DAY 4:

We woke up bright and early, and drove to Tre Cime di Lavaredo… so early that it was freezing, and the rifugio Auronzo, where we were hoping to have breakfast, wasn’t even open yet. We hung out in the van, loving the views of The Dolomites, until it was time to carb up and start hiking.

With Sara carrying Lucas, we set on the panorama trail to rifugio Lavaredo, and then up towards the three rocky peaks. Hiking in altitude with a chunky baby was pretty exhausting, even with us taking turns, and we wanted to do a few more things in the area that day, so instead of completing the loop, we hiked down the way we came.

We drove to Lago di Braies (about 2 hours), where we walked around the aquamarine water, and ate some lunch looking at the gorgeous mountains. It was too packed to be totally enjoyable, so we didn’t stay too long.

We drove to Val di Funes (a bit over an hour), where we added yet another spectacular view to this epic day: the picturesque church of Saint Magdalena, surrounded by greenery in front of a granite backdrop. We finished the day with dinner at Ortisei (under an hour), the neat town where we would stay for the following two days.

DAY 5:

We had been going pretty hard for the last four days, traveling from Germany to Austria, Slovenia and into Italy, walking around and hiking from sunrise to nighttime. So the next day we wanted to avoid driving and take things a bit slower… but that wasn’t going to stop us from seeing some amazing sites.

We took the gondola and then the cable car up to Seceda, and wow! The whole valley is straight out of a Heidi cartoon, and the views of the ridge line after the short hike at the top are out of this world. We sat down at one of the mountain huts, and ate some cake while Sara nursed baby Lucas in this incredible setting. On the gondola back down, we bursted into an impromptu chant of the American anthem to celebrate that it was the 4th of July. The afternoon was spent relaxing at the local swimming pool and eating giant pretzels.

DAY 6:

This day was going to be the longest one in terms of driving, because we wanted to make it all the way to the Swiss Alps (6 and a half hours). We made a short stop in Innsbruck, where we were caught in the rain while grabbing lunch, and most importantly, we bought lederhosen for Lucas. And then made a longer stop in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. It turned out to be a quaint town, it’s pedestrian, family-friendly streets overlooked by a castle, and the perfect spot for a gelato. Which gave us the energy boost we needed to drive the final leg of the day to Interlaken, Switzerland.