The Dolomites

We had a couple of days in the lovely village of Ortesei / St Ulrich (Italian and German names) in the Val Gardena area of the Dolomites. It is a very German part of Italy and the majority of locals speak German over Italian. In fact, Adrian's German came in quite handy at times and the lady at the post office actually thought he was a local such was his prowess in purchasing stamps in German.

Our accommodation was actually a self contained unit with large bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and balcony overlooking the village. This meant we (well, Heather actually) were able to cook our own meals, a welcome change to eating out every night - there's only so much pizza and pasta you can devour.

Being back in the mountains meant Adrian could do another hike, this time up to a peak called Seceda. There was also a gondola / cablecar which went 95% of the way to the top, so Adrian headed up and sms'd Heather when he is an hour from the top and she caught the two lifts to the top. She was waiting for him as he trudged the last few steps and we both headed into the cafe for a welcome lunch, though there were no hot chips on the menu which Adrian had a hunger for after the 1,400m climb to the top. After a short break we both headed up the last 60 vertical metres to the top of the peak to admire the magnificent view of the Dolomite mountains, meaning Heather also hiked to the top of Seceda!!

Back at the bottom, Heather cooked up some fantastic meals, and like Lake Como, we spent much time on the balcony chatting and admiring the views that make the Domomites so unique. Our landlady (who was also impressed by Adrian's German!) gave us some pieces of her home made cherry cake for dessert. She also did two loads of washing for us after we simply asked for the nearest laundromat! We also had a TV in our room for the first time, however there was no news on CNN as they were only showing Michael Jackson "news" - Iran was off the agenda. We did manage to watch Beverly Hills Cop II in Italian - quite amusing watching Eddie Murphy "speak" Italian.