This is a lengthy transcript from one of our early visits to the Dolomites. It brings back memories of this and many other similar trips. Note that Via Ferrata references are from the Cecil Davies translation, prior to publication of the Smith/Fletcher guides. For anyone wishing to relate these entries to a map, I think Kompass 617 and/or Tabacco 1:50000 sheet 1 are what you need to perhaps rekindle your own memories. The photos are a mixture of photographed prints and scanned slides, the latter being of better quality. The diarists for each day are indicated in brackets.Saturday 14 July (Martin)
Friday night's
smooth trip to London Colney was followed by an equally efficient taxi ride at
5:30 am to Stansted.
This trip
comprises:
Sue and me
Linda - who is
with us on the flight to Munich
and who we picked up in Didsbury
Gill and Marcus
- who joined us at Stansted, having unwittingly queue jumped by pretending to
be Business Class customers
Dave - who flew
to Venice on
Friday
Rupert - who
joins us in Munich from Newcastle
via Paris
Chris - who joins us in Munich via Heathrow, and
Nick who potters
into Munich from Amsterdam.
So after a good
night on Helen (Sue's sister) and Alex's sofas,
Linda, Sue and I uneventfully log in at Stansted, meet up with Marcus and Gill,
and arrive in Munich on a hot day about 10 minutes late at 11:10. The only
disappointment so far being Lufthansa's pathetic muesli bar breakfast. (But at
£80 the flights were cheap.)
We reached the Alamo car hire queue at 11:45. By 2 pm we had reached the
front of the queue and discovered additional drivers cost £3 a day, not £3 a
week as Sue thought she had been told. On the other hand, our two Corsas were
upgraded to Astra Estates, which is really good news. We now have 3 Astra Estates
and are confused by two of them being identical. Whilst waiting we discovered
that Alamo had five absentees that day. The
staff who had made it in took over 2 hours to deal with about 20 cars! Meanwhile,
Rupert arrived more or less on time. Chris's plane had broken down and was two
and a half hours late, so he arrived just as the cars were being issued. Nick
arrived a bit earlier just as his driving license was required. By the time all
was sorted out we had Nick in control of a silver car, Rupert and I have a dark
blue one, and Gill and Marcus also have a dark blue one.
So the convoy departs Munich at 3 pm. Half an hour later we pull
into Feldkirchen services for baguettes and drinks. Gill and Marcus continued
with a luxury lunch, illegally imported from the UK. The outside temperature rises
to 31.5°C, but these Astras have aircon, so we are in a comfort zone. Gill and
Marcus also have CDs. Those who have brought tapes in accordance with my kit
list have been foiled. Continue in good weather past Innsbruck as far as Bressanone. Here Nick shoots off, abandoning the rest of his convoy to a poor
supermarket in Bressanone. There is a delay whilst loose change to release a
trolley is obtained. Then, loaded with goodies, we set off on the last lap to
Cortina, via Dobbiaco, which we reach at 8:15. Nick's car has gone directly to
Cortina where the Co-op was open until 8:00 pm, and by 8:30 the entire group
was installed on three luxurious flat pitches at Camping Dolomiti, Dave having
arrived the night before.
The campsite man very helpfully united
the three separate groups and calculated the nightly cost per person to be 13,666
lira. Pasta etc meals / brews were concocted in no time at all for all except
Marcus and Gill, who adjourned to Cortina for a pizza. Unfortunately they were
disorientated by the geography and one way system, and our failure to tell them
that the campsite is down the Venice
road. After all this - asleep well before midnight.
Sunday 15 July (Sue)
A leisurely start
was made as a result of a long day on Saturday. The sun on the tent made it
rather too hot to stay in after 8 am, especially with a down filled jumper on -
used for warmth last night.
Everyone had a leisurely
breakfast and gear sort out, enlivened by Martin's search for two brown
envelopes containing money that he claimed vehemently he had given to
either Nick, Linda or me. Denial all round, followed by apologies when I found
them in the brown wallet.
