Only in Ortisei
03
Day 4
Today was our first travel day on our trip. We loaded up the bus and met our driver, Jost, from the Netherlands. It was also our longest drive of the trip, so we got to know our bus very well!
Our next destination was Ortisei, also known to the locals as Urtijëi, in the South Tyrol region of Italy. This part of the country used to be part of Austria, which made it a really unique place to visit. Even though we were technically in Italy, it felt as if we were still in Austria. The buildings looked Austrian and most of the writing around town was in German, but we were in Italy!
It was late afternoon by the time we arrived. Like most of our fellow tour members, we went out for a slice of pizza that was followed by more apple strudel. On our walk back to the hotel we had amazing dusk views of the mountain peaks as the sun was setting.
On our way home we ran into some fellow tour members who gave us a great tip! I guess the night of the week we were staying there was the one night they have the gondola open late to go up to the mountains. We ran over with another couple from our tour and took a nighttime lift. It was fairly dark by the time we got up, but it was still fun seeing the lights of the town below as we were going up and down.
Day 5
Today was our first big hiking day! We explored the Dolomites region of the Alps, which has its own unique rock formation compared to the rest of the range.
We were one of the first tour groups to stay in Ortisei instead of a different small village, so we were kinda able to explore a few new trails of our own. We first took the gondola in town up (the one we took the night before) and started our adventure. We first passed by quite a few dead chair lifts that will be back up and swinging when ski season begins. We went up and down through valleys and past streams. The views everywhere you looked were completely surreal.
One of the interesting things about this area is how they mark the distance of the trail. While you expect that it would be marked by a length of kilometers, it's marked by time. They have the seniors who live in the area do the hikes and then they use their time as the official marker. Can I please have this job when I retire...?
We finally made it to the end of our first trail, which is where most of the major trails began. We started seeing actual hikers instead of just farmers, and we ran into our first tour friends. They had stopped at one of the little huts for a drink, not wanting to attempt the steep monstrosity in front of us. This was nothing to Matt, who has conquered both Mount Rainier and Kilamanjaro, and so we began our incline.
While it took us a little while, we finally made it up to the top of the hill where we were to enjoy our well deserved lunch. We ran into some more of our tour friends who were already sitting at the hut and joined them while they finished. All throughout the Alps they have these huts that you can stop in for a food or some rest, even staying the night. There are some people who actually hike the entire Alps just moving from one hut to another each day. Maybe our next trip!
The hut that we stopped for lunch was right next to a farm, so I naturally had to stop and play with the animals. There were donkeys, pigs, horses, and more. While I was trying to get a picture with the horse, it decided to rest its head on top of my head! So obviously that means we were best friends.
The best part of the hike, for me at least, was just seeing all of the animals all around. I know, I left Texas to hang out with horses and cows, right? At least I know now what sound the hills were alive with - they had a fever and the only medicine was more cowbell.
After lunch we headed over the valley to the other side of the hill. I could understand why this was the touristy area, as these were the best views of the day. Of any part of the trip, I wish we could have had more time in the Dolomites. You need days to see all the best parts of it!
We finally finished our hike and took the gondola town to the larger city in the area, Castelrotto, and took the bus back to our area. We finished the day eating another pizza in town with a few free sips of Limencello. And of course our venture to Italy wouldn't have been complete without our final treat - gelato!
