Fresh Mountain Air

Entering the mountains
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The night was a little rough for Liz who actually has a terrible cough and cold; talk about being a trooper. When the morning broke the same steaming pot of thick Italian coffee awaited me. Luckily for us the clouds had broken and we could see the glorious mountains all around. After breakfast we decided that we would head over to the Alpine town of Alleghe, check out the mountains and lake over there and then head back to Perugia a day early.

Liz really wasn’t feeling up to an intense hike and the weather was supposed to get bad again in the afternoon, so for safety reasons we couldn’t go too far up into the mountains. We took a bus into the mountains and it was indescribably beautiful. The alpine valleys were bright green and all around the mountains jutted out of the ground, their high rocky peaks dominating the horizon. Waterfalls dotted the peaks and one actually came crashing to the earth right next to our bus.

In Alleghe near the lake
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We arrived in Alleghe and stepped from the muggy bus into the cool Alpine air. It was crisp and clean; oxygen as it should be. We took a walking trail around the lake and town to observe the beauty all around us. The buildings in the town looked like typical Swiss Chalets and a white church steeple rose into the green hills. Men in galoshes were fly fishing in the river nearby and little boats dotted the lake. It seemed like something out of a painting.

Liz and I knew our luck was back on track when I found my first four leafed clover in Italy. The signs were with us and we couldn’t be more thankful to be alive. The experiences we get to have over here are irreplaceable. I feel like I can’t even do the scene justice because of the limitations of writing. We just took it all in and coexisted with the world.

The town
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We got a more Germanic lunch including risotto, mushrooms and beer in a little restaurant in town. After lunch we took our gorgeous bus ride back to Belluno, bought our train tickets and packed up for Perugia. The train ride back was long but enjoyable. On our last leg we had a really interesting compartment with a lot of English speakers. We sat with a young Indian woman who is getting her PhD in astrophysics in Italy, a four year old boy from Africa who spoke Italian, and an Italian military historian. We colored with the little boy, talked immersion into Italian culture with the Indian woman, and learned about Catholicism in Italy from the historian. It was a great ride with lots to learn.

Beautiful views
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All in all I couldn’t have asked for a better traveling companion, a better trip, or a better experience. I know that I can’t do it justice but hopefully I gave you a glimpse of this incredible adventure.