Italy - Dolomites - Day #2

Friday, August 7th

It’s about 4am on Saturday, August 8th - local time here in Venice.  I just had about 6-1/2 to 7 hours of really solid sleep.  Now - I’m awake and struggling to fall back to sleep (my body adjusting to the time zone change).  So - I thought I’d write a little.

Yesterday was a great first day in Italy.  My flight worked out well from Denver - and I landed in Munich about 30 minutes early.  This provided a nice needed gap to get through a pretty lengthy line in security.  I spoke with a couple from Boulder, CO that were in Europe headed to northern Spain to see the full eclipse set for next Wednesday, Aug 12th.  Bonus for us - Italy will be about 90% affected - with the line of totality hitting in northern Spain. 

I made my way through the Munich airport to my next terminal - departing for Venice at 11:45am.   I made contact with Greg at this time - as he had already made it to Venice from Raleigh, NC - and was waiting for me to land at the airport.  My flight was only 1-hr from Munich to Venice (surprisingly short) - arriving into Venice at 12:45pm. Everything worked out well - met up with Greg right away and we took a water taxi into Venice. 

Venice has got to be one of the most unique cities in Europe.  No cars, no bicycles in the main city center - just endless canals through tight, winding streets.  We found our AirBnb after about a 7-minutes walk from the Fondamenta Nove water taxi stop.   Our place is right on one of the lesser-traveled canals - a really great location - easily walkable to the main tourist attractions in the city. 

It was about 3:30pm on Friday, Aug 6th when we arrived at our place. We ended up showering and took about a 1-hr nap.   Then - we hit the streets walking to St Mark’s Square. 

I haven’t been to Venice in about 15-years.  It was probably 95 degrees today.  I was working on about 2-hrs sleep on the plane with limited nutrition.  But, for some reason, I thought I could find my way to St Mark ‘s Square without a map - telling Greg:  “if we just follow the people - they’ll lead us to St Marks”.  In theory - it should have worked, but I ended up leading us a little south of our target.  No worries - we had time to kill - eventually pulling out our maps to find the main city center.  (I do have to admit when we got to the square initially - it looked so different than what I remembered - I didn’t even think we were there yet).  Lots of people - but no lines going into the Basilica. 

We took some pictures and hung out for a bit.  It was nearing 6pm - and we decided to find a restaurant and try getting out of the heat.  Both accomplished!   We found a nice spot by a side canal and had a great dinner.  Capped off the night with some gelato as we made our way back to our place.  9pm - I was completely exhausted - bedtime.  Great 1st day!

Italy - Dolomites - Day #1

 Day #1 - Thursday, August 6th

It’s 9:30pm MST on Thursday, August 6th.   I’m currently aboard a Lufthansa jet headed to Munich, Germany.   We’re 5hrs into a 9hr, 45min flight from Denver to Munich.   I just finished watching Oceans Thirteen.  I’m still not that tired - so I thought I’d write for a little bit. 

The flight is going well so far.  I’m seated in the middle section of a 3-4-3 seating configuration.  This jet is a double-decker, and I’m on the bottom level.  The flight is not totally full - I have an open seat to my left, and the aisle to my right. 

After arriving into Munich, I have a connecting flight to Venice, Italy where I’ll meet up with my buddy Greg - who’s flying from Raleigh, NC.   The main goal of the trip - a 10-day hiking tour of the Dolomites, an incredible mountain range in northern Italy - in the area that hosted the most recent Winter Olympics (2026).  

The 10-day trip gets started on Sunday, August 9th.  We’re flying into Venice a couple days early to see some sites and get our bodies adjusted before we hit the trails.  

I’m set to arrive into Venice at 12:45pm local time on Friday, August 7th.  Munich/Venice are 8-hours ahead of Denver time.  The goal is to meet up with Greg, get checked into our AirBnB, walk the city a little, get a nice dinner, and then crash early for some much-needed sleep. 

We’ve booked a tour of the Dolomites with Macs Adventures- the same company we used for our trip of the Tour du Mont Blanc a couple years ago.   The tour agency booked our Refugios (lodging) and created the shell of the trip.  We’ll be hiking by ourselves daily - not guided.   We’ll be using an app from Macs Adventures to keep us on track during the day.  

I’m really excited to see this area.   The Dolomites are on the shortlist of most spectacular scenery in all of Europe.  Postcard worthy pictures around every corner.   Hoping the weather cooperates - and my legs are up to the challenge.  We’ll be hiking roughly 60 miles in 8 days, with a total vertical elevation around 17,000’.  So - the hiking miles will be relatively short on a daily basis - but the trek will be steep with some technical terrain to navigate.  The 1st and last day of the tour are effectively travel days - with no specific hiking planned on those days.  

I’m motivated to blog this adventure, because (while I’m familiar with the Dolomites), I’m not that familiar with the individual sites or name-worthy sections.   I did view a few YouTube videos to get an idea of what we’re in for - but I intentionally did little research on specifics.  

With that said - I’m fired up to get things started.  New places, new people, incredible scenery, great food, and adventures to be had —- sounds pretty good to me.   Stick around - let’s have a good time!

Costa Rica - Day #11

 Costa Rica Trip

Day #11 - Sunday, January 18th

I’m about 2-1/2 hours into my 4-hr return flight from Cancun, Mexico to Denver, Colorado - aboard United Flight 1132.  I took a little nap, got a snack - now I’m inspired to write a trip summary.  

This morning was the first time on the trip I slept in past 8am.  Leisure morning - Greg and I walked around some of the beaches near our hotel for a couple hours (3 miles or so).   I headed to the airport at 11am for my 1:30pm flight - while Greg decided to hang back at the hotel pool for a couple more hours - as his flight is only at 4:30pm.  

Well - another trip in the books.  I’m always thankful to be able to travel - to have the ability/health to seek new experiences.  I had a few goals I wanted to accomplish on the trip - and luckily I was able to make those happen.  Those included:   Visit Nicaragua, visit Costa Rica, experience zip-lining, and tour Chichen Itza.   Everything else - was just gravy on top.  

My favorite parts of the trip included:  meeting/getting to know our tour group in Costa Rica, zip-lining over the jungle in Costa Rica, and touring Chichen Itza.   The trip went really great and exceeded my expectations.  Our hotels were very nice throughout the trip, the people we met were friendly/interesting, and the scenery was picture-worthy.  

I knew very little about Central America, the Riviera Maya, and the Mayan culture before this trip.   A big part of traveling for me is simply the education and history learned from visiting new places.  I certainly gained lots of knowledge on this journey. 

I’ll have tomorrow off work for Martin Luther King Day - giving me a chance to rest up and be ready to roll come Tuesday.  I have lots of goals for 2026 - here’s to making things happen this year. 

My next international trip will come this August 2026 - when I’ll be doing a hiking trip in the Dolomites of Italy. 

Until then - Go a different direction on your daily walk tomorrow!!

A highlight reel of the best pics/times on the trip: