Our Lovely Adventure: Incredible Italy 2024: Dolomites 1

Leaving Vigo has been sad for us, and our travel to Italy was not completely smooth. A delay in the Vigo airport left us with no time to get food or water in Madrid, so we arrived in a very hot Venice feeling very hungry and thirsty. Then after getting 20 minutes down the road, I had the sudden sinking realization that my purse with the kids and my passports, credit cards and cash was not with me. We pulled over and tore the car apart on the side of the road, but it wasn't there. So we drove back to the Venice airport car rental, just hoping that it would be there. As I jumped out of the car and ran past the barrier, I was elated to see my water bottle and purse sitting where I had left them. Italy is most certainly not Vigo where it is more likely than not that someone will run after you to return your purse, so I felt incredibly lucky and learned a lesson to double check everything especially when I am flustered.

Finally we were on our way without interruptions, headed to the Dolomites, a mix of Italian and American pop music blaring on the radio. In Northern Italy, the Dolomites are a mountain range which were formed from limestone that was uplifted when the African and European plates collided. As the limestone has eroded, it has formed dramatic, jagged peaks and the high limestone content makes the waters of the streams and lakes a beautiful, luminescent shade of blue.

See you soon, Vigo!

First peeks of the Dolomites' peaks.

When we first arrived in Vigo, our friends from Santa Cruz contacted us about meeting up in Italy during the summer to spend time together here. We didn't really know what we were getting into, but they have travelled here many times and we love their family, so we said yes. In the fall, they booked the accommodations, which had enough beds for us all, and looked to be situated in an alpine meadow. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that we realized that there were not directions to the place on Google Maps, and we would need to meet our friends in the closest town, Tonadico, and then be guided by them. They sent us urgent messages to hurry since the road there was one-way and difficult to navigate at night. We wouldn't arrive to Tonadico until around 9:20pm so we would have to drive in the dark. The roads were definitely an adventure and we wondered a few times if they had gotten lost or if we would tumble off the edge of the road, but we finally arrived to a large, beautiful alpine house.

Walking up in the morning we were greeted by scenes from "The Sound of Music," surrounded by an alpine meadow ringed with mountains and buzzing with insects drinking nectar from the flowers. It could not have been more beautiful.

After breakfast, we headed to a "alpine meadow with glacier-fed water features." Riding the ski left up the mountain, we were dropped in a magical land of little water features including tiny ponds, creeks, troughs, bubble baths for foot massage, seesaws in the water, a raft, and tiny tadpoles everywhere. We relaxed and played here for a few hours, enjoying the spectacular views and little Italian children and four large American ones playing to their hearts delight.

Riding up on the gondola

Refreshing mushroom shower

Water teeter-totter

Having a blast on the raft

Catching tadpoles

Playing in the bird water jets...they surprise you with a jet of water.

Enjoying the gentle foot bubble massage and the gorgeous views.

We drove a few kilometers down the road to the Violin's Forest in Paneveggio. This is a place where Italian red spruce grow and are some of the most sought-after trees to make sound boards for string instruments. They have wood that is dense, which makes them resonate clearly. And when they are harvested makes a difference as well, a waning moon in early winter when there is little sap. Stradivarius is said to have used wood from this forest to construct his instruments. The museum was small but informative and we enjoyed exploring the gorgeous forest. Because people have been living in the Dolomites for thousands of years uninterrupted, it is a very beautiful, but highly managed landscape. There is very little that humans don't manage here.

Spruce harvested for instrument sound boards.

An invasive bark beetle has been attacking the trees in the forest. One of their management methods is cutting swaths of trees which have been attacked.

We were all famished, so we went to a little restaurant in a very cute town to get some pizza. The girls decided to get the Donald Trump pizza that featured hot dogs and French fries, which the owner said reminded him of Trump's hair. We stopped in another gorgeous town on the way back for gelato, and enjoyed the views as we drove back with the girls belting out songs from Hamilton as the sun set. My friend and I were talking about how even the old, decrepit buildings are beautiful, that everything here ages beautifully. It is really remarkable. I am grateful for this great day!