La Marmolada (Punta Penia)

Back into the Dolomites we went. I figured one really interesting place to see would be Marmolada, the highest peak at around 3350m high. There's a cable car (more accurately, three cable cars) that take you up to the secondary peak so figured that would make for a good day. It was a two hour drive from our hotel though, since we'd opted to stay at one end of the national park area! Whoops.

It was definitely worth it though, the views were spectacular and the cable car ride was quite fun as well. Had a light lunch up top and did a bit of wandering around, though the cliffs were quite sheer and the glacier a little slippery! Nothing dangerous, but a bit too difficult for what we felt like. Back down after around 3.5 hours up top, which caught us by surprise since it didn't feel like that long.

Also an interesting exhibition in the museum there about World War I, since the mountain was the scene of heavy fighting between Italian and Austrian troops. Apparently as the glacier retreats each year, more hundred-year-old corpses and equipment just sort of pops out - must be quite unnerving to find!

Long drive back to our hotel where we were quite full from lunch, so just had a panini at a nearby cafe. Big storm blew in during the evening which Schnitzel was not at all a fan of!Read more