AdventureDad

 On Top Of A Rock Wall Near Val Gardena, Italy

 Canon EOS 5, 28-70 L, sorry about the poor scanning 

 I clearly remember how I felt in this photo.  I was scared to death.  We are sitting on top of a mountain wall 600 meters (2000 feet) above ground after scaling a vertical wall for a couple of hours.  You can see how small the road looks in the background.  What made this climb even scarier was that after the photo was taken, we had to jump the gap in front of us.  There is nothing below, except 600 meters of air until hitting the ground.   We did of course have safety ropes but that didn't make it less scary. The gap is not large, only about 2 meters (6 feet), but it feels a lot worse after looking down.  Our guide jumped over like it was nothing while I was shaking.  My wife?  She was just laughing.  Sandra loves this kind of crazy stuff.

I really like northern Italy.  They got beautiful nature, great food and wine, and the people are totally different than the south.  Forget the unfriendly macho assholes and tons of traffic.  The people in the north are laid back and friendly.  We spent a couple of weeks in the area with a first base at Lago di Garda where we did mountain biking and enjoyed some fantastic food.  Another week was spent in the stunning mountains near Val Gardena. 

The Garda area was nice but a little much of a tourist trap.  Meeting old, pale, UK tourists arriving by bus is not my kind of thing.  Val Gardena is a world famous ski area and there are lifts everywhere.  Summer or winter doesn't matter, the place is awesome.  We did some climbing and trekking for a week and enjoyed the mountains in the Sassolungo group.

During the day we climbed or trekked, with lunch at some awesome mountain hut full of classic Italian food.  Evenings were spent talking about the days adventure over a few bottles of wine and a gourmet dinner.   The Italians know how to cook.   You will struggle to find anything less than a five course meal home cooked and full of flavor.  Most of the motels in this area are family owned which means great personal service and a nice atmosphere. Sitting down in a couch by the fireplace with a bottle glass of wine is a phenomenal feeling.

Funniest moment of the trip was enjoying the sauna with some drinks after a day of climbing.  In walks a German couple, completely naked.  Wife almost fell down but managed to discretely leave for a shower.  The Latins are not used to nudity in this way.  The Swedes?  We don't care, but are definitely not embarrassed by seeing some boobs or ass.