THE DOLOMITES!

I used my new favorite travel booking app, Momundo, to book a flight out of Namibia following the tour. The best part about this app (and it’s close runner-up, SkyScanner) is that you can enter your originating airport and date of travel and leave the “To” airport blank. You can then see how much a one-way ticket costs to pretty much anywhere and it highlights the bargain fares. I had about a week to kill before I had to be in Turkey (gobble, gobble) for a tour so figured I’d hang out somewhere in the general vicinity. So many options!

Let me provide a bit of background: something that has been on my must-do list is hiking the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. This has been on my radar since I was hiking in beautiful Cinque Terra last year and met a lovely couple from Pennsylvania (Andrea and Tim) who regaled me with stories of their many travel adventures (their philosophy has always been to prioritize experiences over things and they’ve had many of them- mostly the outdoor kind). At the time, I thought we were at the most spectacular place imaginable but A & T were ooooozing with praise for hiking in the Dolomite mountains. They described the Dolomites as a less built-up and more beautiful version of the Swiss Alps and raved about the town named where they stayed, Ortesei. A few months later I was back in the States for a brief spell and was catching my therapist up on my adventures. I got excited talking about hiking in Italy and he said if I liked Cinque Terre I HAD to go to the Dolomites. He looked up the name of the most amazing town where he had stayed… sure enough, Ortesei it was! Is THAT is sign or what? And it was now pretty much doctor’s orders, so of course I had to look into it! Sadly, it was approaching October by then and too late in the season for hiking. Well, dang! I back-burnered the trip… on a burner not very far back. Fast forward to now, when Mommondo recommended Venice as a bargain flight option from Namibia, AND I had a week to kill, AND it was lovely Springtime, AND there was even a cheap flight to Istanbul afterwards… could there even be more signs than this?? After all the frustration with my water-logged phone, I felt like my luck was turning!

The next question was how to get there. I’m not a big fan of driving and had never rented a car outside of the States (partially bc I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t know how to drive a stick-shift… my Dad blames himself for not teaching me when I was young and as an adult I’ve yet to find a friend willing to teach me using their car. Any volunteers??). Because of this, I looked into public transport options and saw there’s a bus from Venice to THE DOLOMITES, specifically the town of Cortina. I planned to spend two nights there, and then make my way to the Promised Land… Ortesei! How great to have a plan!! Hmm… what’s that saying about “the best laid plans….?”

