It was October 2022. My ex had just broken up with me a little over a month prior. I moved out of our flat in central Amsterdam and went back home to my mountainous region of Italy, feeling defeated by life. Before the mountain huts season ended for the winter, I decided to take myself on a solo, meditative hike. I needed to flush some thoughts out of my system, I needed the solace of nature, I needed vistas, and inspiration, and solitude — of the restorative type.
On my chosen day, I set off into a cloudy, damp, but fairytale-like kind of valley, and three releasing hours of fast-paced, steep hike later, I saw my destination in the distancOn my chosen day, I set off into a cloudy, damp, but fairytale-like kind of valley, and three releasing hours of fast-paced, steep hike later, I saw my destination in the distance.My tranquil, little refuge for the night by a secluded and secretive alpine lake. As I walked the final stretch, I felt so at one with the solemnity of the environment. I was ready for transcendence to wash over me…As I got closer, the blasting music hinted at a slightly different atmosphere from the one I had envisioned. I arrived to find about 90 other people chattering away by the bonfires, and enthusiastically clapping at the approaching HELICOPTER that was delivering an elegant-looking, fur-wearing sommelier, and several boxes of champagne and other liquid goodness. It was a degustation event, in which each gourmet course was paired with a wine.Let’s just say, I was glad I had decided to pack my fancier-looking Rab jacket, rather than the crappy, ancient, deformed Quechua.Yes, ladies and gentlemen, gone are the days of smelly rooms lined with snoring masses on bunk beds… Well, no, actually those days are very much not over. Still, they are part of the convivial, rustic charm of a multi-day hike through the Dolomites — which on occasion, can even become quite the glamorous affair.
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