Liz and Frank: A wonderful day

Up early for breakfast, then those who had decided to do the tour with Carlo and Stephanie today - loaded onto our machine again. Some didn't come, as it was going to be another "windy" route with heights involved, just like the last half of yesterday.

Carlo wound his way around and soon we were in amongst that wonderful snow.

Our first stop was the "Fort Tre Sassi - Great War Museum" up high in the Dolomites.

This War Museum is located inside the Tre Sassi Fort, a war fortification built in 1897 by the Austro-Hungarian army with the purpose to defend the Valpora Pass and the Val Balda valley, in expectation of a possible invasion from the Italian Army.

In 1915 as the war between Austro-Hungary and Italy begun, the fort had to be evacuated as its roof was destroyed by the bombing of 210 projectiles.

Being useless as a Fort, the Austrians left the building but kept its rooms illuminated during the night, deceiving the Italian Army which kept on wasting ammunitions shooting on an empty target, so they could gain time to build other fortresses!!.

Stephanie had organised for this Museum to be opened for us (early in the season) by the son, maybe grandson of the creator of this War Museum - he was dressed in "Austrian army uniform" .

Anyway they kept swapping borders and after the Austrian recovery in 1917, the town of Cortina was occupied again by the Tyrolians, but following Italy's victory in World War 1, Ampezzo was finally given to Italy. After the war the city was renamed "Cortina d'Ampezzo" (graveyard of Ampezzo), charming!!.

Our Austrian Soldier - stands absolute

above the site of the now invisible war villages of the Ampezzo Valley.

We wandered further around these giants

Loads of biking and hiking about to start - and of course these huts are necessary for these crazies!

Carlo then starts to truck us around more "big dipper" roads on to Marmolada

Marmolada (below) is the highest mountain (10,968 ft) of the Dolomites. Before World War 1, the border between Austria and Italy ran over Marmolada, so it formed part of the front line during that conflict. Austrian soldiers were quartered in deep tunnels bored into the northern face's glacier, and Italian soldiers were quartered on the south face's rocky precipices.

We stop at a Cafe at the bottom - south of the lifts for a hot chocolate and apple struedel - thick, I mean very thick and tres rich!

tough to walk up hill after that "snack"

Our next choice is - do we want to travel up in a "hanging basket" (Stephanie's description) to the only Glacier in the Dolomites.

Yep, we do!

Never seen a lift like this before - but it worked - and it was a hanging, sometimes swinging basket

Stephanie in her "hanging basket" above

She said it was the clearest day she had ever had in the Dolomites in Spring.

They were still skiing

Our "swinger" made it to the top, with a very quick departure from its occupants!

The scenery just started to extend further

We are reasonably high up now

And so is our handsome relaxing Italian skier in orange - but being italian - some things never change???

Ah - the start of the glacier up there

and it was rather warm as well

Not sure if Bob had worn skis before - a Toowoomba - Queensland boy.

Could have spent all day up here

Just incredible really

and the scenery goes on

and on

Time to reboard a basket to descend back down Marmolada

Mid afternoon we stopped - somewhere - don't know the name- and the Brig and I had a delicious Austrian style meatball soup - amongst the scenery below.