ms_go

<b>Day One: Stau</b>

We arrived in Selva di Val Gardena (aka Wolkenstein) this afternoon after a 22-hour journey. Despite some pretty bad forecasts (here, there and everywhere), the flying part went pretty smoothly, and we touched down in Munich only about 25 minutes late. Claiming luggage, getting cash, picking up our rental (a small Mercedes)—equally smooth. Not so smooth…the traffic most of the way down from Munich, as we joined a legion of Germans and others headed south for their holidays. Very quickly, we learned the meaning of “stau”—a word we saw frequently on the autobahn signs all the way south through to the Italian border. To make matters worse, a steady rain fell throughout the drive. Unlike our trip through this area 18 years ago, there would be no speeding tickets on the Austrian autobahn this time.

The worst was yet to come—a back-up of several miles leading into the autostrada ticket plaza just south of the Italian border that lasted a good 45 minutes or more. Once we cleared the toll plaza, though, some good things began to happen—and not just with the traffic. The rain stopped, the sun began to peak through, the temperature rose (from a low point of 5C going over the Brenner Pass), and by the time we were driving up the Val Gardena, we could actually see a few blue patches of sky.

The Val Gardena revealed itself to be more lush, green and beautiful than we’d even imagined. We found our home for the week, Residence Carin, with little difficulty and checked in. Although we’ve only been here a few hours, our initial reaction is very positive. We have loads of space—two bedrooms and two baths, with a nice kitchen with octagonal breakfast nook and two balconies (photos soon). It is on the eastern end of the “downtown” area, where things are a bit quieter and more peaceful… but still within easy walking distance of everything.

We’ve done a bit of exploring and some grocery shopping now, and enjoyed our first dinner back in Italy, at Pizzeria Rino (a recommendation from our proprietor; delicious!).

Tonight, we’ll be struggling to stay up late enough to re-set our clocks—watching the light change on the stark stone walls of the Sella Massif and enjoying some local wine.

Photos:
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p443793782

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny but cold. Not sure what we're doing yet, but I'm sure it will involve some hiking.

Jespere

I'm looking forward to hearing more, as we're stopping in the Dolomites for a few days in late September. Your photos, which are wonderful, make it more real than ever - well, along with the "stau" reality check!

Can't wait to hear your hiking report...
J.

kleeblatt

Hello Ms Go: Thanks for the report.

We've had a nasty storm come through this weekend. It brought rain, wind, thunderstorms, cold and snow throughout Switzerland and the alps. You may find new snow in the Dolomites tomorrow morning.

But don't worry. It's going to warm up quickly and you'll be able to use your summer clothes in two days again.

Keep us up-to-date from the beautiful Dolomite region. I'm looking forward to hearing your reactions to the scenery that awaits you.

kleeblatt

Stau: Before the Gotthard this morning (German-speaking side) there was a 20 kilometer traffic jam. They said it would take people 5 hours to get through the Gotthard. The Gotthard Pass was closed this morning due to snow.

5 hours! Unbelievable. Quite often congested traffic is now called "stop and go."

annhig

ho 'go,

fascinated to read your real-time trip report. when we were in austria recently we were very temped to head south to get away from the terible weather we wre having, but in t heend decided against it, as we had an idea that it would be just as bad wherever we might go. sounds as if we weren't wrong.

hope that things look up from now on,

regards, ann

Dayle

Ah, the sun on the Sella. I can remember it in winter with snow. Do continue, I hope you have a wonderful time!

pja1

HI ms_go,

Thanks for the update. Loved the photo's, especially since we're heading there again this fall. Have a great visit!

Paul

aprillilacs

Lovely to hear about the Dolomites, and I hope to hear more. We spent 5 nights there in early June, just before everything opened up for the summer. We were based in La Villa, in Alta Badia, and found the scenery unsurpassed.

Unfortunately, I was hit by a long-lasting bout of food poisoning the night we arrived (I think I picked it up elsewhere) so I was unable to do the hiking we had planned--after 4 days I made my very tolerant husband go off and hike alone while I stayed at the base of the mountain (near the Passo Campolongo) and read. He said the hike was one of the most beautiful he has been on in the last few years, and he's a big hiker. I think that anywhere you go you will find satisfying walking.

