A F Indulgence, 3 Lakes, Black Forest, Dolomites & A Bit Of Other Stuff

[RB]

Neckargemund To Dobbiaco/Toblach
Another 3 train ride that took in diverse landscapes. The ride to Munich took us through some magnificent crop & grazing land and it was obvious we were back in the land of the solar collection rather than the wood piles. After Stuttgart, just after 10am from my train seat I could see the clear trails of 10 planes-sorry no photos to verify! It was a good, hot fine day to be travelling. We had a 1hr 20 min layover in Munich & enjoyed a great couple of slices of pizza while dodging the crowds that were pushing their way around. Our train was at the platform early & we settled in to window seats in anticipation of our climb through Innsbruck to the Brenner Pass. All was fine but it was hot in the train so we also spent some time in the dining car with its big windows & better air conditioning. At Fortessa/Franzensfeste we had a 6 minute transfer time that we made ok, despite a confusing/unclear platform layout (1A is a totally different platform to 1). This train took us down through more magnificent forest areas, past 8 quant looking townships until we emerged near Dobbiaco/Toblach & a clear view of the massive Dolomites. This the Sudtirol, is a German speaking part of Italy that is officially bi-lingual & the towns commonly have an Italian as well as German name-strange to hear such announcements on the train with a female voice for one language & a male for the other. We were greeted at the station by our hosts & driven to our apartment of the next 6 nights

I have posted a review of our Dobbiaco/Toblach apartment here http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ldmeister-hof-apartment-3-dobbiaco-52519.html

View from apartment balcony
Beautifully maintained cemetry & church yards
General layout of the town
The path to peace & serenity (and a great pub)

 

[RB]

Around Dobbiaco/Toblach-The land of No Pizza
After being woken very early in the morning in Neckargemund by bickering flea market operators setting up hours before any customers were to emerge, we were not looking to do a lot after our 6pm arrival. Our longest venture was to the pub Hotel Kirchenwirt, (which is less than 100 metres away) for a drink & a meal. A 1/4litre of nice house white clocks in at a bargain 2 Euro here & the beer is big & cold. Mrs RB proclaims her gnocchi as her best meal of the trip thus far & my meal of 3 pastas was also top notch.
Our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] full day in the Dolomites is marked by temps in the early 30’s, much different to what our pre-holiday reading had indicated. As we make the walk down through town we note the farmers busy baling the hay & grass that seems to thrive on the slopes. We head to Toblacher See/Lake Dobbiaco - this is a pretty flat walk on very good paths about 4.5 km from Santa Maria. The lake hosts a caravan/camping park & there is an easy walk that circumnavigates the lake & illustrates the backwaters in an area where there are strong efforts to preserve the pristine nature of the area. We walk back to town to get a bit of a feel for the place. It seems that this early in the summer season some places haven’t bothered to open yet. Also (as warned by our hosts) a lot of the town (including the supermarkets) take a 3hr siesta in the middle of the day. We are impressed by the design of the town church & it’s well cared for cemetery (seem to have a volunteer gardeners/waterers there every day) and we refill our water bottles from another constantly running source of cold clean water that you find throughout Europe. We locate the town bus stop and check timetables. After it reopens after the siesta the tourist information office is quite useful. The supermarket that reopens at 3PM has good variety & prices are similar to what we encountered in Italy before. We notice sanitary gloves for customers in the fruit & veggie dept - a great idea for our local supermarkets/fruit & veggie shops back home where we always see the stock being mauled by many people!

After our 20 minute slog back up the hill we do some hand washing & generally sit back enjoy the surrounds.
On reflection Toblacher See/Lake Dobbiaco was a great walk/recreational spot but our later experiences around the Dolomites and the dramatic peaks & climbs over the next fortnight outshone it

View back to Santa Maria while on the Lake Dobbiaco walk
Toblacher See/Lake Dobbiaco
Toblacher See/Lake Dobbiaco
clean stream flowing into the lake
Night shot from pub balcony

 

[ellen10]

Still enjoying your report and love the photos

 

[RB]