The whole group
decided to take up the suggestion of tackling Averau, a grade A via ferrata, from
Falzarego Pass (2117m), but knowing the hours of opening for the Co-op were
short on Sundays, that would be the first port of call. We left the sunny
campsite about 9:45 in two cars and were through shopping at 11 ish. Cortina,
as usual, was full of smartly dressed folk, ambling along the pedestrian main street.
Armed with
yellow bags full of food that wouldn't go off while sitting in the car all day,
we set off up the road to the pass.
Gill and Marcus
were suitably shocked when we pointed out the rock castle of Averau,
which was only 1500 feet above, but looked impressive and sheer. Once past the hordes
mingling around the shop, we were walking through meadows full of wild flowers
- lots of kidney vetch, birdsfoot trefoil, alpenrose, blue meadow cranesbill,
and lots of others.
Although cool when we left the car, we were all warm on the gradual ascent. Further on, a patch of snow provided some entertainment, although most of the (snowball) aims were poor. The party straggled out as the path steepened, and the wind was chilly at the col. The path contoured around the back of the mountain to the Averau Rifugio, from where we headed up to the start of the via ferrata on a narrow path across scree (1 pm).
At the base of the wires, the group spread out to eat a sandwich, whereupon spots of rain started to fall! There weren't many such spots, and everyone donned harnesses pretty efficiently, but then we had to wait for several people to descend.
Interspersing novices with the more experienced, we managed to climb up with no great difficulties apart from Gill's dead fingers, brought about by the lunch stop. The main problem seemed to be the zypers getting in the way. Once we were all up the via ferrata, there was a rocky path to the top of the mountain which had lots of variations. Linda and I ended up scrambling the last section; that freaked Gill and Marcus out as it wasn't protected. Eventually, all (except Dave who remained below the wires at the lunch spot) topped out and spent a few minutes signing the visitors book and taking photos.
There were more spots of rain, but it wasn't that that hastened our descent! I felt my forehead - not a normal sensation, then noticed Linda's longer hair standing on end! There was clearly rather a lot of electricity in the air, so we beat a hasty retreat. (Martin stayed a while to write an appropriate entry in the visitors' book fastened to the huge cross.)
Despite looking threatening, a storm and more rain didn't materialise and we got down to the hut safely. Marcus particularly deserved the hot chocolate we all indulged in, as his adrenaline level had been fairly high.
At 4:00, it was time to go separate ways. Martin, Dave, Linda and Chris chose to continue along AV1 to Cortina, while everyone else would return the same way as they came up. At the col, this plan deteriorated, with Nick, Gill and Marcus continuing along the planned descent route, and Rupert and me choosing the higher level route along a crest. So, some more ascent and a little bit of scrambling to reach two more summits. Views all round were good, particularly of some high green meadows not far below, scattered with pines and the odd building.
Our path joined the main path through more meadows before returning to Falzarego Pass, where I waited with the rucksacks while Rupert fetched the car from further up the road. The others had only been back a few minutes when we reach the campsite at about 6:10. Tea was brewed in the sun and everyone looked suitably relaxed.
Martin, Linda, Dave and Chris had reckoned on returning to the campsite between 7 and 8pm, so I put a brew on at 7:30, knowing it would be needed. The water boiled and was put on one side when they didn't appear. Hunger got the better of me and the olives were opened along with the wine. At 8:00 pm, bets on their arrival time were placed, the latest being 9:15. At about 8:15, Rupert and I started cooking, and had eaten when the others rolled in at 9 pm. Excellent penne with seafood in tomato sauce, which only required reheating for Martin. Their descent had been rather long and there were some battered feet. Sleep came easily for all ...
Gill writes:
As the 'breakaway'
party descended towards the cars, Sue proposed another climb but Nick dug his
heels in said "I've made the decision to go down, and down I am going".
