Dolomiti - Day 5

Today was our last full day and we spent it going up to the of Marmolada and learning about the history of the World War 1 front line "battle of the peaks". It is such a fascinating place!

This part of the mountain was riddled with tunnels, caves and lookouts that you could go in and explore (which we did)

At the top of the peak from the previous picture, with the very top of Marmolada and glacier behind us

Our choice lunching spot

From one of the lookout windows inside a cave

Sasso Lungo, which is my favorite mountain of the area

After spending a good few hours exploring and marveling at Marmolada, we came down and stopped for a gelato at this hotel. Since it was early afternoon, all the shops were closed and we ourselves had a bit of a siesta too 

Siesta spot in the shade with perfect temperature, a slight breeze and the sounds of a water feature nearby

We did some shopping in the late afternoon and had a final beer and sausages at the cafe we went to on the first day, then packed up ready to leave first thing in the morning.

It's been an amazing trip and we are already talking about coming back another time hopefully soon. Maybe even find a way to bring the kids next time?

Dolomiti - Day 4

Today was probably our best day yet, and that is saying something because every day has been amazing! We went to do a climb that was the most challenging yet, but it was extremely enjoyable and I was a bit sad when it was finished.

Here is the approach to the climb, which started just beyond the remains of a military field hospital from 1915 when this particular spot was on the front line between the Austrian/ Hungarian forces and the Italian forces.

There was an English couple ahead of us who we chatted with at the top - Andy and Kirsten

At the top of the climb at a grassy plateau

A wonderful lunching spot - super mountains behind!

The way back down was a slippery gravel trail down a steep slope, but it was fine. This is the view looking back at the route we had just done.

It was a pretty short day actually, and we had time to stop at the WW1 museum back at Lago Fedaia which was really interesting. For dinner we went back to El Resole across the road from the hotel and got lucky again with a lovely table outside in the veranda and the same smiley waitress. Very enjoyable.

Dolomiti - Day 3

Today we did the long but wonderful route called VF Gadotti
The day started off with a big hike up to the start of the route. We actually took a wrong turn during this first part so had to do a bit of a detour but no problem really. We met some Czech guys who enlightened us, and then we had a strange encounter with an older man who was sort of aimlessly walking around.

This was our lunch spot, which was also a spot of conflict as Rhodri and I each thought our own selected spot was the better place to sit and have lunch. We worked out a solution in the end and eventually laughed about it!

Looking down to Vigo di Fassa

On the walk down the other side of the valley, with Refugio Vallencia in the foreground

It was a long day of strenuous but beautiful hiking and just a bit of climbing. Some bits were more like just scrambling with hand rails and that was a bit disappointing because we wanted a bit more of a challenge. We hardly saw anyone all day and had a lovely little chat with the worker at the refugio on the way down.

Such a cute baby longhorn cow! He looked like a teddy bear.

We had dinner tonight at a 4 star hotel a couple hundred meters walk from our hotel, and they had really good beer and ok pizza. 

Dolomiti - Day 2

This morning we set out on our first via ferrata of the trip: VF Brigata Tridentina. Here is an overview of the route - it was basically a climb of 3 sections with a bit of a walk in between the 1st and the 2nd sections. 

We were both pretty scared and nervous this morning as we set out and drove from Alba around the Sella massif, which has these huge intimidating cliffs! 

Car park and approaching view of the first climb we did

Both of us were pretty nervous, but once we got going our nerves eased and it became enjoyable. The first part of the climb was easy and short, then there was a 20 min hike to the start of the next stage of the climb. This is when we saw the traffic jam of people ahead of us!

Start of the 2nd stage of climb, with trail of people winding up and to the left

It was really slow going, which was fine for awhile, but then started to get quite boring. At the junction for the 3rd and final part of the climb, Rhods and I peeled off and hiked up an alternate way to the refugio at the plateau.

Refugio at Al Pisciadù

We were a bit disappointed to leave the final stage of the climb, but by then we had already met our objective of getting our mojo back after we lost it at the end of last year's trip! It felt good to hike after standing around and slowly climbing up the cliff for several hours previously. We rested in the shade at the refugio "Al Pisciadù" and then came down a different way - Via Setus it is called - which turned out to be a very steep descent down a ravine. There was a cable to hang onto for the first few hundred meters, and there were people of all ages on the trail. We were surprised by how crowded this whole route was today - then again it was the Friday of a long weekend and perfect weather: sunny and 25 deg C/ 80 deg F so we shouldn't have been so surprised.

