Dolomites 2007

In the city it's hot, why not look for some cool in the mountains? No sooner said than done, we load the camper and set off. First stop: Forni di Sopra, at the "Tornerai" campsite, a lovely place, clean and well run by a young couple with two wonderful children at the very low price of €16.80 a day, absolute rest for four days. Nearby, a short walk away, there is a much-praised restaurant where we got ripped off; we went on the Saturday to see it and, having noted the menu, we booked for the next day, Sunday.

Result: for the festival they only make the first course and for the second only a meat grill and no vegetables, the tagliatelle were raw, the hare sauce dry, the grill not bad, but a camper usually makes his own without going to a restaurant; the desserts excellent, at least those; half a litre of house wine, a bottle of mineral water, total €45.10; to the waiter I gave €50 and the owner gave me back €4.90 (not 5). Second stop: Auronzo, the Pope was there too, an area by the river, a nice spot with bad company: nomads with brand-new campers, the parking meter was broken, who knows who did it?? then the municipal police arrived with a technician who promptly repaired the fault and moved on the unwanted neighbours; a stroll around the village and a visit to the lake, formed by a dam, and a long walk along the river.

Third stop: Cortina, after much wandering a sign leads us onto the road to Misurina and just before the area there is the Olympia campsite (€18.00 a day) almost full, mostly occupied by permanent caravans; we were lucky, we found a place along the river in front of a little beach with umbrellas and deckchairs and a bowls pitch; in the morning, by bus, tickets are collected at reception at the price of €1 per person one way, a visit to the beautiful town centre, very crowded with tourists; in the afternoon a storm did quite a bit of damage to a gazebo and to the umbrellas, left open, on the little beach; the night was quite cold, so much so that we turned on the heater. Fourth stop Lienz, not before, on the way, visiting Lake Misurina and a stop in Dobbiaco with a visit to two beautiful churches, one baroque in the centre and the other, very characteristic, on a hill nearby.

In Lienz, before going to the campsite, we visited Schloss Bruck: a castle with an interesting museum inside that traces the history of the area. We were looking for the campsite in the area bordering the town, but, by mistake, we ended up at Camping Seewies, further away and quite expensive (€31.60 a day), very beautiful but very small, few pitches for campers and very cramped, where one person's veranda ended, the other's camper began; with difficulty I squeezed between one and the other, and after a visit to the little lake, where many locals were swimming, we had dinner; during the night we again turned on the heater.

The next morning, having left the campsite, a visit to the Waerschaupfad: a mountain gorge with a waterfall; to reach the top there are two routes: a path with steps and a wooden walkway jutting out into the void, or a via ferrata along the cliff, and of course we chose the path; a feature of the visit is that they give you a miner's helmet to avoid hitting your head along the rock and hurting yourself; very interesting and beautiful to see; back towards the town to visit the centre and the Friday market, and finding no parking we decided to return to Italy. A stop along the road for lunch, a short rest, and off again, arriving home.