Northern Germany, Southern Italy & a couple of different valleys of the Dolomites

[craven morehead]

Palazzo Palasciano Monopoli Palazzo Palasciano, Monopoli – Updated 2022 Prices
A very comfortable and well located apartment where we stayed for 4 nights- a bit of a base for day trips as well as seeing Monopoli. Great bed, bathroom and comfortable living area. Air conditioner was needed & worked well. Easy walk from the train station and right on the edge of the historic centre. Again pretty flat walking to everything & plenty of choice for food & drinks The apartment was fine for us but if you wanted to cook meals maybe the kitchen is a bit small.
Bit difficult to photograph, up a flight of stairs and the bathroom flowed off the bedroom-separate rooms for hand basins and the shower was a larger walk-in. Washing machine worked well & as with previous stays the wi-fi posed no problems

Shower-plenty of room
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Plenty of storage & air con was excellent
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Part of lounge area with Juliet balcony
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Under bench fridge in kitchenette?

 

[RB]

Under bench fridge in kitchenette?

Yep good enough for beers & wine

 

[RB]

Around Termoli Discover Termoli South Italy city in Molise
Only a small place with a 2 night stay, we were able to view the Old Town and Port area in our first afternoon. Obviously given the numbers of umbrellas & deck chairs, the sandy beaches attract many Italian visitors during the peak season. The Old Town is perched on a promontory & you can take a spiral staircase down to access the port area.
The trabucchi is a marvelous sight-”Those who take for the first time the road that leads from the Swabian Castle to the old town will certainly have noticed strange wooden constructions that from the shore push a few meters toward the sea. They are called Trabucchi, but also Trabocchi, or even Bilance, and they seem to have originated from a population, also devoted to the sea, the Phoenicians. In fact, these constructions, which are found mainly from Pescara to Bari, in ancient times allowed people to fish even in bad weather, when boats could not go out to sea. How are they made? These fishing machines are made from a thick palisade driven between the rocks, ending in a platform connected to the mainland by a gangway. Two masts stretching out over the water hold a rectangular net, which, through a winch, is then lowered into the water. They are typically constructed with Aleppo pine wood, not only because it is an almost inexhaustible material in this part of Italy, but also because it is resistant to salt spray.”

Very nice coffee shop



Railway Station


Heading to Old Town area



They seem to have a good balance of foot/car traffic

 

[RB]

Termoli continued




The trabucchi




The rock protection runs for kilometres

 

[RB]

More Termoli
Further convinced myself I am not a craft beer person













From Old Town down to harbour

 

[RB]

Our main motivation for visiting Termoli was to access the Tremiti Islands “Pearls of the Adriatic” Isole Tremiti - Wikipedia
We walked to the jetty after breakfast and caught the slow ferry there and back. We enjoyed a guided boat tour around the various bays, caves & rock archways. The water here was incredibly clear with many snorkelers enjoying the pink coral and schools of fish.We spent the rest of the time walking around San Domino and had a great lunch & drinks. No sign of any helicopter service when we walked past the pad. We were a bit late back after an unexplained time just drifting after we left the wharf for the trip back to Termoli. A great day overall!





The boats for the guided tour

 

[RB]

Tremeti Islands



20 minute stop for a snorkel

 

[RB]

Last of the Tremiti








The helipad-seasonal


Our lunch spot

 

[RB]

Termoli to Brisighella A pretty straight forward transfer by train. 1st class to Rimini and then 2 short hauls on a a regional train. At Faenza we had our passports checked- we had seen quite a few checks happening during our wanderings but previously they hadn’t bothered with us.

ItaliaRail doing something about recycling

Around Silvi I think




Very few staff on platforms these days

 

[RB]

Albergo La Rocca Brisighella Albergo La Rocca, Brisighella – Updated 2022 Prices
We enjoyed our 2 night stay in what was a hotel room with a small balcony. There are not a lot of options in town but if you had a car there are a few agritourism options. It is located just over a 5 minute walk from the train station and is a family run business with a long history. Staff are very friendly, the included breakfast is fine (sweet or sour) and the onsite dinner we had was a great meal. The few stores are within a minutes walk and there is no traffic noise to contend with.

