Aug. 15- 20- Week 9 in Italy

August 15th is a holiday in Italy. And of course, that meant another festa. This time it was a food festa in the nearby village of Montereale in the foothills approximately a 45 minute drive from our home.

                          There were 15 food/drink kiosks  throughout the village downtown area with a map showing where each one was and what was being served at each location.

The food consisted of many local delicacies including frico ( fried cheese & potatoe) and some not so local like escargoes- the best and plumbest and tastyest ever-  calamari and schnitzel and of course great vino and bierre. We spent a couple of hours grazing.

Nicole & I eating the first of several dishes of escargoes.

There was lots of rain when we first arrived but the weather did little to stop festivities.

Montereale is a cute little village in the foothills near Maniago

The sun finally did make an appearance.

Later that week, we decided that Barcis was our weekly destination. This lake community is a short car ride into the mountains past Montereale. Like all mountain lakes, Barcis is an emerald colour and surrounded by wonderful scenery.

We took a walk along the lake shore pedestrian way.

Stopped for yet another spritz in a local bar and continued our walk into town for a light lunch.

Like all the villages we had been to , this one was equally as scenic.

The church square.

And some street scenes

Aug. 7- 14- Week 8 in Italy

We decided that on weeks where we had no major trips planned, we would visit one village we had not seen and explore there. This time we went to Sacile, with the reputation of a little Venice since it had canals throughout the downtown area.

This village was a short 45 minute drive from our home and using our trusty map we managed to find our way.
                                                                       The village map

                       This was one of the many canals right where we parked.

We walked all over downtown- a lot of pedestrian only streets

And many, many scenic canals

 Per usual- is this becoming a habit? LOL- we had to stop at a cafe to have a spritz and people watch.

And after more exploring, we found a lovely restaurant for lunch,overlooking one of the canals.

                                                                  Our view from the table

We also went for an evening , a music Festa.

 A 'Pink Floyd' tribute band played at the main piazza.

Lot's of people and cafes

On Friday August 12th Nicole took the day off so that we could travel to Lenzburg,Switzerland for a girls' weekend. The main reason for going to this location was to see Steffi and her family. I had found Steffi, a distant relative, on FACEBOOK, our grandfathers on my mother's side were brothers. She was the same age as Nicole and we thought it would be fun to spend some time together.

We took a main highway- A4- to Milano. We stopped a couple of times at the highway rest stops and, trust me, Italian rest stops are nothing like at home. All have a fine wine, cheese and meats selection along with tasty restaurant fare- no McDonalds or Burger Chef!

 

The total trip should have only taken 6 hours but.....

About an hour after crossing the border into Switzerland, the traffic on our side of the highway came to a total stop. We were about a few kilometers from one of the longest tunnels-St Gotthard tunnel- 18 km in all. Europeans love their tunnels- why go around or over a mountain when you can go through it! First we thought there may have been an accident in the tunnel but later found out it was only construction! We waited for at least 1 1/2 hours moving forward maybe 20-30 cars at a time. We believed that that many cars were let through going in one direction at a time- 20 cars travelling north and once they were through, 20 cars travelling south and so on.

There was another way- over the mountain in this case- and once we were at the turnoff, took it.

And were we ever glad we did! The scenery taking this longer, curvy route was amazing.

Here is our road up one side.

We stopped at the lookout point and took some incredible pictures.

At the very top we were past the tree line and the scenery looked like moonscape.

And then back down the other side.

The detour up the mountain may have taken us longer -maybe not due to the tunnel construction- but we were so glad we did. The scenery was well worth it.

We arrived in Lenzburg at 4:30PM- we had left Fiume Veneto at 7AM- totally beat. Our hotel was right in the historic center of town.

Some town pictures

The next day we met Steffi, her husband Stephan and their children Ben & Mia. We decided to go to the Lenzburg castle, an uphill 25 minute walk but well worth it.

The castle ahead.

Inside the castle courtyard

We stopped for a water & ice cream for the kids.

Mia eating her ice cream

The castle had different rooms showing furniture and life for the different centuries it was in existance.

The top floor had furnishings of the 1800's, next floor down the 1600's and next the 1200's- very fascinating. As well there was lots for the kids to do including seeing  a caged little dragon!

Here are the three of us- Steffi, Nicole & I

After walking back down the hill, we went to the village festa- in this case lots of magitians & jugglers and of course food.

That evening Nicole & I were invited back to their wonderful new house for a barbecue. Steffi and family only lived a 15 minute walk away.

In their gorgeous kitchen

Steffi & Mia

 

And Ben in his new soccer shirt.

August 2 & 3- Trip to Cortina

Cortina had been my dad's favorite place and three years ago we had gone there to place some of his ashes. I wanted to go back again to spend more time and discover what he had so loved about this place.

Uwe & I left on Tuesday morning driving into the mountains on a perfect day. For approximately half the distance, the road was a 4 lane highway and the rest of the way it was 2 lanes meandering in and out of several picturesque villages.

Our hotel in Cortina was a short walk to the business/ pedestrian walkway through town.

Our beautiful hotel

We arrived around noon and our room was ready. Very pretty, clean and functional with a balconey decorated with flowers overlooking the mountains. I was in love.

After getting settled, we walked to town. The pedestrian area was loaded with tourists- again mostly German speaking- and we walked & walked & walked. We had lunch at a little out of the way place and then checked out the local craft show- on every Tuesday & Friday.

Our main aim though had been to go on at least one gondola ride each day and get a totally different perspective of Cortina- and did we ever!

Following the town map that was provided by the hotel we found one of the many lifts open during the summer and got our tickets to go up ( and up ).

Cortina when viewed from the top.

What totally amazing scenery- the absolutely prettiest place I have ever been.

A great bar/restaurant at the top where everyone was catching rays.

After doing a bit of hiking- wore the wrong shoes- and taking so many pictures that my batteries died, we took the ride back down.

Dinner that night was at a nearby hotel. Per usual we were the first ones there- Italians eat much later than we normally do- but that always meant we got great seats. Our dinner was excellent and we

came home to our room to sit on our balcony and watch the clear sky filled with diamonds- so many stars!

Next day we went to the gondola going up the opposite mountain from the one we tried yesterday. This one was much higher and it took 3 gondola changes to reach the top.
                                         This was our final destination- over the clouds.

                                      It was amazing- totally awesome!!!

The final location had a deck where people were sunning and stairs that climbed even higher. Even though it was 9'C in the shade , it was 22'C in the sunshine as we were higher than the clouds.
                                      Here we are on the deck above the clouds.

                                        And the staircase leading further up the mountain

And there were still patches of snow left in August

Another gondola on the way down from the last stop we were at

We made a stop at the last gondola change since it was an beautiful picture taking paradise.

                                                                     And more!