Dolomites – How we travelled to the wrong Santa Maddalena

Wiola & Mike — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 15:59:20 +0000

The post appeared first on 1journey1life2people.com

Beloved Mountains

We love mountains. They are fascinating and very inspiring. One of the most famous mountain ranges in Europe are Dolomites. You can often see those amazing photos online. Most of them are taken in two spots.

Best spots in Dolomites

One of them is majestc peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. We dedicated an entire blog entry to describe our visit there. Second spot is an idyllic alpine village of Santa Maddalena with the massive summits towering right behind it. The picture with small stone church and peaceful, green, rural neighbourhood composed with those beautiful mountains had an impact on our imaginations.

Santa Maddalena val di Casies

In 2016, thanks to our lovely friends we had an awsome place to stay right at the foothills of Dolomites. We had a busy schedule at a time and wanted to see as much of Italy as possible. We organized one day to travel to the famous village and enjoy the alpine scenery on the way. We saw some amazing spots on the way – mountain peaks, lakes and quiet villages. Finally the GPS led us to Santa Maddalena.

UPS, where are the famous peaks?

Something was not right, though. The views that we had stuck in our heads were nowhere to be found. It turned out that we are in the wrong village and the one we are looking for is 4-hour drive away. We were a bit disappointed but we still had an amazing time on our way there. We started to plan our next journey to Dolomites almost straight away!

"wrong" Santa Maddalena

May in Dolomites

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Right in the middle of Dolomites you can find a town, the Queen of the Dolomites – Cortina d’Ampezzo. It is famous for winter sports and it is an excellent spot to explore the region. You can make it to Misurna in less than 30-min drive. In the town center, you can find a main street that is lined with shops and cafes and always busy with tourists. Neighbourhood is incredible. You can enjoy skiing in the winter, hiking and mounteneering in the summer.

Falzarego Pass

Not far from Cortina, we came across Falzarego Pass. You can park your car at the attitude of 2100m above sea level and head to the cable car. The weather was quite changable when we were there. Some white clouds were obscuring the view and covering the peaks.

The cable car took us to 2762m where we could marvel at the scenery a long as we wanted. It is a historic spot as well. Some bloody battles occured here durring World War I. To reach fortifications in high mountains soldiers built tunnels and ladders. You can walk their supply routes to experience the story and the landscape.

Clouds beeing noughty

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Santa Maddalena val di Funes

The route from Cortina to the “right” Santa Maddalena is an interesting experience. It is very narrow and winding across the mountains. Some places it is not wide enough to fit 2 vehicles. The effort is totally worth it as the views are unbelievable. Santa Maddalena val di Funes turned out to be a very peaceful, quiet and charming town. It is a nice change after the touristy Cortina d’Ampezzo. In the village green slopes dominate the landscapes and you can find traditional alpine housing here and there. We drove up to the church and we were the only people on the hill. The place was just for us.

We drove to the village in 2017, but the images of this place had been in our heads for at least 3 years. We were so happy that we finally made it.

Joyful time in Santa Maddalena

Such a peaceful place

Mr & Mrs

Santa Maddalena

Postcard view

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Dolomites – 3 peaks, 3 storms and 4 shelters

Wiola & Mike — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 10:49:58 +0000

The post appeared first on 1journey1life2people.com

Dolomites

Milions of tourists visit Italy each year. It seems that they are interested mostly in cultural and historical herritage. Qeues in Vatican go for kilomiters and ancient Forum Romanum is incredibly crowded. In some cities like Pisa or Venice you can hardly pass down the street because of the amount of people around. Bus sightseeing tours go from one city to another to quickly check as many attractions as possible and fill up the initiary to the limits. Are Dolomites among them?

We love to escape crowded cities and we adore nature. We feel great among green hills and rocky peaks, far from anything. We even used to live on the desert. Mountains give us a sense of freedom. Vast open spaces and picturesque landscapes fuel our souls.

