Alpine trip 2017 - to Cortina d'Ampezzo Page

Saturday 9th September 2017

The breakfast was good. We checked out, the extras coming to €49.20 but there was a bit of unpleasantness, as the girl gave us Avis’ spotted coat & bus pass but these had been in the truck. I found the truck had been broken into & disordered but only my jacket had been taken, very annoying, as it is the only rain-proof thing I have. I reported this to the hotel, who said Avis’ coat had been found lying in the car park. They said they would look into it. We drove off towards Reutte, stopping to look at the Lech Falls and then, to get a Vignette, €9.80 but then, hit a long traffic jam which altogether cost us an hour. It was not a good day, mostly bright enough but cloudy. We got over the Fern Pass, which is simple on the Füssen side but is a long way down to the Inntal, where we picked up the motorway. We stopped at the Europabrücke café for lunch for €20.60 cash again & found we had to pay a toll as well, €9. Down the other side, we took the old road, which, judging by the jams on the motorway, was as fast & cheaper. It was a bit confusing where we turned off into the lovely (& occasionally sunny) Val Gardena. After Orvieto, there is a string of ski resorts. We stopped in Selva Gardena where I bought a puffer jacket: what we call a duvet jacket of €114 in a sale. The Selva Pass was the first of three serious zig-zaggy Alpine Passes we had to negotiate to get to Cortina but they all offered magnificent scenery & plenty of lay-bys for photo-ops. We stopped near the top for coffees, €3.80. This was the SS242 & over the pass, we soon got to the junction with the SR48, which after two more passes, took us to Cortina. It was not too difficult to get round the town & to our Hotel Principe, which gave us a room with our own small lounge! The patron directed us to ‘his brother’s’ restaurant, where we had dinner, chatting to another English couple €46 & they did take a debit card. We saw some vintage Ford Cortinas, absolutely immaculate, on a rally of them in real Cortina. It was drizzling as we left & the prognosis for tomorrow is not good.