What a Difference a Day Makes

We woke to the sound of gentle rain. With the weather not looking conducive to via ferrata-ing. we thought we would sightsee with a drive to Cortina (38km) – and maybe check out some of the via ferrata over there.

It was a pleasant drive but as we got higher the rain turned to sleet and then to snow. By the time we got to the Passo Falzarego (the high point on that road) it was snowing quite heavily. As we descended into Cortina the snow turned back to rain.

The main road of Cortina is a pedestrian mall and so there are one way roads either side of this. After about 3 laps of these roads trying to decide where we were allowed to park (wish their parking signs had English translations) we chanced the train carpark. We had (what my English travelling companions called) an English Picnic – eating in the car. After a wet walk around Cortina with a good coffee and cake we set off to return to Arabba.

For a bit of variation we decided to return over the Passo Giau. We passed a farmer walking down the road in front of a 4WD knocking snow off his electric fence – he didn’t look too pleased but his cows looked “udderly ridiculous” (Frank’s words not mine!)

It turns out that Passo Giau is higher than the Passo Falzarego and has less traffic. This meant that the snow was settling in much higher drifts and that the Fiat Panda was having traction issues. About 300m lower than the pass (probably another 2kms away) the road was quite thick with snow and continuing became not an option. We probably should have twigged when about 3kms further back we had to detour around a campervan that was stuck in the middle of the road with its own traction issues.

It turns out the Fiat Panda has a nifty turning circle. I put it into reverse, put the wheels on a hard lock and let the clutch out. The car pirouettes nicely on the spot until you are facing down the hill again. Boy, these Italians are smart!

We had no choice but to go back over Passo Falzarego and hope that the road was clear. With the lower elevation and more traffic there was no problemo.

Despite the lower elevation of Arabba it too scored snow. Compare this view out of our bedroom window with the two views from yesterday’s post – what a difference a day makes!