We’re still in the Cortina d’Ampezzo area today, and went for a hike to lake Sorapis, which is said to be one of the best ones in the region. As you can see from the photo above, yes, it’s absolutely stunning. (6.5km each way, just over 400m of ascent & descent, which was one of the deciding factors for us picking this particular hike, because Ingrid’s knees don’t like walking downhill much.)

Like most beautiful places, this one is reportedly absolutely overrun with tourists during high season. Even now there were quite a lot of people. Had this been a Swedish hiking trail, I’d have described it as crowded. There’s not even a proper parking lot near the trailhead – people just park on the side of the road, tens and tens of cars. We parked ours a bit further down the road and just walked an extra 800 metres or so.

We’ve been really happy with our choice to come here early in the season, as soon as the school year ended. Not only do we avoid the worst of the crowds but we also get slightly cooler weather. Which is still not very cool – the temperature has been in the high twenties most days – so I can only imagine how much we’d be suffering here in July.

The trail starts as a broad path in the forest in the valley and then snakes its way up the side of the mountain.

The further up you get, the narrower the trail, and in places it gets quite tricky, with scree slopes and rocks and cliffs. Some sections – where the trail was narrowest and the drop next to it steepest – even had cables to hold on to. Some people were doing this in city sneakers, others with small dogs that they had to carry… I’m not sure what they were thinking.

At the end of the trail, just after a mountain hut, there was the famous turquoise lake. And it felt like there were people everywhere, lots of them posing for photos. We were rather hungry but there wasn’t even enough space to sit down and have a picnic anywhere, so after a brief water stop we trudged onwards, to the other side of the lake, where there looked to be a meadow.

The thing that looked like a meadow was indeed one, and there were fewer people there so we could sit down without feeling like we’re elbow to elbow with someone else. We had a nice, long sit-down lunch, with bakery bread and fresh nectarines.

Just as we were swallowing our last bites of food, it started raining lightly, so we scrambled to get our rain gear on (and our boots) and headed back down the mountain. The lake looked almost otherworldly, with its bright turquoise waters under the gray skies.

The walk downhill was easier in some ways, but also wet and slippery in places.

By the time we got back to the trailhead, the kids were rather tired and sat down right there, and waited for us to bring the car to them.

Today we went climbing via ferrata routes. If you haven’t run across that term before – it’s mountain climbing but with protection all the way. You’re climbing up and across cliffs while being attached to a steel cable by two carabiners at all times. Or, for our Estonian readers, it’s like the adventure climbing park in Otepää but in mountains instead of treetops.

Eric and I did this before, ages ago, before the kids arrived. We went on week-long holidays doing nothing but via ferrata climbing. Now that Adrian and Ingrid are old enough, it’s time to induct them into the club as well.

Cortina d’Ampezzo is a ski resort in winter, and there are cable cars lining the mountains in various directions. The two via ferrata routes we did today were in the middle of what is a ski slope in winter. Not just any ski slope – according to our guide, this is where the World Ski Cup runs happen.

The first route, Ra Pegna, is a beginner-level route and goes up the rocky tower on the left of the ski run.

At the top of the tower, there’s actually enough of a flat spot that you can sit down and have a breather. (It was rather hot today.)

You can see the entirety of Cortina d’Ampezzo from there. San Vito di Cadore is just outside the frame, to the right.

As usual, coming down is more arduous and less fun than going up.

Now that we were warmed up (and had verified that everyone was up to the challenge and enjoyed this activity) we tackled the route up the right-hand tower, called Ra Bujela, somewhat more difficult and longer.

It was trickier to find a good handhold or foothold at times, but our guide Manuel was at hand and attentive, and ready to give advice when needed, so we all got to the top without any real trouble.

From there we could see Ra Pegna in all its glory.

Here are some photos by Ingrid to show that I was also there:

And some more photos by our guide Manuel:

This morning we left Venice and Mestre behind and drove to Cortina d’Ampezzo.

In the afternoon, we hiked the loop trail circles around the famous three peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo.

Starting at the Rifugio Auronzo, the trail initially loops behind the mountains, so you can’t see them very well. But the trail is pretty stunning in and of itself.

We had a late picnic lunch as soon as we found a place where we could step off the trail a bit. Immediately, birds approached us in the hopes of food scraps. Looks like alpine choughs are the gulls of the mountains.

(And I am clearly a noob when it comes to using my phone camera, even getting my finger in the picture. That just never occurs with an actual camera – you’d have to make a real effort to make that happen.)

The start of the trail is just over 2000 metres above sea level, but since we gained all of those 2000 m of altitude in just half a day, we felt them. Nothing like real altitude sickness, but enough to make us feel slightly short of breath when walking uphill, so we had to pause quite often.

There were still significant amounts of snow up there – packed drifts taller than us. The sun was quite hot, and the trail was like a little stream in places.

The trail itself had been cleared of snow, so we were walking in a canyon between tall walls of snow.

Rounding the mountain, the shapeless lump was starting to separate into three distinct peaks…

… and a kilometre later, we got those dramatic vistas of the peaks nicely lined up next to each other.

