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Back in Italy after too long a hiatus.
Leaving Innsbrucken with considerably less stress than there was on the train from Munich to get here, we arrived in Bressanone with 1 minute to catch the bus to Ortesei. Miss that and it was a 1 hour wait in the rain for the next one. But Italy must have been happy to see us, because we made the bus and on top of that, the ticket machine wasn’t working so it was free ride.
On arrival in Ortesei, the plan was to ring the hotel and they would come and pick us up. 5 attempts at calling the hotel number to hear that the number was not available, so another bus was required.
If it wasn’t enough to be told by a waitress in Innsbrucken that we “Looked like a typical Tirolian couple” ( was it the suntan or my German, I’m not sure 🤔) while we were waiting for the second bus in Ortesei, a guy looking for directions came up and asked if “we were from around here”. I said no, and added that we were from Australia and he said, “Oh, a man from down under….no worries mate😂”
When the bus did arrive I asked the driver if he was going past Hotel Dijon (with a French emphasis) He said Oui, and asked if we were French while also telling me it is Hotel Digon, not Dijon. Again I said (this time in Italian), no we’re Australian. He jumped out of his seat and helped with the two suitcase and asked us where in Australia and when we said Melbourne, he said he was there last November and it was cold and it was supposed to be summer. I pointed to the rain and asked if this was summer here too. So it seems we were off to a good start. 😀
Anyway, once again the ticket machine wasn’t working so another free bus ride.
On arrival at the hotel, we found out that they had some work done there last week and one of the workers must have cut the phone line, hence no prior contact.
Waking to a much better day than was forecast, it was off to the gondola to spend a good part of the day in “the biggest alpine meadow in Europe.“ I’ll leave it to the fb photos to show how beautifully majestic it is.
Situated a 10 min bus ride out of Ortesei, the hotel was a typical Tirolian style chalet overlooking the valley and mountains. Every morning waking to the view was enough to get us out there and amongst the mountains, which is just what we did for the next 4 days.
I’m thinking our next holiday will be at the beach, where it’s flat 😂😂
Words can’t fully describe the impact that these mountains have on anyone who come here. Whether it was walking across the wide expanse of vibrant green alpine meadows, or gasping for breath as we clambered up rocky trails to get even higher, as if 2000m wasn’t high enough, the overwhelming and continuous sensation was the silence. Silence that almost seemed to be shattered by the sound of a bee, or a cuckoo call off in the trees, or the occasional tinkling of a cow bell.
Add to that the shear enormity of the Dolomiti that stretched out in every direction, and it made for another fantastic chapter in our travels.
So now, it’s time to head south for some
warmer weather and flatter ground, and a few days in Desenzano del Garda.
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