Dolomites Hike Day Six: 24km

Day Six: The base of Drei Zinnen → Rienza Valley (Rienztal) → Landro

Distance: 24 kilometres

To save waiting for a second bus to take us to the Rienza Valley, three of us hikes up an extra six kilometres. Yes, it was a steep walk, but the mountain paths were shady and winding, and there was a sense of achievement in making it to the top of the track. Also, there was an excellent breeze to welcome us. I’m still not into elevations, but 600m in a 90 minute walk is apparently quite challenging. Another 200m elevation with our hike today, and then an 1100m descent to walk to our accomodation tonight. We start and finish in different spots, Mr Darcy tells me, which is why the ups and downs don’t ever match up!

Finally on ascents though, our lovely guide Christiana has a different language. If I said, ‘it is only 400m to our destination,’ I would think I am walking 8 lengths of an Olympic pool. When Christiana says it, I now know I am walking 8 lengths of an Olympic pool vertically!

Note: the photo is of me in a pool from hiking day three. This is not at all typical of our hotels, but I am very happy we took the opportunity to wallow!

Tonight, we are back at our original accommodation. The first time we were here, the food was great, but there was a wedding here yesterday which I fear exhausted the staff and emptied their cupboards. There are no chips to accompany my beer. Shame. But even worse, there are beef cheeks with polenta for dinner. As mentioned before, I never eat beef cheeks (I’m not a vegetarian so this doesn’t make sense, but cheeks are … cheeks).  Our set meal last night included beef cheeks which compounds this situation as I couldn’t eat them either. Tonight, when I said no thank you to the beef cheeks and said I would merely have extra salad from the salad bar, the hotel owner (who I had previously thought charming) turned into Cruella de Ville and was very cross that I took an extra serving of lettuce and carrot. For dessert, not tirimasu but a blob of cream something, so I had to decline that too. On the whole though, the food on our journey has been excellent, particularly as most of our meals have been included so we would have to have accepted anything. One night we had pizza which was also good - some thought the toppings were too thin on local pizzas, but I love the crusts!

To finish. Sorry that some hiking photos might be out of order, but a photo sorter I am not. Be assured however, they would only be a day or two out of order. My apologies also that some of my posts are more informative/ engaging/ amusing than others. For this I blame weariness and possibly beer. Note to self: blog before beer. Also apologies that the posts are appearing close together, but there is Wifi and there are websites and all sorts of things to deal with in the hour or two at the end of every day. Leaving very early in the mornings haven’t made things easy either, as it means we basically pack our bags the night before we leave.

Fun Observation 1: I have taken a lot of photos of things that would be useful for the farm (also ideally things that I hope Mr Darcy can build (with my assistance and encouragement). This gate, for example. The weight of the rock keeps it closed! I think it will be a good thing for Noddy (until he works it out as he is one smart pony). I have also seen some brilliant water troughs which use springs as a source (we have two great springs on the farm and while they fill our water tanks, these troughs would be an excellent thing in other places). So … watch this space.

Toilets. Pretty good generally, though I’d never use a hand towel which hangs above a bidet.

Fun Observation 2: Flowers make you welcome. They make you smile. They are universal. Petunias, geraniums and the tiny native flowers we encountered on our hikes. The natural world is precious.

The lowlights: beef cheeks

The highlights: the beauty of the Dolomites, the warm local welcomes, the cool mountain air, Mr Darcy and our travelling companions. Also the quirky things we have found in our hotels and guesthouses (some are pictured below).

Next: We are off to Verona to meet our London daughter who will, in the way of young women with the ability to find excellent attractions, out of the way restaurants, and interesting walks, will henceforth be our guide. A few days of rest, and then we return home!