Time went fast the past couple of months. But boy did we get in a lot of travelling! I thought I'd write one last blog post from Italy...more posts are sure to come later because we have a backlog of great photos and stories to share. But for now I thought I'd share a few of photos from our last hike in Italy.
This past weekend we escaped Duino (and the student reunion at Kristen's school) by heading back up to our friends' place in the Dolomites, Alla Casetta. We did two great hikes, one in the central Dolomites and one in Val di Canzoi just around the corner from Alla Casetta in the southern Dolomites. The photos that follow are from the latter hike.
Our last Italian hike (for now) was a special one. Our friend Christian has been talking up this particular hike ever since we first met him, but until yesterday we hadn't given it a try...probably because he always describes it as a hike that will make you cry. Throw in the fact that Christian tends to underestimate the difficulty of hikes and we were a little scared about this one. But since it was our last day we figured we should do it. Here's what awaits you at the top of the very steep 1000 m climb...
It was well worth the effort to get up to the Piani Eterni!! At just below 2000 m this enormous mountain meadow is surrounded by high peaks on all sides. We didn't do any of the extra excursions up to the summits to see even more fantastic views of the Dolomites because of the weather and the snow in the passes ...yeah that's it...not because we were too exhausted from the hike up or anything. What a fantastic hike to do for our last hike in Italy! Thanks Christian!
We spent a long time up in the Piani Eterni just soaking in the Dolomites for the last time...but there's no reason to be sad because we'll return for sure. The hiking and snowshoeing and skiing possibilities are endless here. And living up to their reputation the mountains really are the most beautiful we've ever seen. For me personally, I used to dream about skiing in the Dolomites when I was a teenager...I feel very lucky to have been able to spend so much time here.
So our last days in Italy were wonderful thanks to our mountain refuge of Alla Casetta, and our friends Christian and Amy. We enjoyed one final meal all together at our favorite spaghetteria alongside the Torrente Caorame before heading out to start our own new adventure in Portland, Oregon. Kristen and I really hope to see our friends there (even though we'll be back to the Dolomites again for sure).
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