Cortina d’Ampezzo

Right ho, I am officially caught up on sleep after a good 9 hours in the sack. Still thinking about our amazing trip yesterday, still fighting for words to describe the Disneyesque-like beauty of the Dolomiti area. It is a long drive to get there, almost five hours from Verona, about half on the autostrada. We lost about 40 minutes midway at a service centre putting some oil into the Fiat, after noting a warning light on the dash. Have you ever read a car service manual in Italian? I have. Anyway, it was our best diagnostic guess and after multiple inspections of the oil stick, we dumped in about a gallon (not really) and voila, warning lights disappeared and we were on our way again, only a little bummed out by the loss of time. The last two hours of the drive, as you approach Cortina d'Ampezzao, are thrilling. Jagged peaks, alpine lakes, peaceful cows grazing alongside the road, and too many hostels to count. This is a premium hiking area. At the base of the peaks lies a shallow, emerald-colored lake, and we pulled over to walk the periphery and try and get a few more shots of the mountains. Sadly, they were all wearing their cloud hats.

The Town of Cortina itself belongs in a fairy tale. Not only are the buildings all draped with floral gowns, the surrounding fields as you approach the town were covered in mauve fall crocuses (croci?). High end shops confirmed the fact that this is a town for the well-heeled, avantgarde crowd, all avid outdoor enthusiasts dressed in top named brands and looking tanned and ageless in their Ray Bans.

We had a good wander around and decided that we would complete the loop tour back to Verona, rather than spending the night and trying to hike the next morning. Rain was expected, so not much point. And after only one eff-up trying to get out of Cortina, we managed to find the A70 and settle in for another 3-1/2 drive. The first half was entirely through the mountains, with impressive bridges, very long tunnels, and glorious views around every corner. Eventually we rounded the final corner and joined the thousands of vehicles barrelling toward Verona. A 20 minute slow down came when we drove through a cloudburst, and I do mean "burst." Complete with flashbulbs of lightning, traffic blessedly came to a crawl and most people put on their hazard lights in order to politely request civilized habits from their roadmates. Fortunately the rain lasted only about 15 minutes. Any more than that and I fear that Italy would have been washed from the planet, such a deluge it was. We were grateful and more than a little tired to park the car just before the sun set. And today, the Panda will be returned to the car rental centre. Our parting gift to them are the two empty 10/40 engine oil containers which needed to be purchased at the service centre high in the alps. The price? Almost 25 euro each, or $74 Cdn. Not exactly a Canadian Tire deal, eh?