Dolomites Day 11

Dolomites 2005

A personal diary ....

Day 1 .. Travel to Bergamo
Day 2 .. Travel to Rifugio Vajolet
Day 3 .. Vajolet to Rifugio Alpe di Tires .. Kesselkogel
Day 4 .. Tires to Rifugio Passo Sella .. Sasso Piatto
Day 5 .. Around the Passo Sella .. Col Rodella
Day 6 .. Passo Sella to Rifugio Castiglioni .. Sasso del Cappello
Day 7 .. Castiglioni to Rifugio Contrin .. Passo Ombretta
Day 8 .. Around the Contrin .. Cima Ombrettola
Day 9 .. Travel to Trento
Day 10 .. Travel to Bergamo
Day 11 .. Travel home

I had a good night’s sleep. There were lots of church bells in the morning and people moving about, so I didn’t stay in bed too long. Breakfast was much the same as the first day. However, the sun was out again and the morning looked very pleasant.

I needed to repack my rucksack to ensure that the wine bottle was well cushioned, but that didn’t take long. Allan had gone back into town to do some shopping and others were already sitting outside whiling away the time reading books or just enjoying the morning.

Everyone except Allan had packed up and cleared the rooms, so we brought his stuff down to reception, as the rooms had to be vacated by 10. He turned up shortly after and got everything packed into the kitbag. Then we were all ready to go.

The minibus turned up on time. It was a bigger bus than the one that picked us up on the first day, which explains the extra cost. We got all of the luggage and ourselves on board and the driver headed off for the airport.

When we arrived, the booking gate had not been announced, so we passed the time wandering around the concourse. Once it opened, we were near first in the queue. The booking clerk asked us to take most of the rucksacks round to the “Ski luggage” conveyor. Once everyone had checked in we did this and our rucksacks duly disappeared.

We had time to wander about, but eventually we all migrated through to the departure lounge. Most took the chance to check out the duty free shop and some of us made some purchases.

The flight was called and it was a bit of a free for all getting on the buses. As a result we are all spread around the plane. For some reason no one was allowed to sit in the last 3 rows.

The flight passed quickly and comfortably, but the landing was a bit bumpy. It felt a lot cooler as we got off the plane at Prestwick. When we got through passport control, we found the benefit of our luggage having been loaded separately as nearly all of it was the first to come through.

Having collected all our luggage, I gave Sheila a call while we moved out to the car park. It didn’t take long for her to arrive and the drivers jumped in to go and collect the cars. On the way she told us that the cars have had to be dusted down as while we were away, the adjacent field had been harvested, and with the wind, the cars had been covered in straw.

We got into the cars and then headed back to pick up the rest. My journey back to Glasgow wasn’t quite as exciting as the one down, but return journeys are never the same as the outward ones. Once back, I dropped off my passengers one by one.

It suddenly seemed strange to be back home, but I have all of these photos to load onto my computer and sort out.

Despite some last minute problems before we left, everything went OK once we set off. Everywhere we went, we were expected in all of the accommodation and getting the pre-booked train tickets was simple. However I must admit to relaxing a bit more each time we got booked in. I can’t vouch for the other nine, but I certainly enjoyed my Dolomites trip.