Cortina

Cortina - View from our Room

June 15

The skies were blue when we got up this morning. Because it was our 48th wedding anniversary, Ann and I decide to do a tour together in the car. We followed the designated bicycle loop that went as far as Dobbiaco. We turned around and made several stops for photos. The route from Dobbiaco back to Cortina was the same one I did a few years ago on the BAC Trans Alps trip.

We took a turn on the road to Tre Cime which is an epic out-and-back for cyclists. It starts with a 16% climb for about 1 km and levels out until you reach a toll booth. We turned around there because of the high price of passing through. We had a good view though.

For lunch we stopped at a restaurant/pizzeria on Lake Misurina. When we went in, we were two of the very few inside. When we left, it was full. We split a tuna salad and a vegetarian pizza that had fresh tomatoes on top.

We wandered around town and took some down time until dinner time. We joined most of the group at Cinque Torri, a decent trattoria. We decided to eat Tirolean cuisine. Ann had vegetable soup and canederli – large dumplings with spinach in a butter sauce with parmesan. I had ravioli stuffed with beets (the menu said red turnips) and grilled sausage with fired potatoes. After dinner, we stopped for gelato.

June 16

It had rained overnight and the roads were wet this morning. It looked like it might clear up but the odds of showers during the day were pretty high. I decided to wait for awhile to decide whether I was going to ride the loop. So Ann and I went shopping in the large mall on the main street.

View of the Countryside Outside of Cortina

I could see some blue sky and thought that the clouds would burn off, but at noon the black clouds were moving in. Riding looked doubtful. We took a walk with the Leevers instead. Our route took us along a nice bicycle path out of Cortina. We got about 1 km down the path when the skies opened up. We took shelter under the eaves of a house until the rain let up. Then we walked up a steep hill toward a golf course where we expected to find a path through the woods taking us back to town. It started raining again really hard. We took shelter in the caddy shack which turned out to be a tent. The rain let up a little. Instead of finding the path through the woods which would have been muddy, we retraced our steps back to Cortina. We stopped at a cafe and had some snacks – cheese cake for Ann, apple strudel and hot chocolate for me.

Several rain showers passed through this afternoon. We stayed inside. With our large hotel room, this was not an inconvenience.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel. We had another excellent meal. We started with gnocchi flavored with sage and bacon. The main course was tender pieces of turkey glazed with rustic mustard and accompanied with courgettes flan. Dessert was puff pastry stuffed with apples, pine nuts and walnuts served with vanilla sauce.