Many people seemed to turn back at this point. Got the views, done. We continued along the trail as it circled a wide valley to the north of the peaks, with more beautiful views.

There was some threat of rain but nothing that actually materialized.

The Dolomites are generously equipped with huts, much more than I am used to seeing anywhere else I’ve hiked – we passed 4 rifugios during the 10-kilometre loop. I can imagine how crowded it must get here during high season.

The last ridge is never actually the last ridge!

Bonus photo by Ingrid:

Today we took the boat to the island of Murano, with its glassworks.

After some initial aimless wandering, we picked one of the workshops to visit. Wave was a wonderful place.

They do offer tours, but there was also the option of just hanging around in one corner of the workshop and watching the glassblowers at their work. This was far more interesting than a more formal tour would have been. It was fascinating to see how all the different steps of manipulating the blob of glass led to the final product. Several times we thought we knew what effect a step would have – and then they did something to twist it to something completely unexpected.

Another amazing workshop displayed seaweed glass sculptures by Davide Penso. If I was rich enough to have more rooms in my house than I knew what to do with, I wouldn’t mind having something like this in my home.

That’s not going to happen, but we did want to bring some small glass item home with us from Murano. There was a lot of choice, but at the same time many of the shops seemed to sell copies of the same kind of things, with less variety than I had expected. I guess people come here with specific expectations when it comes to design and style.

Aside from the glassworks, Murano seemed more residential and everyday than the main island of Venice.

Boats everywhere, still, of course, used like cars and vans would be in any other city – such as for parcel delivery.

After a lovely lunch at restaurant Alla Vecchia Pescheria (where the food was, of course, served on flatware of Murano glass) we headed towards the lighthouse and the waterbus stop there.

We took the waterbus to the island of San Michele for some shade and walking. The entire island is a cemetery and photography was prohibited, so I can only share a view of the entrance, and one of the waterbus quay.

The evening brought more walking, and a pretty mediocre dinner. In fact we haven’t been very impressed with the restaurants here. Lots of focus on meat, of course; difficult to find places with more than one or two vegetarian options. Salads, when offered, have oftentimes been no more than uninspired piles of ingredients – like a tuna salad consisting of a bed of lettuce, then a pile of tinned sweetcorn, and another of tinned tuna.

Great gelato, though! Gelatoteca Susa had a wide range of excellent ice cream, with both classical flavours and more modern ones – dark chocolate with lemon, or mango with grapefruit. I didn’t remember to take a photo, but luckily Ingrid did.

And then it was evening again.

We could certainly have entertained ourselves here for longer – museums, churches, other islands, etc – but two days did not feel too short.

Bonus photo by Ingrid:

A full day in Venice. There’s just no way to do the day justice in less than a gazillion pictures, brace yourselves.

Everyone knows Venice is the city of canals. But the corollary of that is that Venice is fully car-free. There is a bus terminal and a giant parking garage at the end of the bridge between the mainland and the island, and beyond that, it’s either walking or boating. Which makes the city incredibly pedestrian-friendly.

So we spent most of the day simply walking. There were a few spots we wanted to check out, and as those happened to be spread out across the island, just going from one to the next let us see a lot of the city.

Ingrid’s research led us to a nice brunch place with courtyard seating and generous yoghurt, fruit and granola bowls.

Fortified by our brunch, we walked more. Every channel was picturesque enough for photos; every bridge invited us to stop and admire the views. I wonder how long you’d have to stay here to get inured to the prettiness of everything.

We ran across a gallery with hyperrealistic life-sized sculptures of swimmers by Carol Feuerman.

More walking. And sometimes resting, because it was a bit hot.

Gradually we made our way to Piazza San Marco. I had expected crowds and was pleasantly surprised to not find any. Not just here, but everywhere in the city. There’s people, of course, but not ridiculous amounts of them.

We did book our trip as early as possible after the end of the school year, to avoid both the crowds and the heat, and it looks like we succeeded. Verona was perhaps even more crowded than Venice.

The basilica of San Marco is a stunning piece of architecture. Had we been in town for a week, I’d have spent a few hours just looking at it, inside and out. And just admiring all the different kinds of marble.

It’s a bit jarring to see two huge squares, lined with giant straight buildings, in a city where real estate is so scarce and and all other buildings are relatively small.

The campanile was open and barely even had a queue, so we paid our 10 EUR each and took the lifts up. I had hoped to climb the stairs to get the full tower experience and feel the height, but that was not an option.

The views from the tower were stunning, as expected.

The view from up here makes it obvious just how small and flat the island is. And how uniformly red all the roofs are.

You can also see the shipping lanes between the islands, marked with wooden poles.

Onwards.

After that we needed a bit of a break from walking along more alleys to more bridges to cross more canals. We decided to take the waterbus to Lido, a neighbouring island, both to rest our legs and to see the city from new angles.

On our way to Lido we passed a super yacht, larger than most buildings in the city. Google Image Search identified it as the Italian-built Lady A, completed this year. Apparently it’s only the 360th largest yacht in the world.

Lido is a long and narrow island. The waterbus stop is at one of its widest points, but even there the walk across the island was no more than a few city blocks. Unlike the main island, this one has streets and cars and space between buildings.

