#42: The Hills Are Alive
This week I've had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Mum back to Italy. She arrived on Friday last week, landing in Bologna. I drove up from Lucca to collect her, and then we bunny hopped our way up into the Dolomites (my manual driving continues to be a work in progress) for a few days of fresh air, hiking and some of that fabulous mountain food.
It is very early in the summer season, so there were few people around. It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
Despite the time of year, we had perfect weather. Warm (but not hot), sunny, and the most epic thunderstorm one night when we were safely tucked up in our beds. I would definitely come back in early June again.
Originally, we had been considering signing up for a guided multi-day hike. This would have involved carrying all of our clothes each day and staying overnight in the various rifugios dotted throughout the region. And we would have been part of a group - which is always a little risky...
But because of the time of year, many of the huts weren't open for overnight stays yet. In the end, we decided to book ourselves into a small hotel overlooking the town of Ortisei. And we did self-guided hikes - following the suggestions each morning of the hotel manager.
It turned out to be the absolute best choice! Every day, our man suggested an amazing route for us to walk - each of which started by catching one of the three cable cars from the town in the bottom of the valley straight up into the morning clouds.
Day One was a meandering loop (with some bursts of steep climbing and descending) from the top of Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm in German) which involved stunning wildflower meadows, and brought to mind a lot of Sound of Music references.
Day Two was a steep descent from the peaks of Seceda all the way to the small village of Selva Wolkenstein.
And for Day Three we took a gentler loop around the top of the most stunning Alpe Resciesa. The morning ascent was on the most incredible funicular tram I have ever seen. Up and up we went, until we burst through the clouds at the top, a full 2,200 metres above sea level.
The hotel was fantastic - absolutely lovely, without being too fancy or in any way pretentious. The views from every window looked like a fake movie backdrop or a postcard. The staff were so friendly and welcoming. And the food was incredible. I'm still dreaming of the saffron risotto I had for dinner on our second night.
I will be adding the Hotel Grien to my list of favourite places I want to return to one day.
Four days of one on one time was very special. And of course occasionally quite amusing. I took great pleasure in trying to convince Mum to stop ordering her morning capuccino to be "extra hot", as it is a complete abomination. She teased me for how quickly I have adopted all of the ridiculous Italian rules about food and life. No wet hair outside, no milky coffee after 11am, and no rushing anywhere at any time (unless of course you're driving). The list goes on.
We sadly packed up and left our mountain paradise on Tuesday, and headed back down towards Lucca. The last few days have been busy for me (hence the late weekly email!) and Mum has been enjoying spending time with Raffy and Leo. They could not be happier to have her here. This morning when Leo woke up, the first thing he said was "Fafa?".
Later today we're heading off to Isola d'Elba for a weekend at the beach. I cannot wait.
Before I say goodbye for now, I just have to tell you about a little Lost in Translation moment from last week. The victim this time was David. He went to the gelateria near our house (not our usual place, but still exceptionally good) to buy a takeaway tub for our dessert that night at home. He asked for pistacchio, tiramisù and a scoop of cioccolato. The woman serving looked a bit confused, but shrugged and asked whether the chocolate should be gianduia or Nutella? David (now also confused, because all he could see was plain chocolate gelato) replied with Nutella.
When he got home, the confusion became clear. Instead of a third of the tub being Nutella-flavoured gelato, the woman had dutifully scooped in a huge plop of straight Nutella. Horrifyingly sweet, it might be the first time ever that we've thrown out a gelato tub that wasn't completely empty…!
