Good Morning from the mountainous region Alta Badia of Italy with its Austria influence!

(Pictures do not do justice to the terrain and landscape!)

*To the mountains or the beach…? Hard decision sometimes but this area is spectacular*

Starting off the day with a hearty breakfast to fuel are days adventures! Jeff had himself a large glass of fresh milk. The dairy products are so good here coming from a local dairy right here on the slopes. We caught sight (and heard the cow bells) of cattle grazing as we rode the gondola up the mountain.

*Those cows can make some delicious milk!*

Wanting to hike around a bit and not have quite the climb we had on our hike in Cinque Terre area we decided on the easier option. We rode the gondola up the mountain to a plateau where the hiking was a lot easier.

Enjoyed seeing all the new spring mountain flowers (The honey bees were busy at work.), fresh green grass and sunshine.

Stopping a time or two just to relax lay back in the grass and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding mountians. Sometimes we took shortcuts by mountain chalets dodging the slushy areas still wet from snow melt. It was a beautiful sunny day! We were told two weeks ago there had still been enough snow to do some skiing!

*No words nor pictures can do justice…so majastic*

Stopping by the most scenic restaurant we got us a bite for lunch. The hot chocolate was tops! I had a dumpling dish and Jeff chose a pasta with pesto.

*The most scenic restaurant high up in the Dolomites*

*Dumplings, hot chocolate and pasta with pesto and a espresso*

Not feeling extremely energetic we went just a bit further on a trail to get a view of all the mountains surrounding us before hiking back to the gondola for the ride back down the mountain.

Back down, we walked down to the creek for a bit, explored the town a bit more, and stopped for a late afternoon snack of yummy homemade icecream.

Spent the evening up at our room. Did a bit more laundry and hung it on the balcony to dry. Jeff enjoyed a bit more sunshine out on the balcony ;). I was feeling the sunburn from the intense sunshine this morning and didn’t feel like I needed Any more sun at the moment ;). Instead sat inside on the couch and and did a little blogging.

I know Jeff is missing his dogs at home when he stands on the balcony and talks to the our neighbors dog down below or any dogs we pass on streets, Lol. We enjoyed watching this dog and his antics as he kept a close eye on the free range chickens.

Settled in for the evening, set the fire place ablaze and called supper up to our room for a relaxing evening before calling it a day…

*So relaxing and peaceful…drift away to sweet dreams*

Dolomites Mountains

Salute Dolomites, Ciao Venezia

Leaving Tuscany, Destination Dolomites