Northern Italy

On this page I hope to take you somewhere completely different for a few minutes. Every two months I shall endeavour to transport you to a new location. So lace up as we explore . . .

THE DOLOMITES

In this day and age of easy travel and companies offering every holiday you can possibly imagine, we finally decided on hiking part of the Italian Dolomites for our 2004 summer break. We flew to Venice and took a leisurely drive to our first apartment at Passo de Costalunga. As we drifted through the mountain passes we realised the hours spent engrossed in guide books, wide-eyed at the stunning beauty of the mountains, still did not prepare us for the panoramas that unfolded before us. There literally was, a photo around every corner. The weather could not have been better but as we were to find out, this was to be short lived. The beginning of the week saw the clouds draw in and down came the rain. And when it stopped, it snowed!

Rifugios

We soon learnt to start early in the day and despite the limited vision, had some great days out. Low level walks took us through pretty alpine pastures and cool pine forests. Paths of various gradients guided us to a world of jagged peaks and wide plateaus. Along the way we found numerous 'rifugios' offering a warm and friendly welcome. Not to mention refreshing beverages, delicious food and a retreat for aching limbs. We recommend them very highly!

Stamps

But the great thing about the Dolomites is you don't need to be a mountain junkie to grab some 'Blue Sky'. Cable cars whisk you hundreds of metres to views that will stay with you for a lifetime. If you ever experience a tasty meal, great wine, good company and some of the best mountains in the world whilst sitting in the sunshine outside a rifugio, I'll think you'll agree, it doesn't get much better! And don't forget to get your stamp. These have the name of the rifugio on them and we stamped the back of our maps to remind us of our achievements. In the mountains, look out for 'bird boxes' (we thought they were at first) which contain a stamp of your location. And when you finally make it to that elusive peak, remember to sign the 'visitors' book which can usually be found in a protective cover.

Equipment

Because of the fluctuations in the weather and temperature our rucksacks got heavier and heavier to cover all eventualities. Via ferrata gear is not light and on some days we only needed it for half an hour, so it pays to plan the day carefully and possibly take in 2 or 3 routes to warrant carrying it all day. As we became more experienced, we only took our hats to avoid rock-fall on the easier routes. We made a mental note to buy walking poles in the future as they are a great help in saving knees on the descents and we regretted not taking a warm fleece on our first 3000m ascent. We were fooled by the warm sun in the valley. It was freezing up there! Crazy English!

Via Ferratas or 'iron ways / routes' are a series of metal cables, ladders and bridges which enable walkers to 'climb' in the Dolomites. Using a belay with karabiners connected to a harness, you simply clip on to the cable for extra safety. The cables were first installed during the First World War to enable soldiers to cross the mountains quickly. Tunnels were also bored which now form sections of various hikes but show the terrible hardship the men endured. (That was a very brief description of Via Ferratas).

Our experiences and observations

It wasn't until we returned from the Dolomites and saw the photos that we realised what a fantastic time we had. Both of us were amazed at the ground we covered, but at the time we were just too busy and tired to remember all of it! Lynn had her reservations at first, as she is not as experienced or as fit as myself, but everything we did was within her abilities. And with some effort, we now have some wonderful memories and pictures to cherish.

The elation of conquering a peak together is, I find, very hard to beat. What we loved about the Dolomites is that it's possible to witness great views without scaling thousands of metres and you can hike there. We were often above the clouds which offered great vistas and the next minute shrouded in grey mist. On a couple of occasions we underestimated the length of the walk and missed the cable car back down. But this only served to make the days more fun, memorable but knackering!

Wine

One benefit from all this walking is the amount of food you can consume and still lose weight! I lost four pounds without even trying with my daily intake of pizza and pasta, peanuts, chocolate, omelettes, biscuits and litres of wine and beer was still not enough. And now, yes you've guessed it, pass another lettuce leaf please!

Language

The people were friendly and helpful but don't expect a lot of English to be spoken. Brush up on your German and Italian and take a phrase book as a lot of local restaurants didn't have an English menu. But then that is half the fun and we had some great meals which were surprisingly good value compared to back home. On this trip we discovered a lot about ourselves. Physically (we're not as unfit as we thought) and mentally (I CAN do that) and we would encourage anybody to explore the Dolomites, whether from a coach seat or by the seat of your pants! We shall definitely return.

Photos can be found in the Gallery under Italy.