Tues 18[SUP]th[/SUP] June dawns as another fine, warm day. We bused it out to Lake Braies after buying tickets from the driver (little evidence of English but we cope). The trip takes you through Villabassa & it seems like a nice local town. We are met by a bit of a crowd, some who look like they have stepped straight off the tourist bus into the bar/restaurant. We decided to walk clockwise around the lake as it appeard less crowded by humans & dogs at this time. There is beautiful clear water & a track that mostly hugs the edge of the lake. The Nordic stick walkers tend to be the least co-operative in sharing space & it seems a lack of manners extends across the generations-as in Aust. There are fantastic views of the crystal clear water but little evidence of fish while we are there. Despite the rocky terrain in places, some people opt for a picnic or sunbake-some places really make you appreciate the sandy beaches of Aust. We certainly see great evidence of scree slopes & snow environments. We both commented that it made us think of Lake Louise in some respects. The bus back also leaves spot on time & we enjoy a home made lunch on our balcony. The restaurant of Hotel Kirchenwirt is open again after having the Monday off so we again enjoy their offerings.
Right at the start of the walk-outflow from Lake Braies
Indication of path width on climbing section
Distant view of path winding round-enjoy the background view though
Some people were here for the beach

 

[RB]

Wed 19[SUP]th[/SUP] June-another fine start to the day. We activated our Tirol Cards ( mainly 7 day use of public transport but also entry to some attractions) that seems good value and we opted to ride the bus downhill rather than walk as we have been. The local tourist office had provided us with some advice & timetables so we had a plan to visit the 3 Peaks-Tre Cima. We had a good connection on the 445 bus that took on us on an extremely scenic trip via Misurina with another really nice lake but a lot of tourists (described by an English lady on the bus as catering the bucket & spade brigade). The haul up gave us some fine viewing & we arrived at 2,400 metres with fresh legs ready to attack the day. The bus is also used by some people as an alternative to their car as the entry fees are quiet significant if there are only 2 in a car. At Auronzo Hut we joined the not so many masses on Route 101 & worked our way onwards with many photo stops. The front line between Italy & Austria in WW1 ran through these mountains & there are a number of fortifications, man-made caves & commemorative plaques in the area. Past Laveredo Hut we encountered the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] real climb & also a fair amount of melting ice & snow (it had snowed last week here) that covered the otherwise excellent track. This took us up to Forcello Laveredo where quite a few of the more unfit congregated to get their photos before turning back. The track towards Refuge Trecrime saw us encounter patches of ice & snow covering the full width of the track & we halted our slog within spitting distance of the hut. Our plan to descend via route 105/102 was thwarted by the track being fully snow covered so we retraced our steps. Lunch & a wine was at Auronozo before we descended back on the bus. While waiting for said bus we had great viewing of amateur cyclists of varying shapes punishing themselves on the quest to get to 2,400 metres-made me feel very unfit. A highlight of the downhill run was our bus being overtaken & quickly left behind by 2 cyclists clearly enjoying the downhill run. This adventure ranked with anything we have experienced previously-walking amongst a huge variety of soaring peaks & looking down on lakes & beautiful valleys. I think I also saw the most contorted photographer I have ever seen.

Back in Dobbiaco/Tobblach we visited the supermarket to refurbish our fridge & as became a habit filled our water bottle from the very cool water from the church ground water fountain. We arrived back at the apartment to see the valley full of hay/grass cutters frantically rushing to beat an afternoon thunderstorm-the rain lasted all of 2 minutes where we were.

Note we had 2 cameras so some shots may be out of order but posted to try & reflect the real opportunity that exists to get up in the peaks without a big amount of exertion
Nice spot for a bus stop
Trying to capture some of the scenic overload
Haven't left the bus stop yet!
The start of the path-easy walking
Some of the WW1 evidence

 

[RB]

More photos of the 3 Peaks day
Under the 3 peaks
Bit of perspective of the amount of snow
Refuge Trecrime-we eventually made it to within a couple of hundred metres
Back view of 3 peaks-just after [FONT=&amp]Forcello Laveredo [/FONT]
View back towards [FONT=&amp]Forcello Laveredo from near [/FONT]Refuge Trecrime

 

[RB]