In the end only Rupert and Sue headed on up again whilst Nick, Marcus and Gill,
starting down and coming upon a signpost, decided to take the 419 path to vary
the route. It turned out to be a good decision as the path encountered a pretty
little stream and then passed through meadows abundant with a colourful variety
of flora, resembling a fairytale landscape.
After stopping
to rest for a brief spell by a beautiful little lake to enjoy the reflections
of Averau, the three continued down across the lower slopes to finally reach
the car, having spent an interesting and fairly tough day discovering the
challenges of via ferrata for the first time.
Linda's Report:
Saturday pm -
after having drunk leisurely cappuccinos and hot chocolates oozing whipped
cream, the 'B team' consisting of Chris, Dave and Linda set off under the
leadership of Martin for a late afternoon stroll back to Cortina. "We'll
be back by 7 pm." We set off up Nuvolao. At the summit photos were taken
of the curvaceous bronze sculpture against the background of Cinque Torri and Averau.
The sculpture celebrated Mr Riccardo dalla Favera's 800th ascent of Nuvolao (obviously
he too kept a diary).
A few short
scrambles down and a walk through more flowers (common spotted orchids seen for
the first time) took us to the hut at Passo Giau which displayed a rather less
appealing sculpture of a motorbike raised up on a post.
We continued
along the path of Alta Via 1 (AV1), now a lovely narrow path through meadows. The
mountains soared up and were lit beautifully in the low afternoon sunlight.
Over the pass at
Forc. la Giau, which got the hearts pumping, then down and around to Forc. la
Ambrizzola. A quick snack and a time check at the pass - 7:15 pm. The
realisation that our 'stroll' could be a little more, turned the conversation
to food.
The mellow
sounds of cowbells accompanied us down to the still waters of Lago Federa
The pace hotted
up as we descended through the woods on route 431. Careful path spotting by
Martin shortened our route and the B team returned to camp at shortly after 9
pm. No prizes for the A Team, who'd been placing bets on our return time - none
of them thought it could possibly take us so long!
A lovely walk in
the cool of the day and the evening light. Thank you Martin!
Monday 16 July (Martin)
The Lagazuoi Tunnels
At risk of
detracting from Rupert's excellent portrayal (above), just a few explanatory
notes.
Today started with torrential rain, so it was a slow
start. The rain looked set in but eventually eased. Marcus chose the Lagazuoi Tunnels as a good venue for the day's activities. We drove up to the Falzarego Pass again and got a cable car at about
midday. The route up is very quick - 683m height ascent.
Soon we were all
on the Galleria path, with helmets and torches at the ready. Gill, Marcus and
Dave set off down the main route. The rest of us found a passage to the right
and carried out a full exploration. This passage led to an open air section
before descending directly to a junction where the left hand passage was joined
for a final steep descent to a large entrance chamber.
We carried out a
fairly complete exploration of this system. The longest side passage went past
sandbags and barrows for quite a way until a sharpish slope and a dead end.
At the exit Marcus was apparently a bit daunted
by the exposure, and Gill was cross at having been abandoned in the tunnel. Dave
was not in mountain goat mode, so the three of them stayed on the crowded
balcony whilst the rest of us found a quiet ledge along the path to the right,
for a pleasant lunch. Gill then joined us and the magnificent seven set off
adventuring further along the path. Nick soon stopped but the rest of us
climbed to more tunnels and carried out further exploration. These tunnels were
not visited as often as the main tunnel and were fun. A crow's nest viewpoint
gave us sight below of Nick wandering back from his own vantage point (our
quoted five minutes had turned into an hour) and we had various other views
from windows below the cable car cables.
It is a
fascinating area about which a book was later purchased.
