Cortina d’Ampezzo

After we left Cinque Torri, Marion drove us to our final destination, Cortina. Before this curve in the road, she pulled over and let me take some photos looking down on the city and the valley. Here I got my first view of the city of Olympic and glitterati fame. James Bond and Pink Panther movies have been filmed here. For a small town it is a shopping mecca for designer brands. Mountain bikers ride right through the middle of town. In the winter it is a center for all winter sports. Cortina…it’s fame precedes it. Surrounded by mountains on all sides it is in a beautiful location.

For me the most significant aspect was this comfortable spot to lay my head that night.

 

Südtirol Elegance and Hospitality

Only two nights in the lovely Hotel Grones in Ortisei, Italy. That’s all that I had. What an experience in lovely surroundings in a beautiful town. They had an elegant dining room where we ate breakfast and dinner. There were three menu entrees and then there was a big buffet to supplement. The second night at dinner there was a dessert buffet, the biggest that I’ve ever seen. It was divided more or less into three sections. I cannot eat wheat so I ignored the cake section which took up half the area. I focused on the fresh fruit, so many kinds, with several different sauces to choose from, among them chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, peach sauce. Then there were the mousses: dark chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, lemon mousse, creme brulee. I wish I had a photo to give it justice. The tiramisu was to die for, but not for me with my gluten intolerance. Everything was handled with precision and Gemütlichkeit. Pictured here in the dining room are the mother and daughter of the Grones family in traditional dress.

This was my room for two nights. It was so spacious and elegant. All for me! If I had been a kid, I would have jumped up and down on the bed.

Here was the terrace for sitting and sunning.

The patio with the towering Sasso Lungo standing sentinel over the valley.

Every day orchids on the table.

Our charming maitre d who hailed from Slovakia.

One of the servers, always smiling and helpful.

The lobby and bar.

The pool and spa. Unfortunately I was too sick to appreciate this.

 

I could have spent an entire week here. If you are planning a trip to the Dolomites, I highly recommend Hotel Grones in Ortisei.

Sick Day in Ortisei

Here is the beginning of the post I tried to make in Ortisei my second day in the Dolomites:

Apparently my body wasn’t ready for six hours of hiking on Seiser Alm yesterday, because I got very sick with a bad cold. The next day I couldn’t hike at all, and stayed in bed most of the day. When the sun rose higher in the sky and things warmed up, I sat on the terrace sunning and looking up at Sasso Lungo towering above. If I had to be sick, at least this was a beautiful place to relax.

Late in the afternoon I meandered down the path into Ortisei to find a pharmacy. In this beautiful mountain town I had to play the tourist as well. I took many photos, got my medicine, and then did something that I swore I wouldn’t do on this trip. I bought souvenirs, carved wooden boxes to send back home as gifts.

Here is the beautiful Hotel Grones, a four-star establishment. It is green. When I got off the elevator, the dark hallway came alive with light, and as I walked down the hall to my room the lights went on ahead of me. I love that technology. There was a metal shade activated by a button in my room that completely covered the wall-sized picture window. At night it didn’t allow any outside light in and the privacy was complete.

On the pathway to town I passed this statue at a small playground.

Almost there.

Though I was in Italy, all the buildings looked Tyrolean.

Here is the shop where I spent a wad of money purchasing small carved wooden boxes, as they call them, Schmuckkassetten.

Another lovely little chapel in the center of town.

And its interior.

I crossed the bridge to the other side of town. The bridge is also adorned with flowers, just like all of the buildings and windows.

Pharmacies in Europe are recognized by the green cross. I was glad to find medication for my cold and a big package of Kleenex.

The center of Ortisei is picturesque and colorful.

Here is the store clerk with my purchase of wooden jewelry boxes. I am still awaiting its arrival in the States.

The onion domes on the churches are beautiful.

A wood carver’s shop along the path back to the hotel. This valley, the Val Gardena, is widely known for its beautiful woodcarvings.

When you are in the mountains, it is necessary to climb a lot of steps to get where you want to go.

Everyone in the Dolomites dresses their windows with colorful flower arrangements.

Across the road from the hotel, the farmers were hard at work pitching hay.

