I was not a happy traveler when the alarm went off. 6:30 am was really 12:30 am EST and it felt very much like getting up in the middle of the night.

But I was very much looking forward to the group tour to the Dolomites and the directions on how to get to the tour pick place were a little sketchy, so after last nights’ experience, I wasn’t going to take any chances.

Thankfully, I had significantly lightened the load in my backpack and I at least had the benefit of the lessons learned the previous evening for navigation, but I still made the mistake of thinking I would save 15 Euro and walk to the pick up point 34 minutes away. I will skip the details and tell you that an hour and 30 minutes later, I arrived by water taxi having spent 20 Euros. But the important thing was, I arrived.

We were in a smaller van and it didn’t take long to see why. Winding up the narrow roads of the Dolomites was exciting enough without extra axles.

We drove through the ugly town where the people who work in Venice live, through the grape vineyards, and then began winding our way into the mountains.

It’s hard to describe the rest of the day with words. I can’t even do it justice with pictures. The Dolomites are truly beautiful and rival anything I’ve ever seen and maybe more.

Our Italian guide, Francesco, was friendly and didn’t seem to miss a photo op along the way. Even so, I was jealous of the numerous motorcycles, hikers, bikers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. They definitely had the right idea.

We briefly stopped in Cortina. This small mountain town of 6,000 was just awarded the hosting of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. It looks like it’s used to handling tourists, but I am curious how they plan to get a million people up that winding mountain rode. I suspect it will be forever changed.

Perhaps they plan to expand, but they’ll never make it by 2026 if it’s up to these guys we observed.  We had a good laugh watching this guy roll rocks down the hill with a rake one at a time while the guy below barked orders on what to roll next.

For lunch, we stopped at the beautiful lake town of Misorina. It was truly breathtaking. We all enjoyed our lunch made from locally grown/handmade pizzas, pastas, and more.

The weather was perfect. After lunch, I took the walking path around the lake and ended the stop with chocolate gelato. I definitely found my happy place.

When we got back in the car, the emails and texts started hitting my phone. My people were up. Back to reality. But it was a super fun day.

I must be getting the hang of navigating Venice. When the driver dropped us off at Piazza Romale, Siri said 17 minutes back to the hotel and it only took me an hour. Including the water taxi. Of course, it is a little more complicated to navigate with Siri in one hand and a cup of rapidly melting gelato in the other. So there’s that.

But the good part was that I was the Rialto Bridge, San Marco square, and 1,000 little shops that make Venice the beautiful city that it is. I could see why someone who likes old, charming, dirty, inconvenient, crowded cities might like Venice. At least maybe in April or May.

But I didn’t have the least little bit of regret for spending my day at the Dolomites. If I ever turn up missing…don’t look for me in the Dolomites. Just saying.

Step Count: 20,000
Cumulative total: 72,000