Monday 18th September 2023 – Area Di Sosta ‘Da Gasperina’ near Sappada, Italy

 

The route we were taking today was shown on our Michelin road atlas as green route, meaning that it should be scenic. Given that it was Monday, we expected the roads to be fairly quiet but, certainly for the first part of the route the roads were quite narrow in places and there was a lot of traffic. The roads were very steep for the whole journey, which made it quite slow but the views made it well worthwhile. This was probably the prettiest route that we have done in the motorhome. Stark mountains, beautiful valleys and great views entertained us for the whole day. Reaching Cortina, we took the R48 out of the town and found the road much less busy but just as picturesque and steep!
For our entertainment on the journey, there was some sort of rally for Porsche Carreras coming in the opposite direction, which made navigating the narrower parts of the roads interesting but I have to say that they were driving sensibly and provided an interesting addition to the wonderful scenery.
I had identified a campsite close to Sappada, in the Visdende valley. We turned off the main road, onto the steep road up the valley and came across major roadworks with traffic lights. It appears that a bridge over the river Visdende had been destroyed and they are building a new one. Crossing on a temporary bridge, we followed the river up until we got to the Area Di Sosta ‘Da Gasperina’. Set in the valley, surrounded by mountains, the position is wonderful and very peaceful, especially given that there were only three other vans there. We registered at the Da Gasperina restaurant and also booked to eat later. There were quite a few locals in the bar at the time but when we went to eat, we were the only people in the restaurant. It was excellent, simple, traditional Italian cooking, Jane went for venison with polenta and I went for the Gasperina special with wild mushrooms, Italian sausage, venison and polenta. Afterwards, the young owner, husband of the cook chatted to us and treated us to some delicious, locally made, blueberry grappa. His English wasn’t the best. But still way better than my (or Jane’s) Italian and he told us that the Pope loved to stay in the valley because it was so peaceful and ideal for contemplation. His wife (his ‘love’ as he kept calling her) is a Sunday School teacher and she knows all about the Pope.

Photos: The Falzarego Pass looking east; The southern descent from the Falzarego Pass – we took the road west; One of the Porsche Carrera’s; The roadworks on the Visdende Valley.