We wake beyond thankful for yet another perfect day: sunny, a gentle zephyr wafting through the valley. Another breakfast of every ingredient you could desire. Already, we cannot thank our friends, Cliff and Nadine, enough for turning us onto Ortisei in general and the Hotel Grones in particular. We don’t want to sound smarmily privileged but every person who works here is just so nice. They each act like they are enjoying themselves and we hope that’s exactly right.

Today, the four of us are going in the opposite direction from yesterday. We will walk to Lift #3, which will whisk us up to Resciesa.

This lift is large and not long and, more good luck, not crowded. We disembark at a restaurant — all the lifts rise to restaurants — and set off on a trail of stones that look like they came from a river. Difficult walking for David but Darrell, Nora and Cynthia are patient.

The path, which turns to pounded earth, is bordered by pine woods for quite some way. Views of distant mountains.

We walk for about 90 minutes and stop at an Einkehrmoglichkeit, a “hut” for rest and refreshments while traveling. For us: aperol spritz, espresso, cappuccino, etc. And walk back to the funicular that brought us up.

In the afternoon, we drive to St. Christina where we’ve signed up for a 3-hour tour of a small, deep valley that was THE source of grain for the region in the 19th century. Mostly Rye. Also, a visit to now-defunct grain mills of that time and a large rose garden. But … AND WE KNEW THIS … the guide speaks only Italian or German … or the local language named Ladin (a “Rhaeto-Romantic” tongue that is the oldest in the South Tyrol). Our guide sets off on a steep downhill road, speaking in tongues, and David’s leg and patience drop out, returning to the hotel where we parked the car. He investigates local gin and tonic while the rest of the crew continue on.

Luckily there was one man on the tour who tried to translate the highlights but we soon found that Google Translate was a little better. But, the Italian/German mix presented challenges. Nevertheless we got the gist of the special features such a bell ringing when the mill needed more grain, allowing the one man to work round the clock with short naps. It was interesting but probably not the best use of our time, especially since it is too early for much bloom in the rose garden.

Back to the hotel, shower and another wonderful dinner.

Another wonderful day in the Dolomites.