Fired up with the possibility of roadbound freedom we took the Panda for another spin today.
North East of the town is a lake called Misurina. Within the Dolomitis, nothing is any great distance, but be forewarned, there is a lot a driving to be done. Only 16 Km from Cortina the lake is nestled in at 1800m, and yet still surrounded by great peaks. We took some time and walked all the way round the lake enjoying the ambience and the brief time we could separate ourselves from the busloads of other tourists.
The TomTom battery died and the local tourist map didn't go that far around, but when we left Misurina we kept going away from Cortina, and I trusted that we would find our way back. I had an inkling we would just make a rough circuit around this huge outcrop, and have enough fuel to do so. The Panda runs on cow farts so we just had to stick to the roads near pastures.
We were looking for the ultimate resource for road warrior travellers, the picnic spot, and though we travelled far and wide, one just did not turn up. Damn!!
If you travel Europe, especially Italy, the recurring issue will become La Toilette. It's because it is recurring that it gets a mention here, otherwise I would not give it any 'air-time' at all.
Whenever you stop, to have a rest or a gekko, someone is always by the side of the road, in these tiny rest areas, standing (men) or squatting (ladies) between the doors of their cars. You will often disturb them, this is what happened to us
My theory about this is:
In Italy, public toilettes are either
1) Pay per use (0.80 Euros at the Venice stazione)
or
2) Not fit for use
Your solutions: go to a Bar / Ristorante, use La Toilette there, buy a drink, perpetuate the problem or:
Stop by the side of the road where you think its quiet, get busted by someone else.
On the path back we passed through tiny little hamlets, just a few roadside hotels and start of town - end of town signs just two hundred metres apart, all carved out of, and perched on the side of, an enormous pinetree covered mountain.
The internal navigator worked true to form, and brought us back to Cortina, on the north road, down beside the river that cuts the town in half.
We strayed off the road to do some exploring, and noticed the road that pushes up the side of the mountain that the town of Cortina faces.
Beside the place we picked for a picnic, just across the river from the town, was the old Olympic 'Luge' track. It's clearly not been used for a time this year, but it probably doesn't go unused during the winter. The track winds past the hotel we are staying in. The picnic spot looks out over the green ski fields on the other side of the river, we enjoyed crusty bread, cheese, and olive pate' under the pines.
We climbed the most dodgy of 'sealed' roads, big potholes and its just wide enough for a small truck, we zig zag up the hill, the Panda in first gear most of the way.
The lake and Ristorante we found was a real surprise. Hidden away in the pines the trout lake had crystal clear water in it, the same colour as the water we see everywhere in the rivers here, that pale green colour, a shade lighter than the colour of Absinthe. This has to be snow melt. You could see the Rainbow Trout at all depths in the water, it's a very special place. But as usual in Europe, you have that special something on your own for 5 minutes, then there's thirty people who ninja out of nowhere all vying for some space.
After the uphill / downhill back to the town I realised I'd spent the best part of the last two hours driving with the Panda in second or third gear, with almost no opportunity for higher ones.
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