Last of the 3 Peaks day
The path they cut for us
A few slippery spots but we survived without sticks
Numbers thinned out as you walked further
The contortonist photographer
Valley view from balcony-the grass/hay cutters were in full swing

 

[RB]

Thurs 20[SUP]th[/SUP] June we got up early and walked to Austria- well we caught the bus down the hill to Dobbiaco, another bus to Sexton/Sesto and then cable car cabin (carries up to 40 odd people at a time) up to 2050 metres at Helm. From there it was all uphill as we slogged away to Silianer Hutte at 2447 metres. There were various options of tracks branching off but we opted for Silianer rather than Elmo as our Austrian end point to the walk. For most of the climb the track was in pretty good order with room for say 3 people wide. While a very enjoyable walk in good weather (still) it did lack the dynamic and changing peaks that we had seen yesterday. From what we noticed the Italian/Austrian border didn’t seem to receive any significant recognition other than a few concrete bollards and a flag outside the bar.
The 1st rise from Helm
Appeared to be the chef organising her own wood
Always a nice outlook when pulling up for a water stop
The path looks easier when looking back
I'm getting thirsty by this stage

 

[RB]

20th June Continued
We celebrated our arrival with a beer & had a rest in much cooler conditions. One guy arrived on a mountain bike as we sat! Obviously the walk down was much easier & we came across stragglers from our start time & also some serious walkers. After 40 minutes downhill we opted for lunch at Hahnspielhutte at 2150 metres. We were served by a very enthusiastic waiter & opted for the 2 specials of the day-local food at its best. Baverngrostl & Bareauch Spatzle ( with a special local herb). We caught the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] after lunch cable car down & then the bus back to Dobbiaco to conclude another very rewarding day.



Appeared to be a border marker
Flag for the border
Baverngrostl-apparently you can just google the recipe (according to the waiter)
Bareauch Spatzle

 

[jazza1971]

Thanks for sharing this report, the photos are great!

 

[RB]

Fri 21[SUP]st[/SUP] June-The solstice saw quite a few farmers including our hosts (proud owners of 20 cows plus 2 calves) letting their barn dwelling cows out into the bright sunshine & the vigorously growing pastures. We opted to walk in our more local area so we visited the nearby Santa Maria church & then headed up via the main vehicle road to Ratsburg Monte Rota. Here we caught great views virtually down the main street of Dobbiaco with Lake Dobbiaco in the background. We kept up the ascent of around 400 metres through alpine meadows by following route 41 as we moved west towards Welsberg. Later while walking through thick pine forest we encountered 2 cyclists who we gave directions to (hope they were right) before we branched off & headed down towards Villabassa via a mix of bush tracks, hip high grass & then past dairy farms onto a vehicular road - our only hiccup on an otherwise impeccably marked walk was where bulldozers were working on a new pass & our GPS came to the rescue. Once entering Villabassa we opted for a light lunch & then waited on the bus to Dobbiaco. During this wait we witnessed a quite large funeral procession walking their way to the church with a police escort to stop traffic - interesting to watch the tradition of family at front with a wooden cross, the coffin wheeled along & then others paying their respects following with some voicing prayers with the church bells giving a special peel in the background.
Back at Dobbiaco we hit the auto teller (having prepared ourselves to know the Aussie Dollar had further hit the wall) & then caught the bus back up the hill to our apartment - this had been another fantastic day.
Our last dinner at Hotel Kirchenwirt was again great food with excellent service, nice drinks & the 10% discount for our staying across the road at the apartment.

View attachment 17413View down to Villabassa
View attachment 17414From near Ratsburg down toward Dobbiaco
View attachment 17415Great signage with route nubers & estimated walking times
View attachment 17416Mrs RB loved the gnocchi at the pub
View attachment 17417The moon threw some great and variable light on the peaks

 

[RB]

Dobbiaco/Toblach to Ortisei
Another fine day so we had no worries (could have used a lift from our hosts) with using our Tirol cards for our full transfer. We caught the bus down to the train station. We only had a 7 minutes wait until the train back to Fortezza. It was then a 5 minute change to another train to Ponte Gardena/Waidbruck. This sector was through a reasonably wide valley with more emphasis on cropping and fruit & veggie growing. From here a bus trip up to Ortisei was through a very narrow valley. We were a little confused as to how we would identify our stop but another passenger overheard our conversation & correctly advised us where to alight. We had arrived earlier than we had advised our hosts so we ate a quality lunch from a deli. Our host arrived with the emailed photo of us (sent prior to our arrival to all hosts) so it really did help them & us to identify each other. For a vehicle it is a bit of a circular trip up the hill to our apartment but we later find more direct ways down to town on foot.