So we ambled
away, back to the cars by around 5 pm. There were good views across to Averau
and yesterday's various routes. Some supermarket purchases and a nice meal at
the campsite for most of us. The day ended with an exciting game of chopping
board tent cricket. This involves six to nine participants, six tents, a tennis
ball, and a chopping board. The 'hitter' is thrown the tennis ball and he or
she tries to bat it to a tent with the chopping board. If a tent is hit it is
eliminated. The object is for the hitter to hit all six tents without being
caught by one of the fielders, who try to protect the tents. Only Nick
succeeded in hitting all six tents, perhaps because at the time he was hitter
he was aided by almost total darkness.
Tuesday 17 July (Nick)
Not quite Monte Piana
The day on which
grand plans of an ascent of Monte Piana were thwarted to some extent by the weather
and recollections of earlier days. (Ascent in a thunderstorm!) What resulted
was a lovely valley walk and a (mostly) sunny day.
It was a shame
not to be able to leave the car on the shores of Lago di Miserina, but the
price per hour seemed a little excessive, so instead we left it in a lay-by
some way along the route to Lago di Landro. The ladies were somewhat taken by
the athlete parked on the road. Further on, past the pristine waters of Lago di
Landro, we parked the other two cars and walked down the road to the start.
It was drizzling
softly and looked cloudy high up as we looked up towards where we thought the
via ferrata 'Pioneeriweg' was routed.
At the junction of
the paths, people made and justified their decisions to take either the valley
or the high route. In the event only Chris and Rupert decided on the via ferrata,
of which more elsewhere, and the rest of us continued on route 103.
It was a
pleasant enough walk - a rising track, quite steep in places, up through the
forest. There were some tales of goalkeeping after the previous night's
excitement of chopping board cricket and imploding bubble wrap.
The track flattened
out in the Valle di Rimbianco, and the sun shone on a wide array of alpine
flowers and the clear waters of the river. And there were views up to the Gruppo
dei Cadini, though obscured to some extent by cloud. It was a lovely spot to
stop for lunch, and even with the large ants didn't prevent us from enjoying a
short post lunch siesta.
Grass of Parnassus
Soon after
setting off again, there was another decision to be made - whether to make the
sharp ascent to the summit of Monte Piana, or continue to stroll along the valley.
It was a pity not to go and take a look at what sounded like a very interesting
walk up to the Open Air Museum
of the battle between Austria
and Italy,
but in the event the stroll won the day.
The rest of the
flower spotting walk was eventful, save for a new yoga position invented by Sue
and Linda - the Lotus Sniffing position - to be adopted when trying to sniff an
orchid in the middle of a bog.
Emerging onto a track
high above Lago di Misurina, we finally descended to the lake by a ski tow to
examine a rather interesting weed-eating paddle boat.
Then back around
the lake shore at lower level past fluffy ducklings and wide ranging clear
views of the distant Soropis range.
Returning in the
cars to Cortina, we decided to go to the campsite before going to the shops. A
bad idea. We discovered the shops in Cortina close at 7:30 every evening except
Saturday, when we'd been lucky to get there just before 7:45. At least eating
out meant we didn't need to cook.
(Martin) Meanwhile Rupert and Chris did the Monte
Piana route 56 and found it easy (grade d). They got back to Misurina a few
minutes before the rest of us.
Wednesday 18 July (Sue)
Sentiero Bonacossa
A typical start - a brew, some breakfast, and butty
making. Seven of us (excl. Chris and Rupert) in two cars left for the Misurina
road, where Dave was dropped off at Passo Tre Croci. Parking was easy, just off
the Tre Cime road, and we set off up the track in cloudy but dry conditions.
Route 115 was joined and the path wound gently upwards through the pines. Flowers
adorned the banks, and there were many Fragrant Orchids in the shady woods.
Despite the ascent, we were accompanied by singing, led by Marcus and Nick,
with a full rendition of 'There was an old woman who swallowed a fly'.
