November 04, 2011

Monte Altissimo

Some more pictures from the Lake Garda area. One of the days we went to Malcesine pretty early to take the first lift to Monte Baldo, from sea level up to over 2000 meters high. From there we hiked along the mountain ridge to Monte Altissimo peak, which took a couple of hours going up and down. Monte Altissimo peak is at 2079 meters, so it sounded easy from the map. But in total we had several steep climbs, followed by stretches of downhill paths.
It was a very cold morning with terrific clear air, we were able to see the mighty Ortler group in the north, snowcapped, which had loomed over our holiday home a couple of years ago.
Here is how Riva del garda looked from above. Don't ask me what the sign shows to the people in the valley, my guess is: ...nothing at all.
Historically interested visitors can enter the trenches from the World War I here, which criss-crossed the mountain head. Here the Austrians and the Italians fighted for the beautiful area north of Lake Garda, in the end the Italians won, ...obviously.
Then there was the main attraction, at least to me;-), on top of that mountain, the Monte Altissimo Rifugio "Damiano Chiesa".
The food was great, I had Minestrone, then gulasch con polenta, followed by coffee and cake, all of it homemade by a very nice surfer boy-looking young cook. The highlight of the meal, which took hours, was a selection of the finest home distilled "Grappe", which the owner seemed to do very passionately, according to his introduction of the different flavours at our table.
Eventually, when we realized that we really have to get back somehow before darkness and started to move our lazy bodies outside, we met two friendly pets which seemed to live a good life on the kitchen waste in such a breathtaking surroundings.