I have posted a review of our Ortisei apartment here http://www.australianfrequentflyer....tment-dolina-ortisei-apartment-2-a-52556.html

Around Ortisiei-



Certainly more Italian than Dobbiaco/Toblach although the population makeup is around 90% Ladin, 5% German & 5% Italian.
[FONT=&amp]This narrow valley seems to be prone to quick changes of weather so it is advantageous to us that there are a few alternatives to getting up & down from/to the main town. With between a 10-12 minute uphill walk we can go the main road, via a forest walk or a combined forest walk/back road. These alternatives are all from the Cabinovia Secedia where there is a moving footpath down to a promenade & then 3 linked escalators down to the main commercial area of shops/restaurants/banks/main bus stop etc. This main promenade is also a fine people watching site. Our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] afternoon is mainly to get our bearings and visit the supermarket for breakfast supples, snacks & drinks for enjoying our balcony views. Today Ortisei is hosting a lot of very fit coughs-Sudtirol Hero mountain bike race that covers 84km & 4,300 metres difference in altitude. The afternoon sees/hears quite a few thunderstorms but very little rain happens where we are.[/FONT]
Castle outside of Waidbruck
The Italians know how to do delis
View across the valley from Ortisei
The links to downtown Ortisei
Next level to Ortisei downtown

 

[RB]

Our dinner is at Vedul Mulin with reasonable pizzas- a 1[SUP]st[/SUP] for us here where just inside the entrance there is a huge 2 layered bowl of bread & ham for arriving customers to help themselves to a little sample.
Our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] full day is forecast to have afternoon showers/general rain so we decide to pack some extra clothes & walk to Santa Christina. Today is also Sellaronda bike day so some roads are closed & there are plenty of families out exercising. The busy early path is over an old disused railway track & then crosses the road several times before a steep climb into Santa Christina. At Santa Christina we visit the helpful Tourist Info centre. We then climb to a walk to the waterfall & then enjoy a downhill stroll back along another path back to Ortisei. In Ortisei we visit a supermarket that is not only open on Sunday but also does not shut 2.5hrs for lunch each day. With general rain forecast we opt to buy some fresh salmon & some pork & sausages so we don’t have to dine out over the next 2 nights-will be our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] cooking nights this trip! Indeed during the afternoon rain does set in so we enjoy an easy time in the apartment. Must say Mrs RB does a great job with the salmon!
Countryside around Santa Christina
Engineering a way to drive from Santa Christina to Selva
Amazing facilities for such small communities

 

[RB]

Overnight the expected rain does pound the roof at times but when we awake on the morning of Mon 24[SUP]th[/SUP] June we are surprised there has been snow & indeed it is still snowing down to and below the levels of our apartment. We had read about the vagaries of June weather around here & had packed accordingly so the snow was actually a nice bonus for us to enjoy while holidaying. Our plan to bus to Selva & then take a cross country walk is however not practical so we instead catch the bus & then just opt to walk within the Selva township. We had strongly considered staying in Selva & this day gave us a good opportunity to compare places. It seems that Selva is perhaps a bit easier to walk around from many of the apartments & it enjoys views of many but different peaks than Ortisei. The snow has descended well into Selva & we get some great photos of this late snow. The temp seemed to max out at 5c. We bus back to Ortisei, have a very late lunch & then just enjoy looking at our changed surroundings.