Only one verse was accidentally omitted -
'swallowed a cow - I don't know how'. The path steepened as we left the trees,
and the singing stopped. This short steep section is made much easier by
several zigzags. There were calls for a break, which we took on a grassy knoll
at the top of that section. Two choughs were tempted to eat from Marcus's hand
but didn't quite rise to the bait. Without the sun, we soon chilled, so we set
off on the remaining section to the hut, now visible a little way above. Several
climbers were in action to our left on Cadini di Tocci. A last steep burst
brought us to the Rifugio Fonda-Savio hut, where it was warmer inside as a
result of damp cloud hovering about this level. Their hot chocolate and warm
apple strudel was delicious, and, fortified, we continued towards Sentiero Bonacossa.
Fortunately I spotted Nick's wallet on the bench
before we left, avoiding potential disaster!
The next section involved a steep, aided descent, and for two of us a squeeze
under old snow in a gully. This brought us to a snowfield suitable for yomping
down, then to a ridge overlooking our route on Tuesday. The cloud base had been
dropping and had given us only a brief glimpse of the Tre Cime (Drei Zinnen).
Via Ferrata kits all went on as the ridge narrowed before the narrow ledge
started. Steep drops to our right were cautiously avoided as we made our way
along the ledge. Evidence of earlier paths was visible in the form of poor-looking
wooden bridges. No Edelweiss in this section (we were looking hard) but a Devil's
Claw plant clung to the vertical limestone.
The most interesting section involved a short
steep section of rock and a ladder that everyone managed with no problems.
A little more
ascent on a wider path and more Edelweiss searching - this time with more
success. We found 2-3 clumps of flowers, insignificant looking amongst the rock.
From the plateau,
a shortcut avoided the road and brought us directly to the return path (101). This
wove between the trees and this time there were cowbells rather than singing! A
brief spell of rain had everyone diving for cagoules, only to be removed
shortly afterwards.
It took another
half hour or so to return to the cars, during which light drizzle returned.
There were two
camps for dinner - Nick, Martin and I cooked 'at home', and everyone else found
a pizzeria. Martin and I got away with cooking and eating outside, but Nick was
just too late as rain started again.
An early night
was welcome.
(Martin) Today Rupert and Chris did Via Ferrata Lipella
- route 45, grade e. They were in cloud most of the time but enjoyed it.
Thursday 19 July (Martin)
A walk from Falzarego
Sue, Linda, Nick
and I decided to make the most of a dodgy looking day by getting the cable car
to the 2728 metre top (and only) station. We strolled up to the refuge and
enjoyed a hot chocolate / coffee before starting the long descent at 11:45 am.
Lunch at 1:30
then rain for a couple of hours. But we later discovered it had started raining
in Cortina five minutes after we had left, so the other four had spent the day
doing very little. [Dave left for Venice via Verona today, en route to
perform in a recorder concert in Buxton before travelling to Trowbridge for the
folk festival.]
This route was excellent. We had chamois and marmot
sightings as well as snow buntings.
There was a huge waterfall on the right with
people descending across scree and above the waterfall. We had a few wades on
the flood plain above the waterfalls, dodging the deep channels. Intermittent
rain.
Chopping board tent cricket
Good evening
meal at a restaurant in town, and we adjourned to the bar to join Chris,
Rupert, Gill and Marcus, who have failed to do very much today due to rain in
Cortina.
Linda did an
email report on today that I'll add in the unlikely event of finding it!
Friday 20 July (Martin)
Via Ferrata Barbara
A stormy night
and a wet morning.
The weather cleared so we had lunch and went into Cortina. The plan was to get
the cable car to Faloria and stroll down. But the cable car was 'Closed for Bad
Weather'.
So a quick decision was made to do the Via Ferrata
Barbara (route 39).
We parked at the recommended spot at the first hairpin on the Dobbiaco road.
Then we went down 100 metres to the main path. Left at a junction and a stroll up
the valley to the start of the route.
We kitted up with Via Ferrata gear, but not
waterproofs.
I turned back when I saw the waterfall and re-kitted
with full waterproofs. Those without them got wet. So did I - feet anyway. We
were unable to cross the bridge at the bottom so we returned by the north side
of the valley amongst lovely flowers.