On the other side of the island we found a sandy beach.

The boat trip back gave us a chance to see the “back side” of Venice. Fewer scenic historical buildings; more boat garages and loading docks.

Of course the city hospital’s emergency department is also accessible by boat.

We got off the boat at a stop that was somewhat outside the most well-beaten paths to see some new corners of the city.

We ended up having a pretty lousy dinner at restaurant (Due Fratelli) that a 4.7 average rating on Google Reviews but managed to botch just about everything. The servers mixed up tables, some of the items we got were only vaguely similar to what the menu said, the salads were crap, the pasta was overcooked, and when it was time to pay, card payment was suddenly and mysteriously not available due to “internet troubles” so the only payment option was cash with no receipt for a 10% discount. Clearly a tourist trap, and I guess the Google Reviews were all paid for. It was so bad that it was funny. At least the food was not too bad.

And then the bus took us back to Mestre to our apartment.

Bonus photos by Ingrid:

Postdated. I knew I took more photos this day! And in the mess of my camera stopping working, I somehow misplaced them, but now (three weeks later) I found them again.

Airport car rental. Waiting. No matter how short the queue, it always takes half an hour at least to get through the process.

Our giant Jeep Compass. On the one hand – giant. On the other hand – spacious and modern. I could connect my Android phone to the car’s infotainment system and get Google Maps up on a big screen, and get Spotify to play without fiddling around with a separate Bluetooth speaker.

The main sight in Verona was the Roman-era Arena. I wish we had the time to visit it properly.

When in Italy, gelato is a must. The ice cream parlors here were leaning in hard on the Romeo and Juliet theme, so Eric got a “Coppa Julieta”.

The main square was very crowded. I wonder if this is what we can expect to see Venice as well.

I take photos; Ingrid saves her memories by scrapbooking.

We’re on vacation in northern Italy. Today was mostly a transportation day – flying to Milan and driving to Venice, stopping in Verona on the way to stretch our legs and buy ice cream.

I discovered that my camera lens had stopped working when I unpacked it. I didn’t bring my small camera for the trip so I only have my phone. I feel handicapped and confused and lost.

Anyway, here’s a random street scene from Verona. Verona was prettier and more full of tourists than I had expected.

By the evening we were in Mestre, in mainland Venice. We’re staying in apartments for the whole trip. Hotels in Venice were eye-wateringly expensive – three nights in Venice would have cost as much as return flights from Stockholm to Milan. And apartments suit us better, anyway. We appreciate having access to a kitchen, if for nothing more than the ability to make tea, and a living room with actual sitting furniture. In hotels quite often the bed is the only place where you can sit, and after a week of that my back is always complaining.

We visited Vårsalongen, the Spring Salon, at Liljevalchs art museum. Like last year, the works are all available for viewing online.

Paintings, sculpture, videos, textile art, mixed media etc.

There were plenty of impressive paintings but not many that left a lasting impression.

This intricate drawing/painting of ptarmigan – where the feather patterns hide everything from miniature lemmings to snowflakes – captured our attention.

Whereas this bee-themed one mostly made me think that this could be turned into an embroidery.

There were several textile works that I liked. Especially those that utilized the possibilities of thread and fabric and yarn for something more than just a flat image.

These rocks were my favourites: from a distance they just look like lichen-covered rocks, but up close you can see that it’s all woven tapestry and embroidery. Soft pretending to be hard.

Others left us all puzzled. A rectangular hand-woven piece of fabric in black and white. (Next to it there was another one that was all yellow, with subtle variations in tone and shade.) What made this so special that it stood out from the thousands of other works submitted?

Yet other works sparked different kinds of questions. These five colour-coordinated stacks of men’s ties, seemingly just hung over a hook. How did they transport this work? Probably in parts. Who hung it up again? How did they ensure the ties were hung in the right order, and with acceptable (lack of) precision?

There were also numerous fun sculptures, including one of “seven kinds of cakes” in stone, inspired by a Swedish fika tradition.

If I had room for sculptures and knick-knacks in my home, I would rather like something fun like these fish:

More about the works above: Ptarmigan, Rocks, Fish, Cakes, White yarn thing, Ties, Black & White Weave. Couldn’t find anything for the bee, probably because it was part of the Young Spring Salon.

Painting Easter eggs, as per tradition.

Also as per tradition, Ingrid makes the most artistic ones, while Adrian makes the crazy ones. This year his eggs had body parts – a giant eye, an ear, a mouth.

Afterwards somehow the women ended up cooking dinner while the men snoozed.

Ingrid’s moped has been acting up for a while, and now won’t even start. She’s been doing her best to fix it herself, but ran out of ideas and energy. We’re taking it to a repair shop for servicing and fixing up. Which, given that the thing doesn’t even start, is a bit of an exercise. The trickiest part was to get it up into the trailer. I was thinking we could make do with a thick plank, but after some consideration, Eric bought a steel ramp.

Even with a purpose-built ramp, it was a three-person job. One in the front to guide (“a bit to the right!”), one to steer, and one to push. It’s not like you could grab it and hold it up if it went over the edge – it’s over 100 kg of expensive, breakable machinery.