Dolomites: Day 1

Ortisei-Selva, 11 miles

It took me a leisurely 2 days to get here from Newcastle (laid over in Venice). It’s a pretty town, with pastel-colored buildings and fairytale-type architecture, a busy pedestrian street full of shops and cafes, all set in a narrow valley with a busy road and river running thru the middle.

The big draw for tourists are the steep slopes far above town reached on both sides by cable cars for hiking/biking in summer and skiing/boarding in winter. I’m staying on the south side of the river right beside the Seiser Alms gondola, in a little alpine-y room with a picnic nook and balcony looking over at the old town.

So far the Secada hill behind Ortisei has been covered in mist, with rain last night and more forecast for today so I’m going to stick to lower elevations and walk along the old rail line to Selva, two towns over.

It was 5.5 seemingly all uphill miles to Selva (+1300’) then a mile or so wandering trying to find somewhere to eat. It’s like a ghost town here, lots of guesthouses & hotels but long, spread out streets and the few shops are closed for siesta and numerous cafes are just closed. Just as the rain started and despair was starting to set in I found a trattoria with a very genial waiter and I gratefully settled in for a long lunch.

Selva does have the most beautiful grocery store so I returned after lunch for a protracted shop, just wandering the aisles looking at the amazing displays of charcuterie, mountain cheeses, fancy kitchenwares, and resistible souvenirs. After a big lunch I picked up a salad and baguette for a picnic dinner on my little banquette; and, as all the shops were closed and the rain had paused, walked the ~6 miles back in the intermittent rain.

Somehow on the way out I missed walking through the cool old railroad tunnel. Lighted and filled with storyboards detailing the history of the railroad (built 1915 by 6,000 persons, mostly Russian prisoners, in use till 1960), it’s over 1000 meters long.