And back home at Hotel Grones again, a very comfortable place to rest my stuffy head.

 

I’m in Italy!

After more than seven hours on the train, there is nothing like a delicious dinner to revive you and make you feel like a person again. Here is my table at the Blue Moon sidewalk restaurant in Bolzano, Italy. When we passed through the Brenner Pass today we left the clouds behind, and this evening was breezy and languid, shirt sleeve weather. Let me describe my evening meal. Salad: arugula with cherry tomatoes and cherry mozzarella; main course: lamb chops with roasted potatoes and chanterelle mushrooms in season. Then I walked some of that off while enjoying a scoop of coffee gelato.
Bolzano is down in a valley surrounded by steeply sloping vineyards on all sides. And as I had learned previously, all signs are in two languages–German and Italian, but almost everybody speaks English, the international language. It is unfortunate for me, because I really would like to practice my German.
Here I am enjoying my main course:

I have a very slow Internet connection in my hotel, so there will only be several photographs.

High end shopping in Der Lauben, but not the reason I am here.

Beautiful Italianate frescoed buildings, but not the reason I am here.

Picturesque narrow streets, but not the reason I am here.

Fertile valley of vineyards, but not the reason I am here.

Look above the traffic and buildings and you will see the reason I am here. The Dolomites are calling to me and I will get to know them tomorrow.

The Pot of Gold

 

I found my pot of gold today at the end of the rainbow in Switzerland. A double rainbow even. What a marvelous two hour lake steamer cruise on the Vierwaldstättersee! A Rundfahrt (great word)…a roundtrip. It rained for a while and we all ducked inside or under shelter, but as we approached Vitznau, this was our reward. The water was such a beautiful blue.

Our boat, the Uri, arrived at Pier 1 in Luzern.

We passed regattas as we moved deeper into the mountains.

Expensive large homes dotted the hillsides. Switzerland is a very wealthy country.

The payoff…the incredible mountain scenery.

The engine of our steamer hard at work. Here you see Swiss craftsmanship and precision at work.

And the paddle wheel.

Our approach to Weggis (pronounced Vegas).

No words necessary for this one.

Greeting a passing steamer.

At Vitznau.

I’m happy. Chilled, but happy. I had a glass of white wine and didn’t notice I was cold.

Returning in the evening.

Back at the main train station. All excursions begin and end at the Hauptbahnhof.

 

Tomorrow is a day of rain so I’ll be doing some museum hopping.

Regen und Rest

Rain and rest. We began the day with big plans, but the weather had other ideas. In the morning we drove along the Seerhein, the Rhein River as it flows from the Bodensee into the Untersee to the west. There was light mist or rain as we pulled into Gottlieb, Switzerland. This is a beautiful historically restored area as you can see from the window and the side of the building. I didn’t realize that I had been here before. See two views of this building, one taken today, and one in 1971. You will notice many more cars on the sunny day.

 

 

Here by the Untersee Hannes and Dorothee are standing near very high water. The frequent rains have made the lakes swell in size.

 

The rains have also been extremely kind to the plants and flowers, especially the roses, which are currently in full bloom.

When the weather is bad, it is a good time to visit old churches to stay inside. Here is the interior of a chapel on the residence of Napoleon’s nephew, who came to live in Ermatingen, Switzerland, canton of Thurgau.

Next we drove over the dam lined with ancient poplars to the island of Reichenau in the Untersee.

Here was the ancient church of St. Georg, who fought the dragon. This church was closed to preserve the paintings on the walls.

We did, however, visit the old monastery on the island, and we could enter here. A very beautiful church interior.

The painted arches drew my attention because they resemble so closely the painted arches in the mosque in Cordoba, Spain.

A crypt cover for one of the previous bishops.

A small side altar.

Outside the stone pavement was wet from the persistent rain.

Nearby we stopped to buy fish, and here was a fisherman hard at work on a dreary day.

 

Then we gave up on our exploration to return home, where we spent the afternoon talking about our family tree, sharing old photos, and taking a blessed nap. I’m still fighting jetlag.

Spring Has Sprung!

This is what I feel like doing.