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

[RB]

Buffaure Day

 

[RB]

More Buffaure






Still being finished

Snow traps


Location of refuge


Refuge food






Ride back down

 

[RB]

Pozza Di Fassa to Castelrotto (Kastelruth for the Germans)
At this time of year we needed to go back to Bolzano & then out to Castelrotto. We ended up having a 20 minute change-over between buses. Plenty of traffic & quite a bit of roadwork. Some amazing scenery on the way to the South Tirols & again plenty of tight sections on the road. Very much a farming area and land of speck and strudel.

 

[RB]

Apartment in Castelrotto
Tranquillo appartamento nel cuore di Castelrotto - Apartments for Rent in Kastelruth, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy - Airbnb
An excellent spot to stay. An easy 5 minute walk from the bus stop via the main thoroughfare. A very modern, clean and roomy 2 bedroom apartment with an amazing view. Excellent facilities-washing machine, dishwasher, large fridge, plenty of cooking options (not used by us), good heating (needed at times), off-street parking (not needed by us) & a front terrace we didn’t use.

Bottom floor is the apartment with off street parking

















View out the back windows

 

[RB]

Around Castelrotto Kastelruth - Holidays in the heart of the Dolomites
We spent our first afternoon wandering around the town. The parish church & it’s free standing bell tower dominate the scene. The maypole has a story behind it “Kirschtamichl” straw doll - South Tyrol - Alto Adige - Bolzano.
Our walking took us up to Kofel Hill, with a 30 minute walk giving views over the town & surrounds. The tourist office shares a building with a museum that has a great display of traditional costumes and a good collection of historical photos. Given the cool nights there was no night time outdoor dining & the heaters were working well in the spots we visited. We thought the local supermarket was great with its variety & it traded all day ( none of the Italian siesta hours here unlike some of the other shops.) We had read a bit about shopping options but not a huge number- a few speck shops, a couple of shoe shops handcrafting but it was more coffee shops/restaurants/souvenirs.




This was being repainted while we were there










Town Square

Maypole

 

[RB]

Very few pews in the Bell Tower





A couple of the traditional costumes

Looked to be a new housing area

 

[RB]

2nd Day-Seiser Alm/Alpe Di Siusi. A ride on a crowded bus then a quick lineup for tickets. Up on the Seiser Alm Cableway then a flat walk to the Puflatsch lift. From there it was basically following the Tour of the Puflatsch trail-rated as moderate with a change of altitude just over 400 metres and a high point of 2173m. Pretty open across farmland to start and then from the Filln Cross much narrower and some rough narrow sections on loose rocks. The last 10 minutes or so down is pretty steep on a tar road but pretty hard on the legs. A fantastic viewing day, excellent views, never too crowded, no lift wait & an easy bus ride back to Castelrotto


Exit from Seiser Alm cableway




Puflatsch


Top of Puflatsch lift

 

[RB]

Seiser Alm Continued











Filln Cross

 

[RB]

Last of Seiser Alm Day


View down to Castelrotto

 

[offshore171]

2nd Day-Seiser Alm/Alpe Di Siusi. A ride on a crowded bus then a quick lineup for tickets. Up on the Seiser Alm Cableway then a flat walk to the Puflatsch lift. From there it was basically following the Tour of the Puflatsch trail-rated as moderate with a change of altitude just over 400 metres and a high point of 2173m.

Ive skied up there in the winter. They have a piste with a speed trap on it that tells you how fast you are going.

However it's hard to concentrate on anything but the views.

 

[RB]

3rd Day-Ortisei- a slow ride on a crowded bus through plenty of roadworks-skipped some stops as the bus was chockers. The town is very much set up for tourists with boutique shops & souvenir stores very prominent. From the bus stop it is an uphill tramp via the pedestrian walkway La Curta Ortisei - YouTube
We used the Resciesa funicular & then had a general wander. The day was a bit cloudy/foggy so the clarity of the previous day was missing and it wasn’t all that comfortable walking around up the top. We had hiked up here previously and the chalet restaurant was closed so we soon opted to return to the village. Mrs RB browsed the shops for some gifts & then it was back on the bus to Castelrotto














Looking down on Ortisei from the Resciesa funicular building

Ortisei

 

[RB]

Castlerotto to Pigra (Lake Como)
A bus and train transfer. Around 50 min on the bus to Bolzano, a 5 min walk to the station & then a wait for the train. We have done a similar train ride previously and the ride to Verona covers some beautiful scenery-massive amounts of orchards & vineyards. We had a lot of army people on board for a while & then ended up with an overcrowded carriage of uni students after Trento. Ended up a bit late into Verona but the train from Venice (through to Zurich) was also late. Confusion not helped by a very late allocation of a platform. We were booked into first class for this leg but it had it’s challenges-one passenger without a mask & no ticket planted himself in our carriage & refused to leave when challenged (eventually taken away by police) & another group (with staff turning a blind eye) camped between seating compartments so that the doors were endlessly opening and closing. Ended up late into Como San Giovanni but had less time waiting for a No.10 bus to Argegno-again an overcrowded ride.
Very happy to get off at Argegno & have a couple of drinks before our designated driver took us up to Pigra.

