13a Ortisei: first two days

Thur 11^th – Mon 15^th June

Thurs 11^th June

The drive from Lake Bled to Ortisei in the Dolomites was nothing short of spectacular. A good stretch of the 5 hour drive skirted along the bottom of Austria so, think to yourself, The Sound of Music, and you’re in the right zone. Our drive was mostly along a winding and flat valley floor with steep sided mountains looming over us on both sides. We stopped at San Candido for lunch and our cafe looked like it was right at the bottom of a ski run; it was that kind of territory. We made another quick stop at Lago di Braies where we had hoped to do a 1 hour loop walk around the lake but time was not on our side. We had read that this this was one of the most photographed sites of the Dolomites and the huge crowd was testament to that fact.

It was a long drive but we eventually made it to our hotel in Ortisei by around 4.30 pm and we all tucked in to their afternoon tea before heading out to the village for dinner. Our hotel was just a 5 minute walk from the centre of the village and the area was easily walkable. We stopped off back at the hotel bar after dinner to enjoy the wonderful performance by the live music duo who were performing at the hotel for the afternoon and evening. We felt like we’d landed in heaven! The hotel was amazing, as was the village. I’d be happy to just chill here at the hotel for the next four days!

Spectacular scenery on drive from Lake Bled to Ortisei

There is a Church like building in there somewhere

Trying to find the cafe for lunch but getting distracted by the scenery

San Candido lunch stop and view from Wachtler Botanic.

Lago Di Braies was busy with loads of tourists

Hotel Angelo Engel for the next 4 nights

Drinks and afternoon tea area at the Hotel Angelo Engel

We had a lovely mountain view from our bedroom area

Sitting room. I’d thought Dagwood might go here but he’s got a special room downstairs apparently .

The heated pool flows in to an indoor area with loads of seating.

The pool area extends indoors to a large solarium area

This couple performing live music at the hotel were FANTASTIC. We were sorry to be so tired we hade to leave and go to bed.

Fri 12^th June

Today we caught the Ortisei – Alpe di Siusi cable car and did an 8km loop walk around the surrounding area that Mark had sourced off All Trails. It was spectacular scenery as soon as we emerged from the cable car and it stayed with us the whole time. Our walking trail was classified as a moderate difficulty walk and family friendly but the last segment, getting back up to the cable car, was quite steep. We made it back though and we were all thoroughly pleased with ourselves and glad to be back at the cable car station. We had a bite to eat for lunch at the attached restaurant and then caught the cable car back to town where we browsed the shops for a while and then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon of resting, swimming and lying by the pool.

Dinner tonight was at Mauriz Keller and this was another lovely evening where Mark finally got to have a pork knuckle. We had a big walk planned for tomorrow though so it was an early night for us all.