We headed up another pair of cable cars to another peak outside of Ortisei in the Val Gardena of the Dolomites. Each town here has three names: German, Italian and the local Ladin: Ortisei, St. Ulrich, Urtijei, but don't let that confuse you. We walked down the hill from the cable car across magnificent vistas to a cute Alpine hut where Baite Sofie is found and settled in with our group of 14 for a fabulous lunch in the sun. Weissburgunder(Pinot Blanc/Bianco) 2020 "Verena" from Nicolussi-Leck was our refreshing white which I had with the amazing special starter of Anchovies from the Cantabrian Sea simply served in a can and with tons of fresh bread and butter!! Will had the best ever Cabbage salad with local Speck and then we all moved on to red in the form of a Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Patricia Kell Girlan. Will loved his homemade spelt Tagliatelle served with a divine rich organic deer ragout while I was amazed by the Spare ribs(YES!!) with baked potato & sauerkraut! This magnificent Alpine sanctuary is a great place to spend the day hiking and eating and viewing, and we all had a ball!!
