th, 2013, 07:53 AM
#35
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Thanks guys!!! We just arrived home from our last night in Milan. What a great trip!
My final pics have been added to the links above and Bikerscott will be back soon with the rest of the report, the highs and lows and some last thoughts!
Glad you came along for the ride!
My final pics have been added to the links above and Bikerscott will be back soon with the rest of the report, the highs and lows and some last thoughts!
Glad you came along for the ride!
Oct 6th, 2013, 09:44 AM
#36
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Glad you got to see Otzi! I was really interested in seeing him, even though it was a bit bizarre looking at him lying in the freezer. I was fascinated by all that they could tell about him and his environment by looking at all of his gear, etc.
In fact I enjoyed the whole museum. I loved the little diaramas that showed the changes in living quarters, etc. through the ages.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures!
In fact I enjoyed the whole museum. I loved the little diaramas that showed the changes in living quarters, etc. through the ages.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures!
Oct 6th, 2013, 09:51 AM
#37
just found this, and so glad I did.
the trouble is that when i read one of your trip reports, I just want to go there.
Le Marche is definitely on our list, along with Sicily, Puglia, Piedemonte, the Maremma, - there just isn't enough time to see it all.
the trouble is that when i read one of your trip reports, I just want to go there.
Le Marche is definitely on our list, along with Sicily, Puglia, Piedemonte, the Maremma, - there just isn't enough time to see it all.
Oct 6th, 2013, 10:37 AM
#38
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Otzi was really cool - although I couldnt help but think surely they could have figured out a way to have a bigger window to look through hahaha! The museum is very well done and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!
annhig - I have the same problem! I have a spreadsheet of trips planned into 2016!!!! And with every trip report I read I just add more to the wishlist!
annhig - I have the same problem! I have a spreadsheet of trips planned into 2016!!!! And with every trip report I read I just add more to the wishlist!
