I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills...

Amazing, amazing, amazing - pretty much the only way to describe the Dolomites and the weekend I just spent visiting them. I have been getting a little tired of the heat and decided that the best way to escape the heat would be to head to the mountains. The Dolomites are a section of the Alps in the Northeastern corner of Italy. Prior to WWI, the ware belonged to Austria, but was switched to Italy post WWI. This has left the area pretty unique, with a wonderful mix of Austrian, German and Italian culture. href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOpb0SzRN2tEk6sBliIaBdoouoa5FpEz7kke-COhVJovHxJuXqz9uqgqeVLiqhls_QWUNQlyJaLI0cgJdhp_1-f7lZ4EoWpf6EgJyGfdX4ippP8F6XY8JbVXg58ZNluawSbsrwA/s1600/IMG_7327.JPG"> I was joined on the adventure by Kat and Jake. We took off Saturday morning (our Friday evening departure prevented by another Italian train strike). After quite a long train ride we arrived in Bolzano to heat. I was not impressed. However, the town was so incredibly cute and wonderful. It was very German/Swiss/Austrian feeling and had a great vibe. I felt right at home as people were dressed much more like me (in comfy mountain clothes rather then heels and such). After a quick stop at an amazing sweets shop and dropping our stuff at the hostel, we went into the main square to rent some bikes. We rode around Bolzano for a couple hours including stops at some castles and a show store. We then headed up a cable car to Ritten. It was amazing. I was actually at a comfortable body temperature while being outside. It was a really cute little place and we were all wishing that we hadn't booked a hostel and instead stayed up the hill in one of the cute hotels. On the cable car ride down, Kat started chatting with this lady (in German) and got a wonderful restaurant recommendation. Best food I've had in Italy. Yesterday morning was an early one in an attempt to catch the bus to Val Gardena. I chose the place to hike based on the fact that I recognized the name (big ski resort town). It was definitely a great choice. We arrived in Ortisei and wandered around to find the info centre. We were given directions to one of the big gondolas and then headed up the mountain. It was a most spectacular view (I'll let the pictures speak to that). He hiked back down through Santa Cristina and San Giacomo to Ortisei and then had to catch the bus back to Bolzano to catch the train. It was a wonderful weekend, with great friends and wonderful memories. It's the last week of class this week and Mom and Dad arrive in Italy on Thursday and will meet up with me on Saturday. Excited to see them.