Dolomites

Two years later, we went back to the Dolomites. The original plan was Tirol again, but the end of July brought nonstop rain across most of Europe, from southern Germany all the way to Slovenia. Northern Italy was the only dry option, so we packed up the van and drove south.

We managed to fit in four great hikes before the weather caught up with us there too. Each one took us through forests, past lakes, and into some properly wild territory. We saw all sorts of animals along the way, from farm dogs to snakes crossing the path. The further we got from the busy spots, the better it got. The Dolomites are one of those places where pictures never quite do it justice, and every visit confirms that.

One of the highlights was a hike near Predazzo. The trail followed a ridge with a constant view over a beautiful valley and surrounding peaks. It was absolutely stunning. The route ended with a via ferrata, which we hadn’t realised, and all our equipment was back in the car. We thought about doing it without gear because most of it looked like an easy path, but there were a couple of trickier sections and we had no idea how difficult they’d actually be. We definitely didn’t want to be the unequipped tourists blocking everyone on the route, so we turned around and walked the whole hike back. There was a bit of disappointment, but also the joy of seeing everything from the other side, which turned out to be a completely different view.

After four days in the mountains, big storms were announced and we had to cut our last hike short. We decided to drive back to Munich with a bit of sadness. The Dolomites had delivered once again. We just wished we’d had more time.