We have settled in nicely to the Italian lifestyle in Refrontolo doing our usual things of rest days , lunches and touring!

Even though we still say that the Italians are “absolutely crazy drivers” , at least now we don’t have to contend with roads closed due to the Giro d’Italia. The tour was through the mountains and our area for the first 4 days we were here , and it made it difficult for us at times ( well , at least for Greg and Luigi). Still however we have to contend with cyclists on the roads and on narrow roads it can be frustrating!

We visited Cittadella , a walled medieval town not far from us. You are able to completely walk around the town walls called the Ronda Walkway, and considered to be one of the most beautiful city walls in Italy, however at 5 euros per person, and a temperature of 30 degrees ,and Gregory’s thirst, we decided it was a smarter choice to sit and have a drink , and admire the Town Square with its Duomo built between 1774 and 1826!

 

Greg was keen to take Luigi for a trip up to the Dolomites on those winding roads with lots of hairpin bends!

We decided to head to Tre Cime di Lavaredo or The three Peaks of Lavaredo , considered to be one of the highest peaks of the Dolomites! First stop on “the tour” was the rather beautiful Lago di Santa Caterina with it’s most beautiful reflections.

 

As we continued higher the scenery became more spectacular! We knew when we arrived at Lake Misurina , there would be a toll road of 25 kms ,AND 30 euros to take us to The Three Peaks.

Well, imagine our surprise when we discovered that the toll road was not open due to the amount of snow, so if you wanted to see the Three Peaks you needed to walk up the mountain for about 3 hours to get the first glimpse of them!

 

We started , knowing we would not go all the way, but still had fantastic views of the mountains.

 

We are going to return……..when we are sure the road is open!

We stopped at Cortina d’Ampezzo known as “The Queen of the Dolomites”. It was a pretty little ski resort town at the foothills of the Alps.

All in all it was a fantastic drive , and well done to Greg and Luigi, we will be venturing up the mountains again, so beware , lots more photos to come!

We have visited our first Prosecco House called Masuret. By chance, it happened to be the “house prosecco” at Scopri (our favourite restaurant in Melbourne).

 

We spent 2 fabulous hours with Massimo who gave us a tour of the winery , multiple tastings , and lots of info on Prosecco!

Of course we have been having a few aperitives on our terrace at home , but we have also checked out a couple of bars in our village , and both have passed with flying colours!

 

Our lunch out this week was at a very traditional Trattoria and the food was great. The owner  asked us “French, German, Belgium????” , and her response when we answered “Australian” was …….OHHHHHH Mumma Mia”.

Greg’s tagliatelle with deer ragu was delicious as was Rhonda’s ravioli with herbs and sage butter , followed by pannacotta , however Greg is still on the hunt for the best one , this one did not rate!!!

 

We have discovered some small pretty villages close by. The village of Cison di Valmarino, one of “The most Beautiful Villages of Italy” was picturesque. Next stop was Follino to check out the Abby of Santa Maria , built in 1305. The cloisters were quite impressive. We stopped off at the Molinetto della Corda , a 17th Century Mill that was recently restored. It was a very pretty spot.

 

We spent a day touring the “Piave Wine Road” and home to many Venetian villas. We had to stop to take a photo of Villa Toderini , originally owned by a noble family which supplied rich Venetian people with expensive cloth and lace.

We then arrived at Oderzo , a lovely small town although a music festival was happening (much to Greg’s disgust) so there were lots of people around!

 

We sat in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and had a drink, note …….water …..well it was only 10.30am and it was 32 degrees so we thought that is was more appropriate than alcohol!

Next stop, for lunch, AND a real drink , was Roncade with it’s rather impressive 15th Century Castello, privately owned now by a Baron!!!!!

 

Continuing our drive we became blasé about all the magnificent villas we were seeing along the way , but we took one last photo of the Villa Tiepolo Passi , a 17th Century Veneto villa still owned by the same family who built it.

We ventured up the mountains again for another one of Greg and Luigi’s favourite drives, through 2 passes and the spectacular Val del Mis with its many one lane , and unlit tunnels gorged through the rock. Rhonda had her eyes closed some of the time!!!!

We also came across a huge pack of goats being herded up the road ( it slowed us to a crawl for about 2 kms)

 

The first pass (1378metres) the Passo Cereda , gave us some spectacular snow covered mountains and fantastic scenery.

We discovered that the Giro also road up these roads the weeks before as all the mountain hamlets and chalets are still decorated with pink bikes , ribbons and any thing else pink you can think of!

 

The second pass , Croce d”Aune (only 1011 metres) had no one way tunnels but very narrow roads which kept Rhonda’s heart rate up! Well done again to Greg and Luigi to getting us up and down safely.

We were planning to stop in Feltre for lunch , but a few kms out , we stumbled across an Italian Beer Hall, so a few beers and snags later we continued to check out the town of Feltre.

Although there were some lovely Venetain frescoed buildings , it was not a “wow” moment for us!

 

We are off to check out the larger city of Vicenza tomorrow for an overnight stop!

Just some info for you….the temperature has been around 30 degrees since our arrival, good quality prosecco is costing us 7 euros per bottle and a 6 pack of longneck Peroni beer is costing us 2 euros 50. Cappuccinos are 1 euro 50 and really good!!!!

So it’s time to pack , and have a drink of course!!

Cheers

Ciao ciao

Greg and Rhonda