Be sure to get up to the Alpe di Suisi (we took the Mont Seuc cable car out of Ortisei), and I highly recommend the cable car to the top of Sass Pordoi. The top was too snowed in for us to do any hiking (and I was too weak), but the views were amazing. Lago di Braies was lovely, if somewhat overrated ("most beautiful lake in Italy!), and worth a visit.

I think back fondly to the unbelievable profusion of wildflowers and the curvy curvy roads (I called them Lombard Street on steroids) full of motorbikes and bicyclists...but everybody pretty much respecting each other's right of way. Quite a place--I'm sure you will enjoy. Looking forward to your next report.

JoyC

Hi ms_go!

Thank you for your review of your apartment. Which one did you choose? My husband, teen and I are headed there for spring break and we have reservation for the apartment "Stevia", although we also like "Stella" and "Murfreit". How do you like the surroundings? And do you know how far is it to the nearest lift? Looking forward to more of your report!! Thanks again.

ms_go

Hi everyone, thanks for the kind comments. We will do our best to provide some highlights and photos each day.

It is 7am here, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. It's just beautiful out (although I'm sure a little chilly).

shuler, we've been on the Gotthard pass before. Five hours would be awful. We're used to a little "stau," being from the Chicago area, but I think we got a little more than expected yesterday. The full drive took six hours with two very quick stops, one for our vignette and one for sandwiches. We were expecting around four hours.

aprillilacs, Alpe di Suisi is definitely on our list, as is a trip to Lago di Braies and Cortina. I'm afraid we have too many things on our list, as we have four or five different hikes plus trips to Trento and Bolzano/Merano as possibilities!

JoyC, how funny--we're staying in Stevia! So far, we really like it, as it's high up and very quiet. Not sure if the residence is full or not, but we did see about five or six other cars yesterday. The Ciampinoi lift is maybe 200-300 meters down the road; you'll actually pass it before getting into the center of the town. I think we're going up that one today. The view from the dining table is to die for; I'm sitting here right now and can see the Ciampinoi lift looking one way and the Sella looking the other. We're also traveling with a teen and feel like we have plenty of space. I'll figure out where those others are on the property and let you know what I think, and of course we'll give a full review after our week.

ms_go

JoyC: Hi, this is mr_go, posting under my LW's login. I just wanted to emphasize what ms_go said about the Stevia apartment at Residence Carin. It's better than we had expected. The bedrooms are comfortable, the bathrooms are clean and well-appointed, and everything looks fairly new. The kitchen includes a decent fridge, smooth-surface cooktop, microwave, coffee maker, dishwasher, and all the kitchenwares you'd expect. There's a TV, but no stereo system (that's OK, we brought our own). And your access to the Ciampinoi and Dantercepies lifts will be fairly convenient. So far, I'm calling it a decent value for the money.

(As I type this, I'm watching a young, Bambi-like deer romping along the steep, wooded hill opposite us. It's friggin idyllic.)

Steve_James

Hi Ms/Mr Go - Enjoying your 'live' report. Lovely photos too. Keep it coming. Hope the weather improves for you so you can enjoy Val Gardena and the Dolomites at its best.

Looking forward to your photos from Ciampinoi/Dantercepies. If you make it to the Alpe di Siusi, don't miss the Florian lift (- Saltria) ...

Have fun!

Steve

irishface

Keep it coming. I looked at your first pictures and loved them. Schuler mentioned "stop and go" traffic. IME, "stop and go" means mostly stop.

telechick

It's great to read about/see Val Gardena in the summer. my husband and I spent a week skiing there in 2007 and cannot wait to go back.

bobthenavigator

WOW--live pics already. We are all praying for good weather so we can see more great images--we will be there in Sep. Give our grandaughter a big hug for us.

SandyBrit

Excellent and so soon after a 22-hour journey. What energy you have.

Enjoyed your photos. Thank you.

