Heading east

Today is July 6th and it is another beautiful day in Mezzegra.  I got up a little early today because we are leaving around 9 am to head east to the Dolomites.  This is a spectacular range of mountains around 80 miles due North of Venice.  We plan on overnighting in Corina D'Ampezzo for those following on a map. A complete wrap up of this excursion will follow in a few days.

Since our last entry we have made a few day trips.  Last week we set out for Bergamo to check out the "Citta Alta" which is the old town sitting high on a hill over looking the rest of Bergamo.  It is situated within 16th century walls. We thought we might have a problem parking but quickly found a decent spot, 3 Euro for two hours.  The architecture was stunning as usual but what was fairly odd was how they built structures so close to the two main churches on the hill.  I'm sure they were splendid many years ago standing apart from each other but now they are totally surrounded by newer structures to the point where you almost don't see them.  Anyway all quite remarkable.  At least there was a Piazza where we were able to have lunch and check out the tourists as they strolled by.

A word about the drive to Bergamo.  When we put Bergamo into MapQuest it told us the quickest way was by Autostrade and it was about 77K.  If you look at a map you will see that the shortest way is via ferry to Varenna and then 37K to Bergamo.  We decided to make a round trip out of it and took the Autostrade one way and the back roads to Varenna to return.  By far the quickest way was the Autostrade!!  Although half  the actual distance back it was torture going the short way.  If it were a scenic road OK but it was basically one town after another.  Sort of like going from San Francisco to San Jose on the El Camino Real.  We won't be making that ride any time soon!!

A few days later we took the incredibly scenic drive to St. Moritz Switzerland.  This is a day trip through some beautiful mountains, a great twisting and turning road, passing through some picturesque towns. A really delightful drive. St. Moritz is a very  upscale ski town during the winter and a remarkable sports town during the summer.  The activities include golf, sailing, paragliding, wind surfing and hiking.  Ever where you look someone was heading out to recreate.  All the retail shopping include the most famous brands in the world, including Gucci, Chanel, Rolex, Armani, Versace, etc.  We did no shopping!!  We had a decent lunch at an outrageous price.  At least the weather was beautiful and the scenery spectacular.

Back with more when we return in a couple of days!!