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I have always wanted to visit the Dolomites and since I was spending
two weeks in Venice I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally do it. I learned about a tour group called Adventure Bellissime from the Slow Travel Message Board that takes you up to the Dolomites
with a stop in the very famous town of Cortina and then up
through the Dolomites mountains. The total cost would be $104 Euros. A van would pick us up at a designated spot and the driver would also serve as our guide. The tour would take approximately 9 hours, an all day event. I
struggled with this decision because I thought that maybe I could just take the train and find my own way from Venice to the Dolomites. In the end I opted
for the convenience of a tour group and guide.
I found a tour company that was recommended by a respected member
of the Slow Travel message board. There were 2 possible dates to book, so I e-mailed
the company to find out if they were “confirmed” dates. They replied
rather quickly and told me that the first date had no one signed up but the second
date of November 24, had 3 people signed up and if I were to book it then it would be a confirmed date as the minimum required
is 4 people. It took several more days to make my decision. I finally decided
that I really wanted to see the Dolomites and so I booked the tour. Within 24
hours, I was given a confirmation number and I received some instructions on the meeting location and time. I printed the
confirmation number and instructions before I left and took it with me.
The day prior to my tour
date it had been raining on and off. I was so worried that there might be bad
weather during our tour. After reviewing my instructions again, I noticed that
there designated meeting place had two different stops (A & B) on my Vaporetto map schedule. I tried to call the number that was on the confirmation sheet but there would be no answer and no returned
call from my message.
I decided oh well, I’ll
just figure it out when I get there. I woke up very early and took the Vaporetto
that was indicated in the instructions. As soon as I stepped outside of the apartment
it was very clear that the weather was going to be bad. Rainey, cold and even
some high water conditions in Venice. I make sure to take my scarf and gloves
and make my way to catch the Vaporetto to the Traghetto stop. This was the first
time that I rode this route on the Vaporetto and I sort of find it interesting. We passed this one section where these huge
cruise ships were docked. I couldn’t believe how big they were. I started to think that maybe some of the crowds I observed in Venice
were a result of these cruise ships.
Finally after about 25 minutes, the Vaporetto reaches Stop
A and from the looks of the location, I decided that this was probably the right place and I exit here. It was chilly so I find a bench, put my scarf and gloves on and wait for the others in my tour to arrive. I read that there were 3 others confirmed for this tour. Within 10 minutes I spot a lady and two teenage boys. I got
up to move closer and when I heard them speak in English I just knew they were my tour mates.
I walk over and ask them if they were here for the Dolomite tour and the lady enthusiastically says yes, sticks out
her hand and introduces herself and her two teenage sons. She was so nice and
friendly and I immediately liked her. Her two sons were also very nice. While waiting for the tour guide to show up, we chatted for quite awhile. I found out they are from Vermont and basically got their life story. Beth (the mother) was very open. She’s divorced, they
used to live in California but moved to Vermont. She even said that she lives very close to that lodge that is run by the Von Tramp
family. Yes you heard right the Von Tramp Family as in the “Sound of Music”
Von Tramp family. Well, I went off into my 2006 trip to Salzburg and my Sound of Music Tour. Let’s just say we really bonded at that point.
We wait awhile for our tour guide and finally Beth suggested we walk over to the parking lot to check out if the guide is waiting for us there in one of the
Vans we spotted. Sure enough she was right.
Stefano, a nice silver haired man just got out of the parked van and greeted us.
He was to be our driver and tour guide. We decided that it would be fair
that we all take turns sitting in the front passenger seat of the Van. I volunteered
myself to take the first shift. The weather was still pretty lousy but it didn’t
damper our mood nor our excitement. Through the raindrops and mist we were able
to enjoy some of the very beautiful scenery on the drive up to the mountains. Stefano
spoke about some of the towns that were passing through and pointing out some of the interesting historical facts along the
way. We reach the town of Cortina where we took a 35 minute break. Stefano
had several extra umbrellas which he gave to each of us. I decided to walk around
the town taking photos (which was pretty hard to do while it was raining). I
search around town for a café to sample one of those famous apple strudel that Stefano highly recommended. I find a cute little café and walk in. I’m standing in line and suddenly I see Stefano walk
in the door. I order an apple strudel and a cup of hot chocolate. I actually bought two strudels (one to save as a
snack for later). I had a very pleasant and interesting time chatting with
Stefano. He’s a pretty interesting guy.
After a few minutes I excused myself from his company (which he didn’t mind), so I could look around Cortina
a bit more since I only had about 10 minutes left.
I walked around and took more photos then found a little store to buy
some postcards. I made my way back to the meeting place to meet the others. Once we all got back we all climbed in the Van and headed on to our next spot. Beth reported that they went on a fast track shopping spree. Her older son bought
a nice sports watch and she got a some beautiful Austrian bed covers. I was impressed
that they were able to get all of their items in 30 minutes. And all I did was
eat apple strudel, hot chocolate and take photos. Talk about priorities!