Views on Seiser Alm were not going to be great today


Lake Como at Argegno






The trees are still suffering from the drought Italy heatwave: Lake Como drops 16cm in just 72 hours as 43C wave blasts | Weather | News | Express.co.uk

 

[RB]

Around Pigra
We have been catching up with one of our hosts for around 30yrs (first met in Malaysia). A lot of our time is spent just enjoying food and drinks but we do a bit of walking as well. This is our first visit since 2019. Some things have stayed the same, a new bar (at Piazza Roma) has opened and other bars seem to offer meals on a more restricted basis at the moment. The funicular is still a challenge of maintenance/running hours/staffing and speculation of who are the latest visitors to the Belvedere ( always in black tinted cars apparently) continues. There are some completed restorations but there are others that have stalled. Despite the so so weather & the concerns about heating for the upcoming winter we again had a good time.

The weather bought out a fire salamander


Location of the new bar




Sneaky view of Lake Como








Was a bar we visited previously

View looking towards Bellagio

 

[RB]

Pigra continued










There had been a photo competition-now up on buildings

 

[RB]

Pigra to Malpensa

We have used a few different ways to do this transfer. This time it suited our hosts to drop us at Maroggia-Melano train station. The drive is not easy, with many narrow sections & plenty of morning traffic. The landscape though is pretty spectacular, past the Lanzo golf course just before crossing into Switzerland-the check point seems abandoned at this stage. From Maroggia-Melano we had a direct train ride to MXP, a very comfortable uncrowded transfer that left us with an easy walk to the check-in.





More trees struggling from the earlier drought

 

[Cossie]

Last time in the north of Italy we drove up into that little part of Italy in Switzerland, just because we could! I enjoyed the roads, lot’s of winding stuff!

Campione d'Italia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[RB]

SQ377 MXP-SIN A359 14A & 15A & SQ211 B77W- 17A & 18A SIN-SYD J Kris Flyer Bookings
Check-in opened a few minutes after we lined up and we were 2nd in line. We were provided with a letter re a delay that was attributed to a French Air Traffic Controller strike (plane was from Barcelona) despite the strike having been called off-maybe there were flow-on effects. The letter indicated a delay of 45 minutes. Think we left around 4.30pm so a delay of a bit over 2.5hrs. The flight from Barcelona had left 2.5hrs late.
The flow through the airport was fine-separate line through security for business class & the passport control was very efficient. The lounge( Montale) really is ordinary. We have been there before & it has not improved. On the day the VIP area was thrown open to try & cope with the overcrowding-just offered a few more spots to sit. At one stage people were refused entry because of crowding. Food was scarce & ordinary & the self serve drinks we not particularly cold. At one stage we wandered down to the gate to check on progress-the refreshments (referred to in the letter given out at check-in) being provided at the gate were a plastic wrapped sandwich, packet of chips & bottle of water.
Priority boarding worked well & we were told that ongoing flights would likely be held in Singapore- the Singapore F1 was on so hotel rooms would have been in short supply & undoubtedly priced as such.

Onboard experience was fine-I preferred the Malpensa crew, Mrs RB preferred the SIN crew! Both flights very smooth & I guess the foot cubby hole is the weak point of the planes. I thought the storage options around the seats were very good on both flights-we use back backs as cabin bags. I really enjoyed the Glen Deveron 16yr single malt onboard (bit surprised that kit-kat was the chocolate onboard), Mrs RB noted the Piper on MXP leg was vintage but not so on the SIN-SYD flight.. Wi-fi was unlimited on the MXP leg but only I think 100MB that was soon gone on the SYD flight.
In Singapore we made a dash to B10 and boarding had begun. No pre- departure drinks offered despite a request. We arrived around 1.5hrs late to Syd after a late holding pattern.
The process through SYD was smooth enough, around 30 min wait at the carousel & then we were directed to a lane for a bag check but nothing found & nothing discussed/disclosed. We had a few minutes wait for a train to Mascot Central-that next
















Carpaccio di Polpo-thought it was excellent

 

[RB]

More of flights
Normally avoid the steak but this was good


Nearing Singapore




Syd leg




Bit too spicy for me

 

[RB]

Last time in the north of Italy we drove up into that little part of Italy in Switzerland, just because we could! I enjoyed the roads, lot’s of winding stuff!

Campione d'Italia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A few people we know in Pigra do the drive every day-Swiss wages make it worthwhile for them

 

[RB]

Meriton Mascot Central Meriton Suites Mascot Central - Luxury Airport Accommodation

1 Bedroom King Suite- booked through Eminence membership that gives a good rate & also able to use our Stay NSW voucher-the voucher scheme finished that weekend. Only a short walk from the train station but a little confusing in the dark with roadworks/building blocking the most direct route (John St)

Check-in was a good experience & we found the room to be very comfortable for the 1 night stay. Before departure we checked the observation deck & courtyard. (there are also Aero suites that apparently offer views of the airport). There is a excellent pick-up area available that made it very easy when we left the next day.
A great holiday and good to be able to get overseas again!