View of Marmolada with glaciers down the left shoulder

That evening we went for dinner at Cima Undici which is across the dam at Lago Fedaia. The full moon rising behind sunset-illuminated peaks as we approached the venue was breathtaking, although this photo makes the moon look so much smaller than it was in real life!

Dolomiti weekend - Day 1

Rhodri and I traveled today from Gatwick to Verona, Italy, then rented a car and drove to Canazei in the Dolomites. We came here 11-12 years ago in the winter and had vowed to come back.

The pretty little hotel we stayed in - Garni Cirelle

The 3 hr drive from Verona into the mountains east of Bolzano was exciting as we headed off the motorway and got our first glimpses of these beautiful mountains.

We checked into the hotel around 5 pm and then walked 1.2 km down from Alba where we were staying into Canazei to buy maps and plan our stay. So exciting! We had a beer at this cafe on the main road - it was a perfect little start to our trip with extremely pleasant temperature and a slight breeze under clear skies. Ahhh.

Then we walked back up to Alba and had dinner at Resole which is directly across the road from our hotel. They were fully booked but we managed to find a table outside on the veranda in the corner. We had this amazing meal with delicious local wine and it was so cheap thanks to the favorable exchange rate between ££ and Euros at the moment. We planned our first climbing outing for tomorrow and sketched out the outings for the next few days as well.

Canoeing in the hood

Our friend Dave and his kids Katherine and Jonathan came up from Southampton to spend a couple of nights with us. The kids all remembered each other from when we saw them in Washington DC a few years ago, and they were fast friends again. Love it when that happens!
We all camped in the back garden on Tuesday night, then I took yesterday off and we played around the neighborhood, then Wed night it rained quite a bit so we decided to camp inside instead.
No camping photos for some reason, but I did take photos of our canoeing adventure in the forest across the street! Dave has this amazing inflatable canoe which is really awesome.

All the kids took turns - first the 4 of them together, then trading off paddlers, then just the girls went, then just the boys, and on and on for hours! We took a break for some lunch and then kept going, while Dave and I stood on the shore chatting and listening to country music from my phone. What a great day! It was so wonderful of them to come up to spend good quality time with us. We love it when people visit us.

Rescue Services day in Llandudno

This morning all the rescue services were on display down on the promenade in Llandudno. Nia, Rhods and I took the 4 kids down there to admire (and climb in) the fire trucks, ambulances, fast rescue crafts and police vans. Big excitement down at the shore.

Llandudno promenade

In the police van making criminal faces

In the FRC

Sioned, Nia, Cris and the kids had to leave in early afternoon but we were able to all have a BBQ lunch together before they left.

We stayed another night and then drove back today (Monday). A truly great weekend.

Wales for the weekend

We had a really special occasion this weekend - Nain Beryl turned 70 and there was a family gathering that had been planned for a long time. Rhodri's 3 siblings were all there - Nia, Trystan and Sioned, as well as Nia's and Trystan's children. We drove up on Friday night after the kids' tennis camp finished at 5pm and due to traffic and a couple of stops, we arrived around 12:30am.
One of the gifts to Nain was a deluxe "zero gravity" chair for deluxe lounging in the back garden.

On Saturday afternoon, we took the kids (+ Gabriel and Valentin) to the beach so they could get some wiggles out before the 5:30pm sitting at Porth Eirias restaurant in Colwyn Bay.

The dinner itself was lovely and we all were able to enjoy ourselves while dining on delicious food.
There is a playground attached to the restaurant itself where the whole herd of kids frolicked between courses under the watchful eye of one of us adults - this was a lifesaver!

Brython and Rhyddid running from the playground

Val, Rhyddid, Gabs, Tryfan, Rhiannon, Brython and Leusa

Trefor, Nia, Rhodri, Beryl, Sioned and Trystan

It was a great evening with no drama or discord. And actually, today was also Trefor and Beryl's anniversary with Beryl's actual birthday on Mon 17 August. Celebrations all around!