The higher we climbed up the mountains the less visibility we had
(Darn). As we near our planned spot for lunch it finally started to snow. There were some parts during the drive where I got a good look at the jagged edged
mountains and the little that I was able to see was so beautiful. I can only imagine how really magnificent it really is with
good visibility. I could tell that poor Stefano felt so bad for us that we couldn’t
enjoy the scenery. At one point he said if the weather was clear it is very beautiful. But we were all good sports and seem to just enjoy the trip and made the best of it. We arrive in this really small town near a lake and stop to have a nice lunch in this
really cute restaurant. It looks more like Switzerland here than it does Italy. Even the architecture looks
more Switzerland. The lunch was included in our tour price so we were told to order what we wanted. Stefano, Beth and her older son ordered some kind of pasta dish and Beth’s younger son and I ordered
pizza Margherita. Stefano recommended to Beth’s son to order a pizza called
Pizza Margherita con Fritas. It is basically a pizza margherita with French fries on top.
Her son (not the adventurous eater) didn’t want to try it. It actually
sounded good to me so I changed my order and after some prodding by all of us the kid gave in and changed his order. Stefano ordered a half liter of wine which Beth and I shared (well, mainly Beth drank
it). While we were waiting for our lunch to arrive I went outside with Beth’s
older son to take more photos of the little town. By now it was snowing more
heavenly and the scene looked like something right out of the movie White Christmas.
It was actually very pretty.
We go back inside and
just in time for our meals to arrive. They plopped down our pizzas and sure enough
it had these pieces of French Fries lying right on top. I took a photo of it
just because I had never seen a pizza with Fries on it before. And by the way,
Beth’s son “loved” his pizza. I liked it too! J
Here Stefano entertained us
with his youthful adventures. You wouldn’t know it by looking at Stefano now, but in his younger days he was a pretty
mischievous boy. Beth, the boys and I were exchanging our adventures with the
High Water that occurred the other day and I asked Stefano to explain the occurrence to me again because I was really intrigued
by it. He gave a very detailed explanation that I found to be interesting.
After our lunch Stefano
treated Beth and I to a drink called “Grappa” and for her older son, “limoncello”. Her sons didn’t like limoncello and I didn’t like the Grappa.
Beth, on the other hand drank the rest of the wine and all of her Grappa. She’s
a pretty good drinker. If I had drank the same amount, you would have had to
peel me off the floor. Oh well, good for her.
On the way back to Venice, Stefano asks if we wouldn’t mind stopping
in this town to view an exhibit by Tiziano. He has been wanting to
see it himself. We all agreed that
it would be cool and so we did. We arrived in this small town, parked our car
and went to see the exhibit by Tiziano. It was awesome. While there we saw another exhibit of some old artifacts from ancient times. Very cool.
After the exhibit, Stefano
said that he would treat us to some gelato. As cold and wet as it has been no
one said no. We find a wonderful small café and order a cup of gelato each. It
was very delicious. Here Stefano told us more interesting stories of his youth.
He and Beth also had great conversations about pasta making. Beth’s father
is full Italian born and raised and so from an early age she learned how to cook authentic Italian dishes. She encouraged me to get a pasta maker because she said dishes that are made with fresh pasta are the best.
We now take off to our next stop.
Since it had been snowing, the ground is covered with snow and slush. So
now I’ve been in snow on the Swiss Alps and now in the Dolomites! Cool! We continue our drive down the mountains and stop at this park area where there is
a bridge and lake. We park and walk along the bridge to have a view of the nearby town and lake with the Dolomites in the
background. Holding the umbrella with one hand I snap a few photos. It’s really so pretty. I would love to one day return here when the weather is nice. In fact I saw
some bike trails along the way and thought this would be such a cool and challenging place to do some riding.
Stefano first dropped off Beth and her sons at their hotel room
which was located not too far from the airport. They were leaving on early flight
the next morning so they transferred from their hotel in Venice to one next to the airport. Before they left, we exchanged e-mails so we could exchange
photos. I really liked Beth and her sons and I’m so glad that they were
on the tour with me and that we were a small group. It was so much fun. I think if I go back to Venice
and get another opportunity to visit the dolomites I will probably be more confident to rent a car and drive there myself. It didn’t seem all that difficult to me.
I would even stay a night or two in one of the small towns.
Next, Stefano drops me
off at Piazzale Roma I prepared an envelope with a thank you card to put my tip in.
Somehow that seems more personal than just handing over cash. Before I
left I gave Stefano the card and thanked him for the wonderful time and told him even though the weather was bad I enjoyed
the tour and had a great time.
I was very pleased with this
tour company and would highly recommend this tour to anyone. And if you do take
it, you would be very lucky if you have Stefano as your tour guide.
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