MMM – September 2019

September 2019outandaboutlive.co.uk 71

Italy TRAVEL

of Barcis, we cycled to the old road (now

closed to traffic) that cuts thro ugh the

gorge. Visitors pay a few euro and are given

a hard hat to protect them from falling

rocks fr om the un stable overhanging cliffs.

The translucent turquoise Cellina torrent

thunders between sculptedroc ks below the

road and Iwimped outof crossing it via the

Himalayan-style suspension bridge.

After a picturesque dr ive through alpine

valleysabove rushing blue rivers and below

steep wooded slopes and craggy limestone

summits, we reached the stunningVajont

valley in the Friuli Dolomites Region al

Natural Park, ourfinal and most remarkable

discovery from the nature re serves guide.

In October 1963the side of Monte Toc

slid into the reservoir behind the massive

Vajont Dam, crea ting a colossal wave that

breachedthe dam, the water flooding down

the va lley below killing around 2,000people.

Walking under the precipitous mountain,

still denuded of trees, today this is a

beautifulplace with wil d flowers and views

to the pretty villa ge of Casso clingingto the

mountainside, butthe shadow of that tragic

night lingers. The town of Longarone was

destroyedby the human-made tsunami.

Rebuilt, it has a museum tothe disaster

with appalling photo graphs of the va lley

scouredof life and buildingsand a lo ng list

of victim s’ names.

Today, Longarone badge s itself Città

del Gelato (city of ice c ream) as, f or over

50 years, a large ice crea m trade fair has

been held here in December. Somewhat

emotional af ter the museum, Inevertheless

set off in search of ice crea m and we found

a char ming gelateria to indulge in superb

Italian gelato.

We left Friuli Venezia Giulia, slow ly

heading west and nearer tothe Bedolina

Map. We walked the 13km(eight miles)

circuit of Lago di Corlo in a thunderstorm

and drove the switchback road over the

1,984m (6,509ft)Passo di Rolle on a showery

day when we could only imagine the

specta cularviews.

Finding better weather andan idyll ic

campsite in agreen va lley near Predazzo+

ABOVEBrescia’s sixteenth
century clock hastwo
figures called ‘Macc de le
ure’ (the crazy hours)
INSETMountain streams
rush throughPonte di Legno

LEFTViewover

Lago di Cavazzo

Gorizia

Grado

Alesso

Barcis

Longarone

Arsiè

Predazzo

Ponte di Legno

Seradina-Bedolina

Iseo

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ITALY

THE JOURNEY

We entered Italy at Gorizia and exited at Montgenèvre,

spending 21days exploring in May and June. Over the

entire trip from Salford we drove 4,236miles

THE COSTS

FuelAverage 34mpg, Italy only (€41)....................................£37.63

Site fees(€323.20)........ ...............................................................£296.64

TollsAutostrada Lake Iseo-Torino (€39.80)........................£36.53

EntryfeesTwo adults: CellinaGorge, Geoparc,

ArchaeologicalPark of Seradina-Bedolina, Santa

GiuliaMuseum (€46)........................................................................£42.22

Public transportTwo adults: ferry to MonteIsola;

return train Iseo-Brescia (€26.20)............................................£24.04

Total costs.......................................................................................£437.06

572

miles

“We rested at apicturesquehut in

meadows dotted with brightgreen larch

trees and views tojaggedsnowy peaks”