 

[RB]

Around Brisighella
We've landed right in the middle of a postcard. Brisighella is a village in the Emilia-Romana region of North East Italy set at the foot of the Appenines. It is defined by three hills topped by a fortress from the 14th century, a sanctuary from the 18th century, and a clock tower built on the remnants of a 13th century fortress. It also has an interesting WW2 history with stories of the liberation by the British. Several bars/cafes are around the town centre and the locals meet for coffee or later in the day for a few drinks. There are a few fiercely contested card games played at the bar also. Mrs RB is rapt to find wine on tap- a first for this trip.
The weather on our full day was a bit overcast but that was good for the climb up to the sights above town. Within town there are some very useful billboards highlighting the significant historical events. There is very little vehicular traffic but the same as many Aussie country towns, the driving and parking can be a bit random & it makes for good viewing while having a drink in the town square (no action required, but the local police were noticeable with their casual patrols).
The town was certainly not crowded but our hotel was booked out while we were there & there was a steady stream of walkers around town at night.
Really enjoyed our night meals here. First night at the La Rocca and then Vietnanese at Restaurant Vietnamita. Mrs RB was impressed by the Pignoletto, the regions answer to prosecco What is Pignoletto? And does it taste better than Prosecco?

Few gratis snacks with our first drink















Mid town path to castle

 

[RB]

More Brisighella


Start of our climb

 

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Brisighella continued

 

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Last of Brisighella





La Rocca




Vietnamese night


Presenta

tion of fried rice

 

[RB]

Brisighella to Pozza Di Fassa
A train transfer with the first leg on board "Dante's Train" and following in his footsteps on the journey from Emilio Romagna to Tuscany. This scenic train line follows the valley to Florence. Quite a few bike riders caught the train until about 40km out of Florence & then planned to ride into the city. It's a quick change of train at Florence ( just arrived on one platform & then walked to the next train) and on to the Dolomites. Watched a bit of an NRL finals game while enjoying the changing landscape. Off the train at Bolzano (huge steps down to the platform & helped some people with a pram), then a quick 5 minute walk up to the bus stop. A bit over an hour on the bus (it actually heads on to Canazei).
The Trentino guest pass ( Trentino Guest Card - Your holiday, experiences included )that came with our apartment booking took care of the bus fare. We had travelled a similar path before but within minutes of leaving Bolzano you become mesmerised by seeing the various peaks & glorious landscape. Driving would be fine for the most part but there are certainly plenty of motorbikes looking for quick overtaking opportunities and there are quite a few spots where larger vehicles need to use all the road to get around bends- hay carting by tractor was also happening while we were there.
From the bus at various stages we also saw evidence of the storms that caused havoc in 2018. There are still stockpiles of trees down Vaia’s trail of destruction – Val d’Ega after the storm
All the bus drivers are pretty marvelous. Good drivers, patient, multi-lingual and all showed a bit of character.

 

[RB]

Lake Carezzo- some evidence of the storm destruction in background


Residence Grand Hotel Carezza- has it's own bus stop off the main road


Some great views from the bus-school kids manage to sleep though

 

[RB]

Ciasa Lino Sas da le Doudesc Pozza Di Fassa Ciasa Lino Sas da le Doudesc, Pozza di Fassa – Updated 2022 Prices​

A very comfortable 3 night stay in an apartment that is less than a 10 minute walk from the bus stop. Excellent views of Dolomite peaks, 5 minutes walk to a supermarket, similar to a few restaurants/bars and less than 10 minutes walk to the Buffaure chairlift. The apartment was neat & tidy, the heating was excellent & we had plenty of room. It was a bit older than the other Dolomite apartments we had stayed in previously and a little less polished. I think relative accommodation costs in the various Dolomite valleys have increased a lot since our last visit in 2014 & summer season activities are a huge tourism boost. (not so much an off-season now).

Ski storage & drying room








2nd bedroom






View from living room


View from deck


View from bedroom

 

[RB]

Around Pozza Di Fassa
We had been questioning the wisdom of carting around winter clothes. Our first night it snowed on the upper peaks. The next day was certainly chilly but bearable and the fresh snow meant that some ski lifts were closed and the others that were open had a lot of slush around the hiking trails. We had planned on a 3 day lift ticket but that was dropped.
The day was spent wandering around the many village walking paths & generally had a quiet day.
Our 2nd full day dawned fine so it was on with the hiking boots-along the Avisio River towards Pera and then across the river and an elevated walk to Vigo di Fassa and back to the apartment. Quite a few people getting about on pushbikes and some hikers but certainly not crowded.
Last full day was a walk to Buffaure chairlift & then a ride up. Got to Buffaure at 2060m but the ride to Col de Valvacin was still closed. Pretty cold despite the sunlight with a pretty significant wind chill. We hiked a rather steep gravel track towards Col de Valvacin & then retreated to Buffaure refuge for a great lunch.

1st day wander






A change from previous day

 

[RB]

Hike Pera and Vigo Di Fassa

 

[RB]

Very spoilt


Some afternoon light