Holiday Blog 1956 Part 2

When we returned to our hotel in Innsbruck it was raining, and continued to do so overnight. In the morning we packed the car, and were then told that the Brenner Pass was closed due to the rain. At noon the pass was again functioning and, accompanied by hundreds of other cars we were away. The pass was open for single line traffic and there was considerable delay, compounded by the frontier formalities and a general shambolic air about the officials, especially time consuming when obtaining the tourist petrol coupons. The floods at the Brenner were really bad, soldiers and farmers were working to clear obstructions in the streams, mud and rubble filled the ground floor rooms of the buildings near the road which was itself littered with wine bottles from a local flooded café so it was easy to understand that some disorganization was inevitable. Once clear of the pass, and after a short cut that looked reasonable on the map but which proved to be an unmade track, we had our first glimpse of the jagged silhouette of the Dolomites on the horizon.

At six o’clock we looked for a hotel, and luckily chose the Emma in Villabassa, the staff of which spoke only German. Many wives of Italian soldiers were also staying there with their children, all very voluble and playing cards. To give an indication of the difficult times we had a long conversation with a Dutch couple about the potato shortage! Despite this earnest diversion it was a very enjoyable evening, with good food followed by superb beds. After breakfast our bags were carried to the car by the hotel staff and we set off towards Venice, delayed mainly by taking photographs in the Dolomites. Cortina d’Ampezzo was being developed with new hotels and shops under construction – a situation still evident in 2006 when the roads were being rebuilt and although early summer the town was deserted and even the shop windows were empty.

After lunch in a very poor village we crossed the causeway to Venice and then entered our first multi storey car park, which laid claim to be the largest in the world. This was very exciting, ascending half a dozen floors via a central circular ramp, a building type unknown in England at that time. From the garage we caught a vaporetto to St. Marks Square. While waiting for the boat we were passed by a funeral – very grand gondolas – and then by the fire brigade, also afloat. The hotel was a little distance from the Doges Palace and faced the Grand Canal; it was by no means as grand as the location might imply, somewhat smelly and both the beds and the food not up to those in the simple village hotel in Villabassa. We spent the evening sight seeing around St. Marks Square where several orchestras were offering competing versions of O sole mio, more or less continuously, and reeling at the price of the drinks at the cafes.

The next day we had rain, it did enable us to see the square when virtually deserted, so we spent the time being awed by the Doges palace and the very grim prisons beyond the Bridge of Sighs, no light and thick forged iron bars everywhere, no wonder Casanova escaped. That night there were such severe thunderstorms that some of the local inhabitants began to board the vaporettos, presumably they had more experience of flooding than us. By this time my wife had decided that there was a rain curse on the family.

Departing Venice after an exhilarating descent of the car park we had a great drive in hot weather across the North of Italy, ending up in a hotel in Moltrasio overlooking Lake Como. It was a pretty and quiet town, although the traffic proceeded at high speed down the narrow streets with scant regard for pedestrians. In the evening there was a dance at the hotel. All the men were older than the girls and we wondered where all the young men had gone. Whatever their fate had been it was not gripping entertainment and we were soon in bed. When we looked out of the window very early in the morning fishermen were already out on the lake in their boats.

As usual we were later than the other guests getting away in the morning, but by nine o’clock we set off for the Alps. While refuelling at Domdossola we learned that the Simplon Pass was open, it began to rain…………………….