Buongiorno, tutti,
We are now on a train, traveling south to Rome. We had to leave the beauty of the Dolomites this morning, for we have an early flight tomorrow from Rome, which will bring us back to California.
I am so glad we had those last four days in the Dolomites; the hiking, the lifts, the animals, the friendly people, plus the sheer beauty of the area was so enjoyable for all of us. Danny and Heather took another trail yesterday, and I took the Trail of the Witches that they had hiked the day before. This trail is considered an easy trail, but I do believe the classification of “easy” is all in the mind of the hiker. To me, it was a moderate trail, with rocky paths, some steep uphill walking, but manageable. Also, we found that the term, “hiking”, is not a word used very much. The kids found that people from Scandinavia do not have a word for that. Those people simply “walk” on the trails. While I thought eight miles was a pretty hefty walk, the Norwegians said they do that on a daily basis. I think I must be a wimp. I have learned, also, that if a trail marker says the next point will be 20 minutes, for me, it will be 40. I stop frequently just to admire where I am.
The trail followed the outer perimeter of one of the mountains. From the trail, quite often I could see over the rim to the valleys below.
At the overlook at that northern end of the meadow, there was a memorial cross. I counted four crosses up on that mountain.
Of course, since the trail leads through grassland, there were cows. This cow, named Dagmar, was not going to budge off the trail.
She and I had a conversation, but since she only understood German, I lost the debate. Finally, I did make my way around her. I knew her name, for I could read her name tag on her ear.
The path had some pretty little scenes along the way, such as this wooden bridge over a small stream.
At last, I could see our town, Castelrotto, sitting far, far below me. At that point of the trail, if I took a few steps to my right, I could have fallen halfway to Castelrotto. I was careful.
After lunch, I competed my walk back to Compatsch, then I took the cable car back down to the station, and the bus back to Castelrotto.
The kids beat me home; we compared notes, and I discovered that they had walked the trail that I had walked the first day, through the fields of flowers, the Nature Path.
All in all, we had a delightful four days, with plenty of exercise, fresh air, good food and wine, plus the added pleasure of meeting people from different countries; all of us had come to Alpe di Suisi to enjoy the beauty of the region.
Soon we will be back home, living our ordinary lives, with the memories of this fantastic vacation to keep us happy.
I hope you have enjoyed our trip to Italy with us. I will not blog again until we are home; probably rested, also. Please tell me your thoughts and views on these blog posts. I want all of you to enjoy the places that I visit.
Ciao for now,
Dolly
By Dolly Goolsby – Full Story at Dolly Travels
Dolomites Gay Travel Resources
The post Last Day of Hiking in the Dolomites – Dolly Travels appeared first on Purple Roofs.