It was a rainy start to our next to adventure. We were Italy bound with cousins Stella and John. We had short connections both in Denver and again in Munich. I had concerns when booking the flight about the short connections, but we trusted the airline. Our Denver connection went fine. Our flight to Munich was slightly delayed but the flight got in on time. Then it all went south. We had 50 minutes to make it through passport control and get to our gate. Unfortunately for us, that just wasn’t going to happen. The EU has started a new electronic control. The kinks still need to be worked out and with 7 planes arriving at the same time, it was a mess. So, we got rebooked and ended up changing gates a couple of times and arrived in Milan about 7 hours later than expected. Ah, the joys of international travel.
We had a nice walking tour of the train station in Milan. You know when you’re tired and can’t seem to remember how to navigate the GPS. Only to find out, that yes your hotel is a straight shot from the train station about 5 minutes walking. Had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant and crashed. We missed out on seeing the Last Supper and visiting the Duomo, but I knew we’d see many more churches in the coming days.
So, an easy walk to the train station the next morning. Got our train to Brescia where we picked up our rental car. I somehow had the wrong address to the rental car place. So, on the metro couldn’t find the place. So, I called only to find out, yes the rental car place is right by the train station. Back on the metro we went. Got our car and we were on our way to our next stop, Desenzano del Garda. It’s a town right on beautiful Lake Garda. Found our B&B, which was in walking distance to the lake. We quickly got stuff settled and walked on down to the lake. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed walking around and drinking wine on the balcony at the B&B.
The next morning we had a really nice breakfast and set off for our scenic boat ride and trip to the town of Simione. We had 2 hours to walk around and explore the town. There’s a 13th century fortress, ruins of an old Roman villa and a rocky beach. We walked the narrow streets and enjoyed some gelato. Back on the boat and picked up our car were we were off to our next stop, Bolzano.
We’ve been to Bolzano before, but thought it would be good place to spend a night. We found our next accommodations fairly easily as we only missed one turn. We walked into the historic center for dinner. It was a Sunday and they were having some type of festival going on with music and a slip ‘n’ slide style soccer game. Walther’s restaurant was right in the piazza. They offered numerous gluten free options for me including dessert. It was a lovely evening and good food.
The next morning, we found a little cafe for a bite of breakfast and then went to see the Iceman. was born over 5,300 years ago and was killed while hiking. He was mummified by the glacier and wasn’t discovered until 1991 by hikers. He was exceptionally well preserved in the ice as were the belongings found with him. Scientists are still discovering new things about Ötzi as technology continues to advance as well. No pictures in the museum, except for the end when they have a mockup of how they believe Ötzi looked.
We went on to tour Castel Roncolo (Runkelstein Castle). We had toured this before as well, but thought it was a good one to take Stella and John to. It was built on a rock outcropping in 1237 and is known for its many frescos and its panoramic views.
We then drove to Ortisei in the Val Gardena area of the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy. We stayed at Hotel Cosmea in a great location, right in the center of everything, but still just right outside of the hustle and bustle. We took the Seceda Cable Car up and do a little hiking and see the views. The hotel clerk advised us to get our tickets in advance. We had a nice lunch at the hotel and the took a walk to explore a bit of the area.
The next morning was beautiful bright and sunny. The Seceda consists of a gondola style cable car and then a transfer to a tram style cable car. Walked a few of the trails to take in the views at the top. Will did not like the cable car so we decided to hike down from the transfer point. Stella decided to continue on down as her ankle was bothering her a bit. That was a good choice on her part as it was quite a steep grade almost the entire way down.
Our hotel stay included unlimited use of the spa facilities. So, we enjoyed the hot tub and there was also a steam room and sauna as well.
We found a nice pizza place for dinner after coving half the town. One of these days, we’ll learn to make a reservation.
