Category: Italy/Slovenia/Austria/Liechtenstein/Switzerland, Fall 2021

It’s been two months since we got back, and after emptying our DVR I’m finally getting around to sending a final note about our (mostly) Italy trip.  I will start this off by saying despite all of the Covid crap, we had a great time.  It was nice to get back on the road and start living the life we envisioned upon retiring.   I felt that we spent about the right amount of time for the places we visited, with a couple of notable exceptions.

The highlight of the trip for both of us was the Dolomites, where we spent four days.  This is a larger region than I had anticipated, mostly because you are dealing with winding narrow roads over extreme mountain passes…and you are sharing that road with RV’s, trucks and busses.  I can’t imagine driving a bus on some of these passes, but the local bus runs on a regular basis!

Regarding the Dolomites, they seem to be split into two areas where you should stay.  We chose the Valgardena region for 4 days, but I think we could have spent a week or more here.  The other region is Cortina d’Ampezzo.  This area is close to some of the most famous hikes in the Dolomites, including Tre Cime di Lavaredo…

…and Lago di Braies.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to visit these spots, but we will be back in the near future.  We could easily spend two weeks in the Dolomites….every year!  Wish we lived closer.

The other area we visited briefly was western Slovenia.  I think this country deserves more exploration, and it really wasn’t on our radar previously.  It was very quiet and laid back, the people are super friendly, and we didn’t see any other tourists.  Some of the other places we visited, such as Milan, Sirmione, Verona and the Cinque Terre were very busy, even in the off season, and it would be nice to tour an area that hasn’t been discovered by tourists…yet.

Piemonte also needs about a week to visit, as there are so many small villages and wineries, and it’s one of the most beautiful wine regions we’ve seen.  Three days just wasn’t enough.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this previously, but Italians don’t generally refer to themselves as such.  Ask an Italian where they are from and they won’t say “Italy”, but will mention the region they are from (Naples, Venice, etc.).  A restaurant owner told us this was due to the fact Italy hasn’t been a country for all that long, becoming a Republic in 1946, so most Italians relate more to their region than the country as a whole.

Our next trip is set for July when we are heading to the Champagne region for a friends wedding, and spending some time in Belgium.  We will also be spending 5 weeks in Ireland next fall.  We are hoping new variants don’t kill travel once again!  Thanks for reading!

 

While we were in Piemonte I reached out to our upcoming hotel in Turin to assist us with getting a Covid test.  I don’t think they really even tried, as I quickly got a return email saying “sorry, all places are fully booked, good luck!”.  Hell, at least Leslie from Travel Langhe called about 15 places and even took us to the “Legion of Doom” Hospital in Alba to try to get a test.  I think all the nurses there are German, or have the last name Ratched.

I checked the Turin airport, and found they have a testing site there, just for travellers.  A few minutes later, we had tests booked for the next day, the day before our flight.  Getting the test was quick and easy, and only cost 20 euros each.  Some places quoted MUCH higher prices on their website…taking advantage of people in need!  We were there maybe 20 minutes, and out the door with our negative tests.

If you travel abroad in the near future, I would focus on the airports if you need a negative test to come home.  Hopefully this stupid policy changes soon, at least for those of us who took the effort to get vaccinated.  Just like masks on a plane, this is an effort in creating obstacles to travel, and not based on science in the least.  We are all vaccinated, we are all just tested, so what is the mask for?

After the test we had to drive back into Turin….gulp.  I thought it would be easier the second time….damn was I wrong!  Those left hand lanes with no cars in them?  That’s because you can only turn left there….even though there is zero indication of that until you are at the head of the lane (the left turn indicator is actually the traffic light, which you can’t see from more than 50 meters away).  One little mistake took about 20 minutes to rectify…because I was then caught in a huge backup for a traffic circle.  God I hate this city!

Trying to find a gas station was next to impossible.  How do these people drive without gas stations?  Once we found one…we had no idea how it worked, and there is nobody there to help you.  Grrr….this short drive from the airport to our hotel turned into stress central!  At least a very nice young lady waiting to get gas got out and helped us.  I highly suggest you get gas OUT of town, before you enter Hell (aka Turin).  BTW, the gas stations appear to just be one pump on a street corner with no attendant.  It was bizzare!

After we checked into our hotel we had a few hours to check out Turin, and walked down to the Po river.  I’m not sure if it’s related to the Teletubbies or not.  You all watched the Teletubbies, right?

Adjacent to the river is a huge park, and with this being a Saturday afternoon it was jam packed with people.  No social distancing…no masks.  Things felt pretty normal.  One odd thing we noted was how much trash was left behind by people who were picnicking on the grass…it was everywhere, and pretty gross.  What is wrong with these people?

Our final sunset in Italy.

Our hotel, The Turin Palace Hotel, was pretty nice, and I can highly recommend it, despite their lack of effort to assist with the Covid test.  We spent extra for a balcony, and it was nice, but there is a really nice terrace on the top floor, so the balcony isn’t really necessary.  Still, it was a good sized balcony.

A sunrise view of the Swiss Alps from the plane.

On the flight with Air Dolomiti (owned by Lufthansa) the mask rules were pretty strict.  On the leg from Frankfurt to San Francisco with United, I think I wore my mask for about an hour of the 11+ hours on the flight, and nobody said a thing.

One more post to come covering the highlights of the trip, and things we learned about Italy.