Today, we left the flat and fertile plains of Venetia and journeyed into the splendid scenery of the Dolomites. The Dolomites are a section of the Alps which are located in the north-east part of Italy. They run as far south as the Puster Valley from which area our ancestors moved many years ago.

The name “Dolomites” comes from a French scientist, Deodat Gratet de Dolomieu, who was the first one to describe these strange rock formations. The unique feature that these rocks posses is that they seem to change colour as the day progresses. Also, the Dolomites have a very unique shape: somewhat like a gothic cathedral. The tops of the mountains were always very jagged and covered with clouds.

Our first stop was at Cortina d’Ampezzo (or just Cortina). This is a summer resort. During the winter, most of the people leave as the weather here can be very severe. However, I do believe it is open during some parts of the winter for skiing and snowshoeing. Our guide said that if you came back in winter, you would find the streets mostly deserted. All the locals leave, and only the brave tourists remain. That, however, was not how we found the . They were rather crowed with tourists who were walking around enjoying the breathtaking beauty of the town and the landscape.

Odd trivia: The film “For your Eyes Only” (James Bond) was filmed in Cortina. Also, the 1956 Olympics were held in Cortina.

In the afternoon, we crossed into Austria. I was a little disappointed at this point because I had hoped we would drive though the Puster Valley, but instead we drove in the opposite direction and ascended a gut wrenching, twisting, turning road to the Grossglockner.

The Grossglockner stands at 3,798 meters above the sea level and is . The Grossglockner on the border between Carinthia and the East Tirol. I couldn’t help put wonder if some of my ancient ancestors had been standing in the same place we were standing and looking at the same scenery. The landscape was extremely rugged and I again gained more respect for the men and women who pioneered this landscape many hundreds if not thousands of years before. I’m sure it was no small feat.

When we finally reached the summit, our bus driver pulled into a parking lot which was sitting on the edge of a precipice which plunged into a distant valley. The clouds were so close, you felt that you should be able to reach out and gather them with one sweep of your hand. It was truly an amazing and breathtaking view. Most of the time, we were actually walking above the clouds. You would look down and there would be some lazy cloud drifting by.

Another interesting feature about the Grossglockner is its glacier. The glacier is called Pasterze and is the longest glacier in Austria and in the Eastern Alps and is about 9 km in length. Of course, like most glaciers in the world, this one is rapidly melting. Chris, one of our English tourists, was here in 1990 and was amazed how far down the glacier had gone. There is a lift chair you can take down to the glacier, or rather to where the glacier was when they build the lift. Chris said that last time he was here, he took the lift down and then only had to walk a short distance to the glacier. Now, the lift took you only half way to the glacier. You still had a good climb to the bottom. You could also follow a path down to the glacier. I decided to do this instead of paying for a ride down with the lift. It was supposed to take about ¾ hours but I managed it in 20 minutes. However, by the time I got back up, I was soaking wet and had to go change!

Oh, there were also lots of beautiful flowers growing all over the place.  Here is a picture of the famous Edelweiss.

After we left the Grossglockner, we drove to the Salzburg area for the night. We stayed in a lovely little country Gasthaus. Our hotel windows looked out over a beautiful valley and the sweet smell of silage and dairy cows really added to the “country” atmosphere of the hotel. The hotel, like all in this area, was family owned and operated. For many of the locals, it is one of their main sources of income.