Today was the starting of the Dutch National Paragliding Competition, which due to their lack of mountains, they have to hold elsewhere and this year it’s in Kobarid. I awoke to rain...good start for their competition. I checked the forecasts and it was going to be a few more days before any chance of something good here. I had hoped to go to a place called Greifenburg in Austria (on recommendation from my paragliding friend Annelies and Reto in Victoria) but the weather was looking as bad if not worse there (it’s north from Kobarid and the system’s heading that way). So I decided it was time to head towards the Dolomites in Italy. After getting Betty and myself ready for the day, I did a bit of research on the web and then head off...well, eventually headed off. Betty wouldn’t get going at first and I thought I’d run her battery down just a bit too much recharging things in the cigarette lighter. It took 3-4 tries and I think I just scared her with the jumper cables as I got them out, but then she started. Ah Betty, you always keep me on my toes...
I cruised by Teja’s Bar to say thanks and good-bye to Mateka. I started on the road and picked up a young woman, Maia, hitchhiking. She was heading to Bovec, a town just in the next valley that I had driven past with Garth and Holly when we went to Lake Bled. She was fun to talk to and full of life, heading to Italy next year for some more university. I continued on into Italy and drove on some pretty narrow roads through the mountains. It was quite a pretty drive and got better as I approached the Dolomites. There were some very quaint, and busy (with tourists) towns. I was heading to a town called Sesto which is by the mountains called Tri Cime de Lavaredo (the three sisters) which was recommended to me by a Dutch pilot I was speaking to in the morning. Now in Italy, Miss SatNav is back to being helpful and I asked her to point me to a campground. The first one was unbelievable big and overcrowded. There must have been 3 feet between each camper and a few hundred of them...yikes. I pressed on to the next one, which just happened to be in Austria. It turned out to be pretty decent so I stopped there for the night. Gotta love Europe, you expect to stay in one country and half an hour later you end up in another.
The lovely and friendly Teja:
Cruising along an Italian road:
Random waterfall by the highway:
The Dolomite mountains in Italy:
Gotta love these Dolomites:
Betty hanging by the Dolomites:
Great views:
They don't let you drive n talk on a cell phone, I'm pretty sure taking video footage on a narrow street is also frowned upon Dave.
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