THE DOLOMITES

September 9, 2012

It was time to move on to our home exchange in Austria.  We said goodby to the darling Valentina and packed up our bikes and cases and drove north out of Venice on our way to Cortina D'Ampezzo.  Don wanted to go through this area because he had heard so many cyclists rave about the area.  Before I move completely away from Valentina though, I want to strongly recommend her B&B if you are going to Venice.  The rooms are spotless, comfortable and spacious.  The hostess is charming and helpful.  The price is right.  The breakfasts are generous.  Hobo B&B Via Giovanni XXIII 31, 30034 Borbiago di Mira, Venezia.  info@bbhobo.it www.bbhobo.it cell 347 4266525

We followed the peage through Belluno and at Pieve di Cadore we turned west and started up into the mountains.  All along the road from Pieve to Cortina was a very nice bike path.  As we moved uphill into the Dolomite Mountains I began to gasp, and ooooh and aaaaah.

I must say the Dolomites were a huge and wonderful surprise for me.  These are awesome mountains--ancient, rugged and craggy.  Every turn on the road gave us another stunning view of grassy green meadows leading up to the treeline and on to the dramatic mountains dotted with little medieval villages and blue sky in the background.  I couldn't get enough of the scenery.

 We drove though Cortina, which was full of tourists, and on to our B&B for the night, Camere da Beppe.  We wound around through the mountains, following Trexie's directions, and finally took the turn that should lead us to Danta di Cadore.  Up and up we went, switchback after switchback, up some more and after 16! switchbacks we finally arrived in the little town of Danta di Cadore.

Now, where is our B&B.  Weeeeeeellll, Don did not write down the address because he was sure he would spot it, and, of course, we drove through the town on the main road and we didn't spot it, not that I knew what I was looking for.  I have to make sure to write down the address in the future.  I don't need this at the end of a long day.  We drove up and down the main street as the local boys, sitting on a front porch, watched us go by time and time again. (Don's defense: the navigator missed a turn and we came in the long way around.)dvm

Finally Don stopped at the bar and we were directed down the street, turn left, go down some more, and there it was.  Don did recognize it once we got on the right street.  So we parked and went up to the open front door.  Rang the bell, knocked, called out Halloooo. No answer.  We could walk right in and set up housekeeping, but being so polite, we sat on the front porch and waited.  And waited, and waited.  The view was stunning, so the wait was pretty easy.

Finally our host came sauntering down the street.  I think he was one of the guys sitting on the front porch watching us and laughing as we drove up and down the road.  He showed us our room and the breakfast room.  We asked about where to get dinner and he gave us instructions to the pizza restaurant, recommending the pizza di funghi, and told us it closed at 7pm, so we had better hustle.

On to dinner of salad and pizza and then back to our room. No internet, so we read some of the informational brochures and off to bed.

In the morning we were awakened by a gorgeous sunrise over the mountains.  We packed and dawdled until 8am when we could get breakfast.  Mama was there to give us our coffee and rolls.  A disappointing breakfast.  The rolls were not fresh--just packaged, and there was nothing else.  Finally mama brought out some yogurt too, but no fruit, jam, bread.

After breakfast we took our bags out to the car and went to find the archeological museum in the town.  The brochure made it look quite interesting and we were intrigued to see what they had there because the brochure promised crocodile and bear skulls, fossils and petroglyphs.  After asking directions and driving around the three streets in the town, we did find it, but it was not open.  Oh well.

Away we drove, on through the beautiful Dolomites, ooohing and ahhhing all the way into Austria.  As we drove we noticed more and more signs in both Italian and German and when we got to San Candido we turned east and drove into Austria and on to Lienz.  There is a very nice bike path along this road as well.  Lots of ski areas and resort towns along the way.

At Lienz we had a choice to go up through the Grossglockner or around through Marrei and up to Mittersil.  We decided to skip the Grossglockner for this leg because it was many many switchbacks and Don is still not at full strength.

So, north we went up to Mittersil, and then we turned east again and drove the nice road through the valley to Bruck where our next home exchange is located.  When we popped out of the mountains and into the river valley we could see the hillsides dotted with cute little Heidi houses, flower boxes bursting with colorful ivy geraniums and petunias.