Day 2 as part of our Summer Roadtrip 2018 visiting the Italian Dolomites, Lake Bled and Istria. A travel diary, if you will…

Pordoi Pass, Italian Dolomites

Apart from the fact our waiter was far too happy for 7.30 in the morning and it was about all I could do to crack a bon giorno and not slap his cheery Italian face with a slice of Parma ham, breakfast was a treat when this was our view…

… so we decided not to bother with sightseeing for the day and just stay put and enjoy the scenery. Said no one in the MyLifeLongHoliday household, ever.

We don’t do relaxing holidays and had far too many things we wanted to see and do today so a jaunt in the hirecar was inevitable. First on the list – the Pordoi Pass. Not the most gruelling of all passes in the Dolomites but maybe the most scenic? At every hairpin bed you got another angle of the Dolomites mountain range and had another opportunity to kill a cyclist. Pordoi Pass – tick.

And, once at the top we didn’t feel it was too preposterous to pay the £16 for a cable car ride to the most epic views we have ever seen. 360 degrees of sheer magnificence at twice the height of Ben Nevis – breathtaking both literally and metaphorically. Incidentally, I appeared to be the only person up there with open toe shoes on and a non-fleece-like item of clothing. Clearly no one takes the cable car just for the view, most people do it so they can partake in a 3 hour descent. Maybe another time, when a Michelin starred lunch isn’t calling.

Bolzano

Back in the car we made the hour long journey to the most fascinating of towns for a late lunch. Bolzano used to belong to Germany but due to a load of double-crossing treaties circa WWI and locals just wanting better shoes and bigger noses, they somehow made the switch to being Italian. It’s quite obvious they weren’t willing to give up all of their heritage though and hung onto their most prized possessions like beer gardens, sausage and marking their territory with an early morning towel. It made for an interesting scene though; just the right amount of mix for my brain to keep asking ‘where am I again?’. To be fair though, that’s a pretty overused question most days of my life.

We opted to try the local delicacy of dumpling soup and marvelled with a smile the cross-pollination of italio-german when they brought the basket of bread after we’d finished. However, our bib gourmand choice of lunch did not disappoint and we can wholeheartedly recommend Vogle to all you schnitzel loving readers.

Finally we made it back to the car despite carrying an extra 2 stone of suet in our bellies, and partook of an achingly beautiful car-journey home via this little beauty – Lago Di Carezza. Italy, you are undoubtedly the most beautiful country in the whole wide world.

Ciao.

If you missed day 1, click here