It’s never long enough. I never want to leave Venice. Focus on how lucky we are to have the time we have there. OK.
We went to Doge for our last Venetian coffee and said goodbye there. Got our bags and made it over the (just 2) bridges to the vap and to Piazzale Roma just fine. The Hertz guy was pretty surly but we got our cute little Fiat Punto and off we went. We drove west, passing Verona and Bergamo and turned north at Brescia, passing by Lago Iseo for some pretty views. Stopped for a coffee and a serious map study around Edolo so I would not have to be looking too much at the map while driving. We had the directions and a map on Ken’s iPad which worked well.
We followed the via Michelin directions over the Miritrolo pass. What a drive! While it was beautiful I was really nervous. Tiny roads, steep drop offs, Yikes! But we made, to Bormio, it by around 3:30.
The town is full of hotels and cyclists. After checking in we went on a nice long walk to explore. You can see from the pictures that there’s an old part of the town which is pedestrians only and it’s where we walked around mostly.
I took this shot as soon and we got into our room. It’s from our little balcony at Hotel Genzianella:

I loved the old shoe repair place with that classic smell–Is it glue?

There are a couple of towers and a castle.


And this bridge over the river:

We came back to the hotel just in time to watch the USA v. Germany soccer match. It wasn’t on in the room but I went down to the lobby and she said we could watch on a German station down there. It was very comfortable and I got a nice glass of a local pink bubbly to drink while I watched. We talked to a guy in the lobby from England who is here with a cycling group. They rode 60 miles from here into Switzerland. As the rest of the group joined him, it was so interesting. First of all, I could barely understand most of what they were saying, their accents are so thick. Mostly they were rehashing their ride. Apparently this is a really top notch destination for cycling.
Dinner was really, truly, amazing. One of the best meals I’ve had here. They have a huge “salad bar” with all kinds of cooked vegetables and fresh salads and meats. (You can imagine what these buys must put away in terms of food after riding all day!) They brought us a little amuse to the table, of marinated fish and melon with fresh lemon thyme. Then you choose an appetizer and a main dish. I had crespelle stuffed with veal, ricotta and asparagus. Absolutely devine! It came with a couple of peeled and cooked cherry tomatoes that became a little sauce. Ken had the local specialty which were these small, very green dumplings with a meat ragu. (If we haven’t already gained any weight, this place will do it, for sure.) For the main course I had a little goat cheese souffle and fried mushrooms. Ken had a fabulous pork chop with mashed potatoes. And then there is a dessert bar you just can’t fathom. I was so full, I had a small pannacotta with apricots on top. Ken had creme brulee and cream caramel!
We went for a nice walk after dinner–still quite light out at 9:30.
I really am happy being in a hotel but I don’t know if I can keep up the eating.