In sunny Italy, you can find a lot of places of natural beauty. When you plan your visit, you should think about it and do not limit your initiary to the most visited places. Dolomites are one of the most stunning and georgous montains that we have seen. 3-hour drive from the airport in Venice or Milan and you are there! Our inner travel and explorer could not wait to venture forth on one of the amazing trails in southern Alps.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo – Three Peaks

There are some peaks that inspire thousands of mountaineers. Their majestic, raw beauty is a magnet for explorers. Sometimes, it is even hard to look away. First peak like that, which we felt in love with was Half Dome in Yosemite, California. We hiked it back in 2011. We are not the only ones to be amazed by it. You can find a shape of Half Dome in famous outdoor company logo – The North Face. Another peak that we loved was Matterhorn, but we were still thinking about famous Dolomites and it’s Three Peaks – Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Finally we managed to get there and witness its beauty.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

How to get there?

We flew to Venice Treviso from Poland and we rented a car at the airport. As soon as you leave the city, you can see the Dolomites towering on the horizon. After 3-hour drive, we made it to Misurina. The circuit trail that goes around Tre Cime starts at a mountain shelter – Rifugio Auronzo. To get there, you need to pass the toll road or hike from the village. We were a bit pressured by time so we chose to pay 25€.

road to Misurina

Four shelters and three storms

Rifugio Auronzo

The trail around Tre Cime is 9,5km long.. You can finish it in around 4h without stops and the total elavation difference is 400m. The Auronzo shelter is a start point and the first bit of the path runs flat. You can marvel at the alpine meadows and valleys. Flowers and rock walls are simply stunning. We met pretty much all kind of people on the trail: families with childrens, photographers from around the globe, alpinists with some serious equippment heading for “via ferrata”.

Rifugio Lavaredo

Second shelter on the route is Rifugio Lavaredo. We walked pass a shrine on the edge of the cliff and we could already see the Lavaredo hutt. The weather was quite changeable. Down at the airport next to Venice, it was 33 degrees, up here in the mountains it was barely 17. As we learned in Norway: “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing”, so we came well prepared. As we passed the shelter, a short ascent started. We made it quicly to the top and could already see the famous face of Tre Cime di Laverado. We could see more and more with every step we took. We spent a while enjoying the views but dark clouds started gathering, so we rushed to the next shelter.

Spectacular dolomites

Break time

Tre Cime di LAvaredo

Hiking Tre Cime

A view of the shelter

Rifugio

First view of famous rock faces

Rifugio Locatelli

From Rifugio Locatelli one can admire the beauty of Three Peaks from the most famous angle. We made it to shelter just as the storm began. Thunders were roaring in the valley and we could bearly see the mountains. After 10 minutes the sun was back. We went out to enjoy the views and snap some pictures. It is an incredible spot for coffee, too. According to the Mike it was the best spot on the hike. Clouds were speeding across the see and it did not take long for a second storm to start. We luckily bearly moved as we were busy taking pictures, so we managed to hide again in the Rifugio Loctelli.

Tre Crime di Lavaredo

That's the spot!

Hikers!

Coffee with the view!

Alpine flowers

Lange Alm

Next part of the trail took us very close to Tre Cime. We had to look almost straight up to see the tops of the peaks. We came across a little pond and the rocky summits were towering in the background. The view was absolutly mesmerizing and according to Wiola that was the best spot during the entire hike. It reflects the natural beauty that made dolomites world famous.

Next we walked pass the last shelter on the trail – Lange Alm. As we were approching the parking lot and Rifugio Auronzo, another storm started. Last 20 minutes we walked in rain and strong wind. We were walking as fast as possible to the rythm made by the bells hanging on the cows’ necks. They were gathering on the trail in big herds to keep themselves warm. Fortunatelly, it was not far to the parking lot and our tiny but warm car…

Last part of the circuit

Tre Cime

Snack break

Winding mountain path

Amazing views

Stunning pond

Joyful hike

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