Northern Italy Trip Report

Venice and Northern Italy

Venice was never on my "high priority to see" list but circumstances gave us the perfect opportunity to check it out. Now 48 hours does not an expert make but in just that time it was a great microcosm of all the things I like and dislike about travel in a given place.

Room with a view

Venice is one of the biggest examples of the difference between a great experience and a not so good one based on your approach. Some places your approach matters a little, here it matters a lot. "Just show up" at St. Marks square at noon and you are likely to be crushed in a wave of tour groups, long lines, hawkers, and selfie sticks. Walk half a mile into the tiny streets and alleyways and find a quiet place to enjoy a gelato and watch the boats go by. All based on your approach. It only took us a few hours to see both sides of Venice.

Empty streets away from the madness

It was great to walk around the squares at dusk and get a little glimpse of what life is like for people who live here. It must be a bit difficult to be a Venetian. To have your town deluged in humanity on a daily and seasonal basis and yet realize that much of that deluge is needed in some way to keep the place going. Going even a couple of days without seeing a car in an urban center and not worrying about getting lost on tiny alleyways is also beautiful and a bit addictive.

Our last day in Venice the plan was to wake up at 8 am or so, have a leisurely breakfast, pick up our rental car and then hit the road so we could meet our daughter a little after noon.  It’s not unusual for me to have insomnia when travelling

and this trip was no different.  I probably fell asleep around 4:30 figuring a short night was ahead of me.  The next thing I remember was someone knocking on our hotel room door, walking in and then, after muttering something in Italian, walking out.  It was housekeeping; it was 12:30 in the afternoon.  Alarm failure and monumental oversleep!!!

We replied to the frantic texts from our daughter (“Where are you?”),  had a coffee,  a couple of crackers with a container of yogurt (all that was left of the breakfast buffet we had paid for and missed) and headed north to the Dolomites.

Heading out...by boat no less

The Dolomites

We spent 3 days hiking in the Dolomites (Northern Italy). The weather, apparently hit-or-miss in the summer, held out and we had days in the high 70s with a mix of clouds and sun.
The Dolomites don't look like the Rockies, or even much like the Alps (at least what I remember from a long time ago). Strange, beautiful red and black rock formations, dramatic cliffs (more like Utah than Colorado), almost no vegetation and still some snow once you hit 7500 feet. Everything is lower here than in Colorado too so most of the hiking is between 6000 and 8000 feet which is noticeable but way easier on the lungs.

Hiking trails are everywhere and thankfully we are a bit early for "the season" so we saw very little crowds even on the popular trails. One of the things we really liked here were the "Rifugio's". These are high mountain top cabins that offer food, drink, shelter and some even have overnight lodging. Oh and when I say food, we are not talking hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill but real Italian/German fare... polenta and mushrooms, pasta dishes, sausages, home made soups. Great fare. It gives a climb that celebration air that makes it even more worthwhile. (Of course beer, wine and pasta gets a bit heavy on the way down but hey, that's the price you pay).

Classic Dolomite rock formation

On the downside we did make a couple of "rookie mistakes" regarding sunscreen which made for some painful showers and sleeping. Also I had promised an easy day on our last day but due to a road closure we had to hike up to the place I thought we could drive to. This error added another 90 minutes of tough vertical hiking.

Our first day of hiking was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop.  This hike started at the Rifugio Auronzo and was a 3 to 4 hour fairly rigorous hike.  There was quite a bit of climbing, mostly up on the way out and down on the return but with plenty of dips to make it constantly changing.  The hike had a very alpine feel to it and we went past a few areas where the snow was still melting.  It also was quite a bit colder than at the base.  The hike takes you up to the Rifugio Locatelli at its furthest point.  The Rifugio still had not opened for the season but it was a nice place to picnic and take a quick break.  There is also a very nice café on the way down where we enjoyed a celebratory beverage.

Earned this...

The second day of hiking was probably my favorite.  We started at the bottom of the mountain and took the chairlift to the top of the first peak near the Cinque Torri.  The chairlift had just opened a few days before so we were able to take that up and cut off about 90 minutes of climbing to get to the more scenic regions near the top.  Rest assured there was still plenty to hike and climb from our new starting point.  The area near the top of the chairlift is filled with interesting items both natural and man made.  The natural beauty comes from the unusual rock formations (Cinque Torri) that dot the area, the man made are the well-preserved World War I outdoor museum that includes trenches and artillery positions created during the war.  From this area we headed up to Rifugio Averau which was probably my favorite destination in the Dolomites.  Great food, perfect weather, and amazing views make this absolutely worth the trek up from the Cinque Torri.  Finally, we still had a bit of time left in the day so we made the climb up to Rifugio Nuvolau.  This is a beautiful (closed when we were there) rifugio with 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains.

View from Rifugio Nuvolau

View from Averau...chairs available on the summit, so cool!

As I mentioned, our final day was supposed to be a shorter, easier hike; at least that’s what I had it planned on paper.  Our plan was to drive up  to near the summit and take a short hike up to Santa Croce, a picturesque 18th century church perched near the base of Sasso della Croce an even taller mountain that provides the backdrop to the church.  Unfortunately the road was closed for the last few miles which required an extra 2 hours (each way) of hiking to get us to the church.  The reward was a fantastic rifugio lunch of pasta and venison ragu and the ability to refill our depleted water supply.

Rifugio and Santa Croce...great food

After this last day of hiking we headed back to La Villa Stern and packed up for our departure the next day to Verona.  As excited as I was about what was next it's always tough for me to leave the mountains.










Verona

Verona is really where we did our “tours”.  In addition to a day to explore we spent one day on a wine tasting/tour and one on a food tour.  Both were great experiences and Verona is a beautiful old city that feels very genuine (and less crowded than Venice to boot).

Verona at night

The wine tour reminded us why Italian wines are (IMHO) the best dollar for dollar wine in the world.  Even the lowest price wines were excellent and the higher end wine was fantastic.  (We witnessed another example of this earlier on the trip when we were in the Dolomites.  The house wine we ordered at the local restaurant was 10 Euros per liter and was very, very drinkable).  The wine tour allowed us to enjoy all types of wines/grapes from the area in beautiful settings.

Ho hum, just another beautiful terraced vineyard

I’ve been on probably a dozen wine tours but I’ve never done a food tour before and my first one did

Cheese in storage/aging

not disappoint.  We had three very different experiences as we toured a Parmigiano-Reggiano factory, a prosciutto factory, and a facility that made real balsamic.  What really stood out was how carefully the Italians guard their food making processes.  The rules dictated things like the types of pigs that were allowed to be used or the type of grass the cows that made the milk for Parmesan cheese could eat.  It seems to me that’s how you build long term quality for a food.  Delicious!!

10 days in Northern Italy.  A part of the world I had not seen and really enjoyed.  I think one of the keys to a good vacation (for me) is making sure it has good balance and this one (somewhat accidentally) really had that.  Some time in the city, some time in the mountains, some organized tours, some time wandering on your own.  Ciao!