Sandy

bookchick

Love the "live" check-in, Go Family, thank you! And..it would not dare to rain on you once you cross into Italy, of course! (And hey, the rain served a purpose--as you note, no ticket this time for any motor violation.) Looking forward to hearing more and seeing more from this trip. (I'm living vicariously through the adventures of others for a bit during my return to school--working + school leave little time or money for travel these days, but at least I've got my health!)

Love to you all,
BC

ms_go

<b>Day Two: THIS is why we wanted to visit the Val Gardena</b>

We slept well, and that made a huge difference...we were ready for some hiking. Not a cloud in the sky when woke up this morning, so we rapidly formalized our hiking plans and purchased the six day Valgardena Card that covers a dozen lifts and all the local SAD buses:
http://www.valgardena.it/en/valgardena-card/page45.html

These aren’t inexpensive (64€), but if you’re thinking of taking 4-5 round trips, the convenience alone is worth it.

The weather forecast called for high pressure and sun but chilly temperatures. We bundled up accordingly. Turns out they were only half right. The temps at times soared--into the 70s (F) in the valley by afternoon. Our jackets came off for good before 11am.

The Ciampinoi Lift and its upper station offer spectacular views. Even if you have no interest in hiking, it’s well worth the ride up on a nice day. And, it only gets better as you make your way down to the Comici Hut, with the Langkofel in your face and the Sella Massif across the valley. We won’t go into great detail on this, but it was a superlative experience and exactly the reason we came all the way here. We took a combined 500 photos today and have posted a tiny fraction (link below).

The trail goes from meadow to forest to rocky terrain with wildflowers throughout, and there are a number of different directions you can go once you get to the top—including circumnavigating the Langkofel. We opted for a walk that went pretty well past the Comici hut in the direction of the Sella Joch, but eventually turned around toward lunch time. For the most part, this particular walk doesn’t require a super-athletic level of fitness (we saw families of all sorts on the trail)...but, if you're ending your hike back at the Ciampinoi station, as we did, what goes down ultimately must go up. There is a healthy climb at the end. We’d intended to bring a pedometer but forgot—not sure how far we walked, but we were at it for a good four hours, not including lunch.

The specials board at the Comici Hut was looking particularly attractive today, with penne arrabiatta and vitello carciofi. We sat out in the sun with stunning peaks in all directions. All in all, quite a nice lunch, with very good food and drinks.

After a quick break, we set off to Castelrotto for a somewhat easier walk between that town and Siusi (Seis). It is mostly through meadows, with some uphill walking—about an hour overall. We passed hay barns, watched a few paragliders, and then missed a key turn, which required us to walk downhill through a field to get to Siusi. That turned out okay, as we had very nice views of the photogenic church at St. Valentin. From Siusi, we caught a bus back to Castelrotto, anxious to do what we enjoy on every Italian vacation—a late afternoon beverage and gelato, this time courtesy of the Stern Cafegarten. Mr_go really liked the local beer, but it was upstaged by the main attraction—DD’s ice cream with hot raspberry sauce.

We took a bit of time to explore Castelrotto after our refresher. It is certainly smaller than the three main Val Gardena towns and quite picturesque—almost too cute. Being Sunday, most everything was closed.

A bit tired, we opted to cook dinner in tonight—pasta with a nice fresh, home-made tomato and basil sauce, accompanied by a local Edel Vernatsch—and watched the sun go down.

Tomorrow? Weather forecasts seem promising, but we’ll make a decision in the morning. A likely candidate is the lift from Ortisei to Seceda (near the Odle) and some sort of hike from there.

Photos are loading slowly, so I'll post the link later.

ms_go

These aren't sequenced properly and are not captioned yet, but I probably won't be able to do that until later. The first 27 are from our trip up the Ciampioni lift, and the rest are from Castelrotto/Siusi.

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p941985555

ms_go

Oops, I misspelled the lift name: it is Ciampinoi.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to include our primary reference sources for this trip--besides the excellent advice on this board, of course.

Sunflower Books: Landscapes of the Dolomites and Eastern South Tyrol, Complete Guide with Walks

Cicerone Guide: Shorter Walks in the Dolomites

Tobacco Hiking Maps (1:25,000) #05 (Val Gardena), #07 (Alta Badia), and #3 (Cortina d'Ampezzo)