Selva hotel-maybe a little suprised by the late snow
Some nicely located apartments in Selva
The street decorations seemed to survive this
Valley view from our apartment
Selva church cemetry

 

[RB]

Our 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] full day in Ortisei we buy our Val Gardena 3 day cards - 62 Euro each but after day 1 we feel we already have had great value. We walk down to the start of the Ortisei-Furnes-Seceda run. This is very quite & we ascend in a car by ourselves to Furnes & then join a small, uncrowded group up to Seceda- great sites all round that are further highlighted by yesterday’s snow. The longer walks are still cut off so we walk in a restricted area around the summit & deal with a bit of slush & slippery conditions but are astounded by the views-it is much colder here than Ortisei & we don our wet weather trousers along with beanies & extra coats to repel the cold! The return trip is on the same path. It was quite a bonus to see a few marmot happily living up here.


Looking from Furnes up to Seceda
One of the many views from Seceda
About as far as we could walk in this direction from the Seceda station
Path up in other direction away from Seceda station
Marmot-not much of a lfestyle

 

[RB]

Next is the Resciesa Funicular- recently refurbished it gets you to their peak in 8 minutes. This is a different aspect with cows hanging around the landing station along with the obligatory café/bar. A gentle ascent leads to a fairly level hike along an exposed walk that gives great views down to Ortisei & the surrounds. We hike through more slush on a generally good path & again go mad with the cameras-constantly changing light & cloud conditions lead you to thinking I’ll grab this now while it is so good! We really enjoy an encounter with 5 horses that seem to enjoy their snow covered environment. We follow the same path back & the funicular drops us back in time for a late lunch in Ortisei.

Great specimen, caught him just in the right light
Plenty to see
Across from Resciesa
Bit of an overall view
Track was more narrow & slushy because of the recent snow

 

[RB]

Trip 3 on our Val Gardena card on day 1 is via Alpe di Siusi on another different form of cable car (again by ourselves). Here we are exposed to a completely different landscape with a high altitude valley that is hidden from our sights back down in Ortisei. Again the snow has made paths sloshy, but we justify our existence & ignore the popular bar/café & slog along the relatively flat path and are again mesmerised by the variety of natural highlights. There are more multiple shots of the same peaks but the constantly changing light & cloud conditions justify this when we look back at the photos later. After our 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] descent of the day we check the main promenade, visit the supermarket & trudge back to our apartment & enjoy self-cooked, marinated schnitzel & a lazy night.
Another sloshy path-heading away from Alpe di Siusi
Great valley that cannot be seen from Ortisei itself
Walks zig zag eerywhere down in the valley
Bit of a panorama shot

Light & cloud were constantly changing

 

[ellen10]

Wow such beautiful countryside, lovely pictures.

 

[RB]

[FONT=&amp]Wed 26[SUP]th[/SUP] June was day 2 of our 3 day Val Gardena cards. We catch a bus to Selva ( some bus routes seem a little out of sorts with the Volkssport Olympiad being held this week-generally a lot more people around & extra random bus services seem to be running). We catch the Ciampinoi cableway that gives us the opportunity to look at the Sassolungo 3181metres (has been dominant in a lot of our photos) up close. We opt for a relatively easy walk that is a small part of the Sella Ronda in the direction of Sellajoch. It only gets better as we make your way down to the Comici Hut, with the Sassolungo in our faces and the Sella Massif across the valley. The trail goes from meadow to forest to rocky terrain with wildflowers throughout. For the most part, this particular walk doesn't require a super-athletic level of fitness (we saw families of all sorts on the trail). But to get back to the Ciampinoi station, as we did there is a bit of a gut buster at the end. Our ride back down to Selva neatly fits in with the bus timetable & we head to St Christina where we have a tasty lunch.
[/FONT]Straight off cableway to this view
Looking in general direction of Ortisei
Valley full of walking tracks
More walking options

 

[RB]

From St Christina we slog up the hill to the base station of Col Raiser. Again it is a very scenic ride to the peak & on this trip we pass over many crisscrossing trails with many people opting to hike back down to St Christina. At the top we check out the boards of walk options with a view of returning tomorrow & hiking cross country to Ortisei. Again there are plenty of photo opportunities! After a ride back down from Col Raiser we bus it back to Ortisei & back to our apartment-another great day out!


View from Col Raiser to Seceda (see previous posts & photos)

More beautiful walking surrounds

List of a few of the options