Taking Banksy to The Dolomites

So we drove up north towards Veneto and stopped at Fiori Pasticceria for some much needed coffee and pastries – which were seriously delicious. I honestly can’t get over how little things cost here sometimes. Each of these basically cost $1.20. In the States there’s just no way this would ever happen – nor would they be anywhere as good, especially for the price. The chocolate one reminded me of the ones I get at my favorite pastry place in Venice called Tonolo. Man, I really miss Tonolo! Soo good.

After that we continued towards the Airbnb I rented – this dreamy stone cottage in the middle of a vineyard at a place called Cison di Valmarino. We had the entire vineyard to ourselves as the owners were also away. What an amazing experience. Just such a simple, charming, and peaceful experience. The cottage was the perfect size for one or two people with a fireplace and wooden stairs that lead upstairs to the bedroom that were too steep for Banksy so I had to carry him up and down – It was pretty funny.

For Valentines day I decided that I wanted to go out to dinner so I found that there was a restaurant nearby within walking distance from the cottage that had a prix fix menu. (I know, how fancy right?!) I called the restaurant and I was like, “hey can I get a reservation for me and my dog?” And they were like, “sure, no problem.” As if they received these kinds of reservations all the time for Valentine’s Day. So Banksy and I walked over to the restaurant and when we arrived the restaurant was setup super romantic with candles and everything. Most of the tables were couples on dates. Then there was me and my Fur-date, Banksy – and of course my trusty Kindle which I bring everywhere with me for this exact reason (so it’s not awkward to just sit there and I have something interesting to do besides tell Banksy he is a good boy and enjoy my food.) So the waiter asked what I wanted and I told him I wanted the menu of the day. I had a full multi-course meal with Prosecco, antipasti, primi, steak, wine, desert, and even an after dinner liqueur. What can I say – I must be a hopeless romantic – or at least one that enjoys eating great food and drinking great wine with his dog 🙂

After dinner Banksy and I walked back to the cottage. Thankfully I had gotten Banksy this light up collar so I could see him in the dark, and since we had the whole vineyard to ourselves – and it was all fenced in – he could really enjoy running free around the vineyard as we walked through the large property. He’s kind of like a Shepherd so he will run up a little bit ahead of me, come back and check in and just keep doing loops and running around. It was completely dark out there except for the moon lighting our path. I rather enjoy walking along in the dark with just the moon lighting my path – just super relaxing and peaceful vs. having a flashlight shining everywhere. Plus this way I was able to enjoy the night sky even more which was beautiful out there with minimal light pollution around. 

 

Banksy doesn’t usually get to sleep in the bed with me, so he was pretty happy about that and he was really cute snuggling against me. I was pretty thankful for the warmth as well since there wasn’t any central heating. It’s pretty amazing that I only just adopted him a few months ago, and already I can tell that his bond with me is really strong. Definitely a daddy’s boy who’s thankful to be in my life, and I definitely am really thankful that I found such a good boy to rescue 🙂

 

The next day we drove up to the Dolomites and took a hike out to this Refugio in the mountains through the snow, which was by lake Misurina. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous it was! Meanwhile Banksy was such a good boy, and he walked right next to me – obviously on a leash, but not pulling me everywhere, which made it easier for me to be able to take a variety of photographs without falling every 5 seconds. For whatever reason I definitely brought the wrong shoes on accident which didn’t have any traction at all and the snow was pretty slippery which wasn’t ideal – but we made due! Being in the dolomites is seriously so humbling because the mountains are just so beautiful. 

 

The next day we drove up to the Dolomites and took a hike out to this Refugio in the mountains through the snow, which was by lake Misurina. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous it was! Meanwhile Banksy was such a good boy, and he walked right next to me – obviously on a leash, but not pulling me everywhere, which made it easier for me to be able to take a variety of photographs without falling every 5 seconds. For whatever reason I definitely brought the wrong shoes on accident which didn’t have any traction at all and the snow was pretty slippery which wasn’t ideal – but we made due! Being in the dolomites is seriously so humbling because the mountains are just so beautiful.