Venizia (Venice) to the Dolomite Mountains, Italia (Italy)

Aug 28 & 29

Susan and Miles were headed for the Dolomite mountains in northern Italy, just south of the Alps, and as it turns out, so was I.  They took me up on my offer for a ride and I explained to Miles that he would probably have to sit sideways because there’s not much of a back seat in my little car, no leg room at all, he seemed to be OK with that.

We departed the Venice Hostel and set out on the water bus for the Tronchetto garage and arrived without incident.  Problem.  I forgot where I parked the car.  I wrote it down on a piece of paper which I had lost.  So, I described the car to Susan and Miles and we split up and went looking.  I had gotten off of the elevator on the third floor and noticed the sign that said Level O, Sector E and recognized that as what I wrote down.  After not finding my car there and exploring other floors, I noticed every sign on every floor said Level O Sector E.  What the heck?  Well, we eventually found it, right where I parked it of all places.

We packed up the car and Miles had a nice surprise, turns out the back seat is on a rail and we were able to move it back giving him plenty of leg room.  So, we had booked a hostel in an old mining town near Agordo and it was about a 90 minute drive straight there.  But, we took the eight hour route.  Sorry Miles, it was your Mother’s idea.  It was a pleasant drive and we got to see beautiful scenery and I know Miles would agree that it was better than the train.  As usual, finding places was a crap shoot, but we got to the hostel at 5:00, exactly when I told Miles we would arrive.

The Rivamonte Agordino Imperina Hostel was an old ruins of a pretty old stone building I think.  Someone bought it and put a roof on it and built a very nice facility inside it.  It’s very comforting and relaxing and it’s in a fantastic mountain setting.  I also appreciated the cooler temperatures.  We got a family room to ourselves which was nice.

We had picked up some groceries in the last town and so we started cutting up all the veggies and meats and cheese and stuff and made sandwiches for dinner.  Mom and son took a hike, but before leaving, Miles asked if he could charge his iPod on my PC’s USB port.  Sure I said.  I sat down to write and post my journal entries and pictures on the free wireless that’s at this hostel.

Miles came back later to pick up his iPod and said thanks.  A few minutes later, he returned with a puzzled look on his face and said that all the music is gone.  Doh!  Well, that’s no good.  We plugged it back in and we can see the files on his iPod from my PC, but when it’s disconnected, the iPod says there are no files.  We played with it for awhile but to no avail.  I felt bad.  Sorry bud.

I slept pretty well and felt great in the morning.  My roomies decided to head on to Pisa today, so I drove them to the train station in Belluno.  I had no idea where it was but somehow I drove right into the parking lot for it without much fuss at all.  Surprised the heck out of me.  Of course, I just acted like I do that all time.  They checked out the schedule and the next train was departing in 20 minutes, so it was good timing.  We said our goodbyes, exchanged contact info and wished each other well.  I really enjoyed their company.

I spent the day doing a little shopping, walking the town of Agordo, sitting at a cafe having a drink and looking for an internet cafe.  I didn’t find one but did find a computer store that had some computers set up that I could use.  I started about noon and I told the guy I’d need a couple of hours.  At 1:00, he popped his head in and said he needed to close, as if it were an afterthought.  I asked him if this was normal and he said oh yes.  He closes from about 1:00 to 3:30 or 4:00 for lunch.  And, as I soon found out, so did the rest of the town.  Yeah well OK, fine.  This is the time I just walked around.  Almost everything was closed, the grocery, the banks, shops, even the tourist office.  That just wouldn’t do back home.  Oh well.

So, I’m back at the stone building tonight and the proprietor gave me the same room so I have it all to myself.  It’s quite comfortable.  This place could be a resort hotel.  Oh yeah, and there’s a river running by it, so I get to go to sleep to the sound of the water.

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