Monday
Monday morning saw me leave the B&B at 5am for a 90 minute drive to Lago Antorno, a small lake nestled in the mountains 1800 metres above sea level. When I arrived it was -7°C and I definitely knew about it ….. it was Freezing!!!! The lake was frozen solid, with ice so thick that there was an ice rink at one end of the lake and tracks from a snowmobile train at the other end! Clearly the Italians are geared up for the cold!
It was a lovely morning, beautiful light once the sun rose and no wind which kept the cold away. I’d spied this location on Flickr and thought it looked fantastic. I wasn’t let down, the treeline at the north end of the lake framed the mountains beautifully. When we return in the autumn, seeing the flat face of Tre Cime di Lavaredo reflected in the still lake with the beautiful autumn colours is going to be incredible. I can’t wait to get back here, with the right conditions the photographs will be spectacular.
After spending a couple of hours at Lago Antorno I had a drive down to Misurina, a small town less than a mile away. The lake at Misurina is way bigger however was still frozen solid, there was people skiing on it as well as dog walkers, people on snowmobiles and people sledging! I had a mooch about the gift shops and got my daughter a little something (she always gets a little present from my trips away!) then after a few photos I headed back towards Bolzano via Cortina D’Ampezzo. As I left Misurina for the drive I came across a huge bridge that I didn’t know was there, so I stopped for a while to explore. Monte Cristallo towered above the bridge and made for a fantastically dramatic scene, like something from a bond film!
My plan was to visit Val Gardena for sunset, there’s a stunning mountain range there called Sassolungo which at its highest point is 3181 metres above sea level and the peak stands 1124m above the surrounding vista. The photos I’d seen from there were absolutely stunning so I was really excited to get there, the weather was brilliant too so I was definitely in for a good sunset. HOWEVER …. it wasn’t to be, I got past Cortina D’Ampezzo fine (an absolutely gorgeous town I might add) and made my way towards Val Gardena however when I got closer it became apparent that I wasn’t gong to make it. A car had crashed on the entrance to the motorway and the traffic was backed up for almost a mile, I had to sit there for 90 minutes while the light faded and slowly turned into darkness. The worst part was I could see the peak of Sassolungo from where I was stopped and the fantastic red light was lighting it up a treat, a definite low point on the trip. Dejected I finally made my way into Bolzano and found a restaurant for some tea. I did some image processing from the previous couple of days too.
After tea I sat in the restaurant until about 11:30, processing photos and drinking hot chocolate until I was practically falling asleep. I then retreated back to the car, got into my pyjamas and clambered into my sleeping bag and went to sleep reflecting on the glorious sunset I had missed. Although I missed the sunset due to unforseen circumstances, I still had an amazing day and saw some gorgeous places!
Sunrise at Lago Antorno – with the ice rink on the frozen lake!
Tre Cime Di Lavaredo framed by the beautiful treeline. That’s the lake in front too!
Welcome to Lago Antorno!
Photo showing the sheer scale of these peaks, this was only 2/3 of the mountains height too!
Grand Hotel Misurina – That’s the lake people are walking about on!
Monte Cristallo (3,221m) towers above me whilst lying on my belly in this stream photographing this waterfall that was no more than a foot tall!
My rental car for the week (Fiat 500X) and it did an admirable job of carrying me over 1200km’s in 5 days!
Sunburst through the trees.
Amazing scenery as far as the eye can see. Check my footprints from wandering about through the knee deep snow!
Gorgeous golden light over Tofana Di mezzo (3,244m) just west of Cortina D’Ampezzo
Tastiest Spaghetti Carbonara I’ve ever had! Good to catch up on some processing too.