Having spent the night in what appeared to be the last available hotel room in Verona, we rose early and headed toward the mountains. Verona is situated on the absolutely flat Po River valley, and after driving north for an hour or so across this featureless plain, the mountains literally burst up abruptly from it. We turned off the autostrade and began another winding ascent into yet another spectacular mountain landscape.

What makes the Dolomites so distinctive is their color scheme: the rock type “dolomite” is a rich pink color on a freshly exposed surface, but weathers to grey, so both colors are prominent on the peaks. The sun adds a warm yellow tone and, on this day, the blue sky was a brilliant background. It was a gorgeous pastel pallet.  The mountains are bare and stark, with “jagged, saw-edged ridges, rocky pinnacles, deep gorges, and numerous steep rock faces” (description compliments of www.britanica.com), as the pictures show.

Driving through the Dolomites took a day and a half and tested our navigational skills to the limit. Road signs were frequently vague or missing, and our best map was not nearly detailed enough. We made plenty of wrong turns, but we promise never a cross word passed between us (yea, right).  The highlight was in Vigo De Fassa, where we overnighted. We arrived just in time to catch the very last “finiculare” up to a summit view, and were treated to jaw dropping majesty in all directions as the sun dropped behind the western peaks.

It is interesting as you drive through Italy to notice the very local regional changes in the architecture and color variations of the houses.  Many times even more detailed differences can also be seen in window shutter color from town to town.  In the Dolomites the houses tend to be white colored and have a very “Swiss chalet” look to them that would remind most of us of Colorado ski towns.  These towns are extremely well kept and absolutely covered with window boxes that are full of cascading, multicolored petunias, geraniums, and alyssum flowers.

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The mountains at the top of the cable car ride.

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I keep running into this girl where ever I go!

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These were the plants that were on all of the balconies of the small hotel we stayed in.

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