It turned out to
be an excellent choice of route, enjoyed by all, and spectacularly different.
The rest of the
day was enjoyed at the campsite / in restaurants etc.
Saturday 21 July (Sue/Nick)
Col
Rosa - Via Ferrata Ettore Bovero
It was evident that yesterday's cloud cover had melted
away, by waking at 4:25 am and feeling chilly. The morning was clear and still,
soon warmed by sunshine hitting the tent at 7:40.
Gill and Marcus were leaving during the morning,
so more goodbyes were said before six of us (Martin, Sue, Nick, Linda, Chris
and Rupert) set off for Camping Olympia up the valley. Nick hadn't done any 'e'
grade Via Ferrata before, and I had forgotten that Martin and I had done one, so
there were a few (and lots for Nick) butterflies in the stomach!
After confirming that it was possible to leave the car in the campsite car park,
we set off along a gently ascending track through the pines.
Col Rosa towered
above us through the trees, but height was soon gained on a zigzag path that
climbed steeply. It was hot, sweaty work to reach Passo Posporcora, where the
path became narrower, steeper, and involved short sections of scrambling. The
'boys' investigated a cave and look out towards the start of the Via Ferrata
section, while others took photos of a snowy Tofane.
This diary entry from Sue continues with the following entries from Nick:
Ettoro’s ‘e’ grade – travelling the Via
Ettoro Boveri on Saturday 21st July 2001
It wasn’t how I’d planned
to spend my last day in the Dolomites. I
stalked around silently with my own thoughts as I thought of the challenges
ahead. I’d rather fancied a stroll
around the plateau of Monte Piana, and the thought of an ‘e’ grade via ferrata
with its vertiginous drops was perhaps more than I could stand. But as I lay in my tent thinking of the day
ahead, I visualised how I would feel on the top having completed the ‘walk’ and
decided it was better to try this than walk off on my own.
The
day dawned bright and clear – the kind of weather we’d prayed for all week, but
I couldn’t eat much breakfast at the thought of the rigours ahead. Linda had already told us that everyone feels
nervous before a new climb – just the threshold at which you feel it gradually
changes. Mine was about to be increased.
Parking
at Camping Olympia (alt. 1300m) was the easy part – not much negotiation was
required to be allowed to park all day in front of the No Parking signs. We set off through the shady woods, my pack
all the heavier with the rope that I had insisted we take – ‘just in case’.
I
knew it was a big climb up to the Passo Posporpora, after all we’d descended
from there into Cortina only a couple of days earlier, but the easy gradient
and the multitude of zigzags made it a steady plod. Not quite enjoyable, but bearable – even with
six days of walking in our stiffening legs.
Pausing at one point in the shade for a sip of water, I wondered whether
my dented litre Sigg bottle would really be enough for such a hot day as this.
We paused at the col (alt.
1730m) to look for the mouse we’d seen earlier, but despite (or perhaps because
of) copious poking about with Martin’s stick our little brown friend failed to
surface. Now began the real climb up to
the start of the via ferrata at around 1900m.
This path was much rougher than the gentle amble up to the col – and
even the lower stretches were not for the faint-hearted being somewhat
exposed. I asked why the pause at a
particularly dodgy section – ‘to look at the beautiful view’ was the
reply. It was, but I wasn’t in the
mood. A little higher we scrambled on to
a rather wider ledge. I felt confident
enough to take out my camera and take a few wide-angle shots way up the valley
of the Rio Travenanzes towards Tofana and Falzarego.
Onwards and upwards, the
waymarks now taking on more of a climbing feel, with red arrows pointing around
corners and upwards. There were a few
awkward moments – lucky for me Linda just in front was able to point out some
easy handholds that made the route finding easier. Martin, a little further behind, paused for a
rest at this point. (Actually, he
stopped because he was stuck! – Ed)
It was a relief to finally reach the bottom of the
route.
