Day 6 Cortina d'Ampezzo: August 12

We left Venice on Tuesday morning. This is a photo of our elaborate and old fashioned hotel room, a nice description for Venice itself.

 

We caught a vaporetto back to the edge of town. We accidentally got on one headed the wrong direction. We were almost to the lagoon when we realized our mistake. The fare is good for 70 minutes so it was easy to switch to a vaporetto going the right direction. As an added bonus, we got to say goodbye to Venice by riding almost the entire length of the Grand Canal.

Past the Rialto Bridge

Past the Accademia Bridge.

And past one last picturesque gondolier.

We picked up a car at the edge of town, next to the train station. We thought we were renting a tiny Fiat, but ended up with a nice sized Peugeot. Brandan drove for the next three days.

Brandan drove in some challenging conditions, but our first hurdle was making it back to the mainland without getting a speeding ticket. The road is long and straight and it could be tempting to drive fast. The rental car attendant warned us multiple times that the road is strictly patrolled by cameras and the Italian police will track you down, even if you are a tourist and have returned home.

We drove north to the Dolomites, a mountain range on the border of Italy and Austria. We stopped at a grocery store for lunch and the view of the mountains was incredible.

Every hotel breakfast had Nutella as an option for a condiment so we had the idea that Italians liked Nutella. This enormous bottle of Nutella at the grocery store confirmed our assumption.

Our destination was a parking lot about 30 minutes away from Cortina. This area is a ski resort in the winter and a popular hiking spot in the summer. Dozens of hikes start from this spot. Although the parking lot was quite full, we only saw a few people hiking when we were on the trail.

Beautiful wildflowers bordered the parking lot.

We hiked the Dolomieu Panoramic Trail. Our impression is there is a hike for everyone in the Dolomites, and most likely dozens of hikes for every ability, from paved trails to technical climbing routes. The surrounding landscape is so stunning, we felt like we couldn't go wrong.

We hiked through some of the most beautiful forests we've seen.

This photo explains why the hike is called the panoramic trail.

Another view of the mountains.

The Dolomites are a subset of the Alps. While the Alps are typically made of granite, the Dolomites are made of unique dolomitic limestone.

This photo shows a good view of some of the dramatic peaks the area is known for. The town of Cortina is in the valley below.

We lost the trail for a bit, but came out on a gravel road that belongs to the ski resort. The Olympic women's alpine ski events will take place in this area in February 2026.

Like the rest of the world, winter temperatures are rising in Italy, making snow machines essential to skiing.

We found our trail again. The trail was actually marked very well. Posts with two red stripes bordering a white stripe or the trail number 212 were located strategically all along our route.

Here's another viewpoint.

And more wildflowers.

And another view of the valley. You can see Cortina is a small alpine town, not a big city.

This hike had a very high ratio of reward to effort. It wasn't too steep and the pay-off in scenery was amazing.

Our hotel was in the middle of Cortina, but construction related to the upcoming Olympics made it challenging to find.

Our room looked very bare, especially after our overdecorated room in Venice, but it was comfortable.

We enjoyed getting an early peek at preparations for the Olympics and look forward to seeing these mountains on TV in February. Notice the crane in the background, part of the Olympic construction.

We ate dinner at Ra Stua, the oldest restaurant in town. Which in this case means the late 1800s. Tourism arrived later to Cortina than the rest of Italy.

Becky ate spätzle with fresh tomato sauce, a delicious Italian/Austrian fusion dish. Brandan's dinner was extraordinarily good: ravioli stuffed with pureed beets.

We passed this Olympic countdown clock as we walked back to our hotel. The light in the sky is from lightning signaling the beginnings of a thunderstorm. We left our windows open and fell asleep to the sounds of a monster storm.