Location: Houston, Texas, USA
After our excellent adventure in Europe and a trip to Charleston, SC with my mom, we are back in Houston for a few weeks. The next few blogs will recap of our last 6 weeks in Europe, plus our travels since arriving back in the United States.
This map shows our travels from Tivat, Montenegro to Houston, TX, July 22 - September 20, 2024.
You can zoom in to see our travels for this blog - Tivat to Treviso, Italy.
ITALY
The Italian Dolomites, Cortina d'Ampezzo - July 22 - 31, 2024
We left our pet sit in Tivat, Montenegro, rode the bus to Dubrovnik, Croatia, flew to Madrid, Spain then flew to Venice, Italy. From Venice, we rode the Cortina Express bus up into the Italian Dolomites and stayed in the small town of Cortina d'Ampezzo for a week. All of the mountain ski lifts and gondolas were open and we hiked a different route every day. This link
Cortina Trekking will take you to the website with all of the information about trekking in the Dolomite Mountains around Cortina.
The hiking, the views and the area were all fantastic and we had a great week.
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The view as we walked up the hill from the bus stop to our hotel
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
For our first hike, we rode the gondola Funivia Tofana up to the Col Druscie stop and hiked down the mountain to our hotel via Lago Ghedina.
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| The view of Cortina d'Ampezzo from the Col Druscie (mid-mountain) gondola stop |
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| The mountains across the valley from Col Druscie |
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| The slopes above Col Druscie (the mid-mountain stop where we got off the gondola) |
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| The coffee shop/restaurant on Lago Ghedina |
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| Houses in the meadows with the town of Cortina in the background on our way down the mountain |
The next day we rode the local bus west to Cinque Torri (5 Towers) and took the chair lift up to the rock towers. During World War I, there were conflicts betweens the Italians and the Austro-Hungarians in this area. The trenches and bunkers from the war have been restored and now this area is an open air WWI history exhibit.
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| The view from the chair lift riding up to Cinque Torri (5 Towers) |
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Cinque Torri is named for the five major rock towers in this area of the Dolomites.
The largest tower, Torri Grande, has an elevation of 2361 meters (7746 feet).
This is the view of the five towers from the top of the chair lift. |
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| Looking down at some of the bunkers used in WWI in Cinque Torri (5 Towers) |
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| Looking down at a trail that winds between the rock formations of Cinque Torri. |
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| A view of the five major rock formations at Cinque Torri. |
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| Looking up at one of the towering rock formations, Cinque Torri. |
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| B hiking up one of the Cinque Torri trails. |
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| The clouds coming in behind one of the Cinque Torri rock formations. |
For our day 3 hike, we walked north up the bike trail behind our hotel, then crossed the river and walked south into town.
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| The Boite River north of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. |
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| Hay field and hay bale in a valley north of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. |
Sunday was our fourth day in the Dolomites and the day of our longest hike. After a walk to the south end of town, we rode the Mount Faloria Cable car up 896 meters (2940 feet) to the Mount Faloria stop, elevation 2123 meters. From there, we hiked down along the ridge line trail with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. At Rio Gere, in the valley at the bottom of the mountain, we turned west and hiked through the forest to Refugio Mietres, a mountain hut/restaurant. We had a nice, relaxing lunch then hiked back into Cortina d'Ampezzo.
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| The view of Cortina d'Ampezzo from the top of the Mount Faloria Cable Car |
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| Dave hiking down the Mount Faloria Rim Trail |
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| The trail through the forest as we descend down Mount Faloria. |
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| The mountain hut/restaurant at Rio Gere in the valley below Mount Faloria |
Monday, we planned to hike at a nature preserve north of town, but when we got to the bus stop, there was a sign saying that the bus no longer served the route to the trailhead where we wanted to start our hike. So instead we hiked a loop trail through the woods and along the river north of town.
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| A small waterfall along the trail. |
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| B on the trail through the woods |
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| Dave crossing the River Boite |
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| The River Boite north of Cortina d'Ampezzo |
Tuesday, July 30th was our last day in the Dolomites. For our adventure today, we decided to take the 3 part gondola/cable car lifts up to the top of the third highest peak in the Dolomites: Tofana di Mezzo, at 3244 m (10643 feet). The first part of the journey is via gondola from Cortina to Col Druscie, 1788 m (5866 feet). We got off the gondola here and had a coffee at the bar/restaurant and took in the view. The next section is from Col Druscie to Ra Valles, elevation 2470 m (8103 feet) via a cable car, followed by the third part, a cable car from Ra Valles to Tofana di Mezzo.
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| A view of the gondola from Cortina to Col Druscie from the Col Druscie stop |
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The view from the Col Druscie to Ra Valles cable car as we ride up the mountain
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The view as we are departing the Ra Valles cable car stop and heading up to Tofana di Mezzo.
You can see the upper cable car station/terrace at the top of the photo |
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| The view from the window of the cable car as we ride up from Ra Valles to Tofana di Mezzo |
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| The view of Cortina d'Ampezzo from Tofana di Mezzo |
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| Looking down at the Tofana di Mezzo terrace |
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| The view of the surrounding mountains from Tofana di Mezzo |
We took in the spectacular views from Tofana di Mezzo and walked on the trails above the cable car stop/terrace. We rode the cable car back to the Ra Valles stop and had pizza and beer at the highest pizzeria in the Dolomites. After our lunch, we went back to the Col Druscie stop where Dave rode the gondola back to town and I hiked down the mountain.
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| The Col Druscie to Ra Valles cable car entering the Ra Valles station. |
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| We had gin and tonics in our hotel garden to celebrate the end of our Italian Dolomite hiking adventure |
On Wednesday, July 31, we packed our bags and rode the bus to Treviso, Italy for a pet sit.
Treviso, August 1 - 10, 2024
We spent 10 days in Treviso, just north of Venice, pet sitting with two cats, Peaches and Dippy. We spent our time unlaxing, exploring the town and hiking along the canals and old city walls.
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| Porta Santi Quaranta - The city gate on the west side of the Treviso City Wall |
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| Dippy wondering when her breakfast will be ready |
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| Dippy and Peaches (in the bag) playing with one of our grocery bags |
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| Peaches playing with his toys |
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| Dippy and Peaches napping together |
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| Peaches napping in the sink |
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| One of the canals flowing through Treviso |
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| One of the canals flowing through Treviso |
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| Two coots wading in the canal water. We were surprised at the shape and color of their feet |
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| The outside of the Treviso city wall at Bastione San Marco |
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| Porta San Tomaso - The city gate on the north side of the Treviso city wall |
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| Our last day in Treviso. Peaches wanting to see if we could fit him in our suitcase. |
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| Our last day in Treviso, Dippy helping us pack our bags. |
From Treviso, we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark but we'll cover that in the next blog.
Until next time...
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