It's that time again: my girlfriend and I are heading off on holiday. It's Sunday morning. We're clearing out her flat because the handyman is coming for a week and she wants to leave.
But where to? No idea. "To Nice, to the sea and the sun?" - "Oh, I'd love to go to Piedmont," she says. Piedmont? I've been there a few times and realise I don't feel like it. What's more, the weather forecast shows rain from Tuesday. "What do you think of South Tyrol, the Dolomites?" I ask. "Yes, why not? I was there briefly many years ago."
I remember that we were recently in South Tyrol at a Girlfriend eating pizza and were thrilled by the landscape. Oh yes, the beautiful Dolomites.
So, South Tyrol it should be. Spontaneous as we are, we decided in a matter of minutes. Fresh water tank and fridge are full, snacks ready, tea freshly brewed, we're ready to go. And I realise: even if Switzerland seems small, it's still big when you have to cross it widthways and drive it yourself.
We fall in love with Switzerland again. First we take the motorway - boring, but necessary, as we only have a week. After Chur, we take the beautiful Lansstrasse. It winds its way through the mountains, through the Prättigau, and we enjoy the autumnal colours of the forests. I'm surprised how quickly we reach Davos. But it's still a long way to the Dolomites. Nevertheless, I hope that we might still make it to Italy today. No matter how long the route is, we won't get bored. We chat and marvel at the colourful mountain slopes along the way.
Suddenly the sat nav shows our first pass, the Flüela Pass. The first of many in the coming week. A wonderful pass, especially on a motorbike (memories come flooding back). But we can hardly get enough of the view from our Felix windows. The trees glow in yellow, orange, red, dark red and a little green. We've already taken hundreds of pictures on our mobile phones and cameras. (I'll have to delete some of them in the evening, because who needs a photo of every tree?) Bend after bend, we wind our way upwards. At the top, the pass is pretty unspectacular (and arse-cold), so we continue towards our destination: the Dolos, as I've come to affectionately call them.
We've been travelling for four or five hours, we've had picnics, taken breaks and talked a lot. Now I feel exhausted, I'm really knackered. I think briefly of Gerd, who usually drives. And admire him. I just want to get there, preferably before it gets dark. Without further ado, we find a nice campsite - the only one there is here, to be honest - whose beauty we can no longer really enjoy because we are so hungry for dinner.
We cook a sumptuous dinner - the pumpkin soup we brought with us tastes delicious. We get ready for bed in a cosy atmosphere. The first night together is always something special. I miss my Gerd, and Regula sleeps in our Felix again after a long time. Even girlfriend holidays need a mental start.
Full, tired and happy, we quickly crawl into bed and probably, I don't remember exactly, fall asleep quickly and deeply.
In the morning, we wake up to a beautiful sunrise with a view towards a national park whose name I have forgotten. But today is the real start of our Dolo adventure.
Merci for "travelling with us
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