Northern Mts.

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The Dolomites

 

From Venice we headed North into the high country of the Dolomite mountains. The culture of the Dolomites is unlike anything in the rest of Italy. Part Italian, part Swiss, part German, it's a unique environment that seems worlds away from the canals of Venice or the rolling hills of Tuscany.

 

 

In our trusty Punta we rode, up yet another windy mountain road far from the beaten path. At first we came across towns and countryside wrapped in green and blossoming flowers, with the snow capped peaks far off in the distance.

But as we made our way toward the high mountain village of Cortina D'Ampezzo, the road got windier and the snowy peaks got closer...

... until we finally reached Passo di Giau (Giau pass) at 7336 feet. At the top the snow drifts were well over our heads and we were actually looking down on many of the peaks we had seen from the villages below.

This was definitely one of the more spectacular areas we visited.

 

Lake & Mt. Towns

We began our journey westward with a stop at Verona. Verona contains one of the largest Roman amphitheaters in the world...

...along with a nice town square...

... and something for everyone, be they angels or ne'er do wells.

Then on to Sirmione on Lago di Garda (lake Garda) where a partially flooded medieval castle sits at the tip of a penisula overlooking the lake.

Next stop, the city of Brescia, not very touristy, but very beautiful. It's here we had one of the best meals of our entire trip.

(The meal wasn't actually at the place pictured here, this place just looked cool).

And finally, we rest for the night in Selvino, which we accessed by the absolute windiest and steepest and scariest road of our entire trip. But worth it.

Our breakfast table

The next day we head back down the crazy mountain road and west toward Bellagio. But first, a little delay. You see, the roads aren't really big enough for one car, let alone 2 cars passing. And they definitely don't fit a truck and a bus passing. So while we sat for 20, 30, 40 minutes the bus driver and truck driver took turns walking to the end of the line of cars that were backed up behind them and asking everyone to back up so the truck could inch it's way into a wide spot and allow the bus to pass. There's that crazy efficient Italian transportation for you again. We thought for a minute they might just ram each other till one of them went careening off the cliff.

But eventually we made it to Bellagio, another gorgeous little village stuck in the middle of Lago di Como.

And that, sadly, brought us to our last day in Italy. We spent our final day in Bergamo and then a quick visit to Milan.

Bergamo is another stunning walled city with beautiful views, medieval architecture and amazing cathedrals.

And a cute little cable car called a finiculare. (We'd been trying to ride one of those the whole trip, but kept finding them closed for repairs and such.)

Of course, Scott occasionally made a pig of himself. C'est la vie.

 

Milan

We didn't have much time in Milan, but we got to see this giganormously huge and ornate cathedral. Quite the last site on fantastic trip to the big boot.

And that's it! A pretty much truthful account of our trip to Italy.

Really. I'm not lyin'.

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