Left the apartment in Trento with no problems. We explained to the lady via WhatsApp that we could never get the coffee machine to work at all which was essentially true.
We decided to drive to Cortina on the free non tolled roads, as in fact Google maps told us that the toll road was going to take us longer. In addition, the free roads were likely to be more scenic.
We took around four hours on the trip, including about an hour searching for a place to have lunch and then the lunch break itself. Once we’d eaten we kept seeing restaurants we could have stopped at, why were there none when we were first looking?? The place we ate at was small and very busy, we had to wait for a table, but once we sat down they brought us two bottles of water – one sparkling and one still – a bowl of bread, two bowls of salad and a bottle of red wine. A very efficient way to get the meal started, I must say. There were only two options for the first course so we had one each and by then we were full.
The temperature dropped steadily as we climbed up into the mountains. The roads were really very impressive, with multiple long tunnels.
Cortina itself is a gorgeous town. It’s hosted the Winter Olympics before and will again in the next couple of years. It’s also been the location for a number of films including a James Bond, and the Pink Panther movies.
Our accommodation is a little chalet style hotel. No lift unfortunately so it’s four flights of stairs up to our room but the view is fabulous, and it’s only a five minute walk into town.
After checking in and a wee nana nap, we set out to explore the town. There are many little upmarket boutique shops and also outdoor sports stores like North Face and Patagonia. All the tourists walking around look like they’ve just come back from Everest base camp. You’d swear it was minus twenty but actually it was nine degrees, I was glad of my puffer jacket but gloves and hats seemed overkill.
We had an aperitif in an old hotel and then just decided to stay for dinner. The elderly male waitstaff were real characters. One of them enjoyed telling Simon humorous stories in a low voice but considering it was all in Italian the details were lost. Anyway he was very happy when Simon ordered a brandy with dessert.
I had the lobster pasta dish as my main, it was delicious but far too much for me. It wasn’t until I’d struggled my way through a quarter of it that I remembered the lobster that someone ordered on the hilltop restaurant in Sardinia, that was brought out for inspection at the start of the meal, waving its arms around and very much alive, before being killed and cooked and served up half an hour later. My resolution now is to never order lobster or crayfish again. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they will live forever if left alone. The death of the one on my plate tonight was just a waste, I could eat so little of it. Is it time for me to become a vegetarian??