The wires snaked up the
white rock into the brilliant blue sky.
We climbed into our harnesses.
Linda proffered some nuts which I had difficulty swallowing. But it looked do-able which was good – I had
pictured some vertical blank wall in my mind.
Rupert led from the front,
followed by me and then Martin. I pulled
up the first part, hearing words to take small steps but ignoring them in my
anxiety to get up. Much of the route up
was a daze. I looked out at the view
with incredulity – not believing I was there.
The worst part was always unclipping at the end of a wire while walking
over ‘easy’ ground. I rushed for the
next wire to make me ‘safe’. Rupert
offered quiet words of encouragement. I
wished I dared take out my camera to record the moment. Rupert took shots downwards where I dared not
look. Then came a moment I couldn’t
believe.
Just up ahead the wire
disappeared horizontally around a corner.
But where to put my feet? Rupert
suggested I go ahead so he could take my picture – but even this opportunity
failed to encourage me. Instead we had
to execute a rather tricky manoeuvre on a very tight ledge. I was shown the controls on the camera, but
all I could do was hold on tightly to the wire.
I dared to let go with one hand as Rupert swung out onto the wire. One-handed picture with much camera shake,
while Martin waited just below with his nose pressed to the rock. Moving around the corner was easier than
expected, so we were soon on some easier ground below the summit rocks. There was a call for lunch but Martin, I
suspect like me, wanted to be on the top.
There were then several sets of ‘stemples’ – big iron staples drilled
into the rocks before I finally saw the small wooden summit cross ahead to my
right.
‘YESSSS!!!’
It was just as I
visualised. We relaxed on the summit at
2166m, enjoying our lunch and taking in the wide-ranging views as the sun baked
us. Many summit photos.
Then off down the long walk
back. The conversation was light-hearted
– from Laurence Llywellyn-Bowen to Charlie Dimmock. And we laughed as one of our fellow
‘mountaineers’ skipped past with a video camera slung over his shoulder as his
only equipment! Much more in the way of
war remains on the way down. Chris made
a fine model poking his head out of a tunnel window 50 feet above us. And Sue made a fine sunshade with my hat so I
could record the moment.
The rest of the journey
down was uneventful, save for a rather ungainly scramble down a tree trunk, and
some sarcastic comments from some Germans who looked rather disdainfully at our
rope.
Ice creams were only
noteworthy by their obvious absence at the entrance to Camping Olympia, so
instead we returned to Cortina for a welcome beer (or lemonade…).
The day finished in style
with a communal meal of highlights and leftovers from the week: seafood pasta,
sausages – expertly cooked by Chris and Rupert – with a very large salad, a
lovely Barolo wine and finished off with yoghurt with strawberry jam. And no rain.
In the middle of all this,
Linda helped a small German child go to the toilet.
Is that Brunico,
Bressanone, Bolzano
or Brennero? – the trip back on Sunday 22nd July
The day was depressingly
and beautifully clear and sunny. The
rain and thunderstorms of the previous week were way behind us.
I was up soon after seven
o’clock in the pre-sun chill. But I knew
that as soon as the sun appeared over the hill at around 7.45, it would be a
hot day. The sky was almost
cloudless. Tents were struck and packed
away and the final few bits of kit were squeezed into bulging packs. We were off by around 9.45.
Cortina was full of
mountain-bikers of all shapes and sizes and colours. And riding in all directions so that we
really had no idea what was going on.
Except that there appeared to be checkpoints at various places along the
road nearly as far as Dobiacco. Leaving
Cortina was slow. But would have been
even slower later in the day we surmised as we saw the Carabinieri ready to
spring roadblocks into action to let the riders pass.
Linda asked to be dropped
at Brunico to get a train on to Rome,
so we made for there first. It was on
the way after all. With luck the railway
line ran along the side of the road as we entered the town. It was not too difficult to find the station,
but it was then that Linda let us know that it wasn’t really here that she
needed to be – but Bolzano
– or Brennero – or even Bressanone. Well
they do all begin with ‘B’ and end in ‘o’!