My first sign of trouble was upon landing in Frankfurt where I had a connection to Venice. I checked the screen… flight cancelled. Well, that’s rather inconvenient! Despite having no flight I still had to go through security as if I was on my way to a connecting flight. This was my first time in Germany (if the airport counts?) and those Germans do not fool around with security. Their elaborate screening process requires you to stand in a very specific position- wide-legged with your arms dangling, elbows slightly bent, and your palms facing backwards. Kind of like an orangutang. Also, it’s an open-air screening (so all in plain view) and I have to admit it was hilarious watching passengers trying to “strike a pose” and be corrected multiple times by the scary officers before getting it right. The novelty wore off, though, and an hour later I was finally on my way to Lufthansa ticket services. They rebooked me on a flight via Munich the next day that arrived just before the next day’s bus to THE DOLOMITES. Looked like I was spending the night in Frankfurt, although this is the extent of what I saw of the city: At least they put me up in the Sheraton which is located just a tunnel away from the terminal. There I joined a room full of other Lufthansa passengers in a large conference room for our comp’d dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes. Kind of like Thanksgiving, and many people looked about as happy to be there as they would at their disfunctional family’s holiday dinner tables. Unfortunately I was faced with another snafu the next morning as we were delayed leaving Frankfurt and I missed my connection in Munich. Argh!!! I had a five hour wait for the next flight and took out the trusty old iPad to troubleshoot how I would get to THE DOLOMITES, having missed the one bus of the day. I mean, I could always rent a car. But I hate driving. But… it’s THE DOLOMITES!! And your options are veeeerrrry limited. Here’s what I saw of Munich- it looks lovely and I’ll have to go back under different circumstances. I FINALLY landed and set out to claim my rental car, dragging a lil’ bit from my 36+ hour journey at this point. The kind woman at Thrifty must have noticed I wasn’t exactly in the jolliest of moods and upgraded me from Bare Bones Fiat to Pimped Out Audi (to be referred to as POA from this point forward). Here she is: My mood buoyed slightly… I was off with a sweet ride! The two-hour drive to Cortina was beautiful, despite increasing patches of fog and rain as I got deeper into the mountains (on mostly winding two-lane roads). I checked into my accommodation and the proprietor pointed out the four restaurants I could choose from. He said they all close at 9pm as it’s a “sleepy mountain town” this time of year. Hmmm… based on Trip Advisor, I’d thought Cortina had more going on than this? And where were those mountains I was supposed to be able to see from my window? The rain was really coming down now and it was already 8 p.m. so I motored to the closest restaurant, a pizzeria next door. There were only a few tables occupied and I was seated at a table next to another solo diner, a gent who looked about my age. I wasn’t sure how to sit as I thought facing him directly would be kind of awkward, almost like were at the same table, but with my back to him seemed rude. I compromised and sat at kind of an angle, half-facing him (which in hindsight was probably more awkward than either of the alternatives). I got bored pretty quickly sitting there by myself (and with no phone decoy) and soon we made eye contact and a conversation naturally commenced. Okay, okay I’ll be honest, chances are that I was the one who struck up the conversation… I don’t exactly have a healthy fear of chatting with strangers (as reported in the British rag, The Daily Mail, where I’ve been cited as an expert on the topic). Anyways, soon enough my new friend (Christoph from Germany, living in Austria), were sharing both a table and a bottle of wine. Christoph had been in Cortina for 9 days and also came to hike THE DOLOMITES. He gave me the BLUF, which I appreciated despite the information it conveyed, “Everything is closed. The hiking season doesn’t start until June and no trails are open, nor are the gondolas that take you to the trails. In fact, there’s still a lot of snow in the mountains. No snow this week, though, just rain. Every day, with no end in sight.” I looked at him, incredulous. Was this some type of German humor that I didn’t know about? If so, hilarious! Alas, (while I learned later that he is very funny), Christoph was not pulling my leg. I have to say I did feel slightly less silly given that someone else had made the same mistake as I had….and COME ON Trip Advisor!  Both of us had done research (albiet his likely more extensive than mine) and this “Dolomites are closed until June” thing never came up. Anyways, the no-hiking scenario was probably for the best given that it poured TORENTIALLY for the ENTIRE next day. The mountains being open would not have helped. I caught up on some correspondence and other life administrivia that has fallen by the way-side and thank goodness for my Cortina boyfriend, as I would have really gone bonkers without Christoph (both for his company and validation that I’m not a total idiot for making this mistake). He had scoped out the adorable ski town during his time there, and toured me to his favorite spots (of the handful that were open). Gotta love an iPad selfie attempt! Christoph also speaks ‘nerd’ so we geeked out discussing things like China’s advances in the innovation arena and how this impacts their global positioning. The next morning brought some sunlight (!!!) and I could actually see the mountains that I would not be hiking. No matter, I hopped in my POA and headed to my ultimate destination- the mythical Ortesei. I spent the next 2.5 hours driving through winding mountain passes…it was INCREDIBLE! And included some extremely variable (and equally beautiful) scenery.For the first time in my life I LOVED driving… a LOT. I think I figured out that my problem with driving in the past is that I’ve been operating average-to-below-average cars and have had average-to-below-average-views, AND have had to deal with pesky things…like stoplights and speed limits. Driving POA through THE DOLOMITES is a different experience entirely. It also occurred to me that when I’d booked my hotel in Ortesei I’d assumed there were only a few available because they were all full of hikers like myself, but I now suspected it was prolly because they were also still closed. And… I was correct. It was just salt in the wound when I learned that the mountains in Ortesei were opening for hiking the VERY day I was leaving. Of course they were! Regardless, I loved the family owned mountain lodge where I stayed. The views were totes amaze and they even had some footpaths where I could fake-hike. I was a happy camper.It was pretty spectacular as far as fake hiking goes and I zoomed off for hours, happy to be moving after days of sitting (something I do not handle well). More views: After fake-hiking for much of the day, I took POA out for a spin in the mountains. That’s right… a drive just to drive, with no destination. Driver’s ed was the last time I did that! Then I was off to the airport, not sad it was 3.5 hours away and I savored my final moments with POA. As I drove I reflected on how my Dolomites experience had not been what I’d envisioned at the outset but it had definitely been an adventure and, all in all, one I really enjoyed! I got to make a few new friends, take in some incredible beauty, and, of course, there’s my new love affair with driving. I was glad the many snafus throughout the course of the journey hadn’t kept me from maintaining a (mostly) positive outlook and being open to whatever experiences presented themselves, as they were pretty cool ones! Next up… gobble, gobble!