Den and Wen in Italy - The Dolomites Day 2

Monday, Sept. 28, 2026 - Dawn rises on our 2nd Day in The Dolomites:

Time to rise-and-shine! Wait, what's this IN THE SHOWER???

I AM DEFINATELY NOT TOUCHING ANYTHING!!! (I used the hot water in the sink.)

Today's Adventure is a 3-mile-hike, plus a visit to a winery down in Kurtatsch, south of Bolzano:

Starting about 11, it is a BEAUTIFUL day:

Down in Venice, the signs were in Italian and English. Up here in South Tyrol the 2 primary languages are Italian and German, with English an occasional 3rd. Today we are hiking the "The Kurtatsch - Margreid Instructional Wine Trail Magré":

It was a good hike - 3.14 miles to get to the winery in ⁨Magrè sulla Strada del Vino⁩:

I guess it is part of the "Italian Experience", but my life is complete without "winery tours":

We had lunch, then the bus back to the hotel. The countryside is pretty cool:

Wendy went swimming, and I decided to visit the town-to-the-west and grab another Post Office - 3.19 miles round-trip:

The first leg was downhill, and I saw some pretty cool stuff - note the model of the building:

Fun building, plus a post office (America has better ones), in ⁨Santa Cristina Gherdeina⁩:

My butt-muscle was hurting, and it was a lot of work getting back to the hotel:

I love the lighting of the setting sun behind me:

A beautiful dinner this evening (Wendy took pictures of each course), and off to bed. WOW - Thank you God for this wonderful Dolomite-Adventure Day!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/

Den and Wen in Italy - The Dolomites Day 1

Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026 - Today we join our group, and head up into The Dolomites:

The hotel we stayed in is 1 block away from where we all meet at 9 AM. We got there at 8, and enjoyed their "American Breakfast"!! (nice not to have to stand up for breakfast)

At 9 AM, all 17 of us (plus 2 guides) got on The Bus and headed up into the mountains. Today's bus rides will take us up to St. Magdalena for a "shake-down hike", then down to our 5-star hotel Alpenroyal in Val Gardena:

Cool scenery - rivers and castles:

Our group is pretty self-selecting - everyone is in pretty good shape, and our ages range from 60 to 82. All Americans except for one couple from England; Emmanuele and Johnny are our guides:

Lovely countryside:

The pace was relaxed, with places to sit every once in a while:

We finished at 1:30, having hiked 3.35 miles. It looks good in MapMyWalk:

But I like the view, rotated a little, in Google Earth BETTER:

We had lunch where the hike started-and-ended:

Then an hour bus ride to our hotel:

Um - this was the view from our room:

Wendy went swimming, while I walked into town to grab a Poste Italiane and shop for Cokes, chocolate, and potato chips:

A beautiful dinner this evening, and off to bed. WOW - Thank you God for this wonderful Dolomite-Adventure Day!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/

Den and Wen in Italy - Travel from Venice to Bolzano

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026 - Today is a travel-day - from Venice west to Verona, then north to Bolzano:

Once again, a "traditional Venice breakfast" to start the day. Then walk through Venice to pick up the #1 Waterbus. I love traveling up The Grand Canal (and seeing a Saturday Morning boatrace):

It was easy navigating The Train Station:

We bought tickets to Bolzano, with the 1st leg to Verona (on track 5), then switch trains up to Bolzano:

We bought sandwiches, then I found the Starbucks and bought a mini-mug:

Sorry - we did not have time for Five Guys:

Nice train-ride to Verona:

There was a bit of train-track-changing confusion in Verona but it worked out. Heading north into The Dolomites along the Adige River:

We arrived in Bolzano at 2:15, and walked 1/2 mile to our hotel:

We walked around this lovely town:

Well, that was FUN (1.9 miles):

Looking out our balconey, we decided to have dinner at the place across the street:

What a Wonderful Travel-Day. WOW - Thank you God for this Great Day!

Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine/New York:
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/