Martin was getting anxious for their flight, but as I had plenty of
time, I decided to take Linda on to Bressanone with the idea of meeting the
others perhaps a little later at Vipiteno services. I was solemnly handed the brown envelope
containing 150 Austrian schillings to be used for my toll.
At Bressanone, there was no
real station in evidence so we pottered on down to Bolzano.
‘Pottered’ because frustratingly, we were stuck behind a large camper
van all the way there, with the autostrada snaking its way high above and to
the side of us all the way there. But it
was interesting to compare the change of countryside even in this short journey
south. After a trip around the back
streets of Bolzano,
the railway station revealed itself. I
dropped off Linda (for another week’s holiday!) and I sped off back to the
autostrada. I hoped.
I stopped on the way to the
autostrada to pick up some fuel at what proved to be a very confusing automatic
self-service station. I was helped out
by a very helpful Audrey Heyburn look-alike Italian lady, but was so flustered
by the time I’d finished that I got into the car on the passenger side and
wondered where the steering wheel was.
There was I thinking I had got used to this driving on the ‘wrong’
side. I hoped no one had noticed.
Soon onto the autostrada
heading north. What is the speed limit
on the autostrada? The signs said 100
kph, but no one seemed to take much notice.
So I didn’t either. The sun beat
down so I turned up the a/c and the volume.
Musical highlights included ‘Sing’ (of course), ‘Have a nice day’ and
‘Sultans of Swing’. The latter required
a particularly high volume to do it justice – after all, I’d seen Dire Straits
perform this particular number in Manchester Union in 1978! Passing a long queue of caravans on the
narrow road works section of the Europabrucke required white knuckles and not a
little luck I suspect. I, and the car,
escaped unscathed.
Only one stop on the way
north – for a sausage and chips in the land of the bratwurst. Then an easy journey on to the ‘mietwagen’
drop-off point. Note for the next time –
the only ‘tankstelle’ at Munich
airport is on the wrong side of the road and required rather a long detour.
A very pleasant cool
weissbier and sandwich at the airport to use up the last few DM’s and then on
to a comfortable if a little delayed plane back to Schiphol.
Nick
Gray - 23rd
July 2001
Sunday 22 July (Martin's version)
Campsite bill of 893,000 Lira was spot on
my calculation. So the remaining six of us left on a brilliantly sunny and warm
morning, around 10am, with 5½ hours before our earliest check-in time at Munich.
Linda was to be dropped at Brunico station but en route decided she had got the
wrong place. So Nick, who had the latest flight, took her to Bressanone whilst
the rest of us ploughed on towards Munich.
We quickly arranged a rendezvous with Nick at Vipetino, but this proved to be
too soon for lunch, so we carried on to Vosp in Austria (sorry Nick). Then, after
lunch in the sun, we continued on our way and after refuelling the Astra we
were checking in by 3:30. 4½ hours plus stops seems a reasonable
estimate of journey time given goodish traffic. (Today the milling around of
cyclists preparing for the start of the Cortina mountain bike marathon - a big
event, delayed us, but not the stationary traffic on the Munich motorway
immediately beyond the airport exit!)
Then after a minor delay we were on LH4716 - 5:25 to Stansted - Rupert was on
his way to Paris, Chris was waiting for his plane to Heathrow to be mended
again, Nick was hopefully enjoying a leisurely drive through Germany, Linda was
on a train heading for her sister's holiday accommodation near Rome, Gill and
Marcus had hopefully caught their earlier flight home, Dave was at Trowbridge,
and we are writing diary entries and postcards amidst LH's inadequate
refreshments (small chocolate bar and orange juice) and various screaming
children.
Quickly out at Stansted, where Helen kindly gave us a lift back to our car at
London Colney, and we were back home in Manchester
by 11 pm.
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