Breakfast this morning was supplied by the hotel which we were both super excited about. They had the usuals of cereal and toast and also lovely white bread rolls with pretty patterns on top. I had sent Mum some photos and whilst we were eating breakfast she gave us a call. There was lots of reminiscing going on since she spent 6-7 months in Austria as a ski instructor and Cortina looked very similar. She even asked whether they had the same bread rolls I had just eaten for breakfast since they had the same back then. I think she had a few too many since she came back with a few extra kgs of winter cushioning and both of my parents are urging us to reduce our pizza intake so the same doesn't happen to us! (Unlikely!). Straight after breakfast Lew was very keen to walk to the shop that ran tours called Dolomiti Ski Rock and then to look at getting the climbing equipment. Once again the Dolomiti Ski Rock wasn't open and the place we thought we would get some equipment 2&2 Cortina said that they only rent it during the summer but he advised us to try a shop called Kobe Sports. This shop was this was literally right outside the door of our hotel and the man at the counter had no issues renting the gear to us and didn't even bother asking whether we knew what we were doing. So the kit included a harness with two carabiners and a helmet which cost us €15 each ($25.20 NZD). We also added in a pair of gloves for each of us since it is steel cables all the way up and this made the total come to €36 ($60.60 NZD) for both of us for the day. We didn't think this was horrendous since the actual via ferratas themselves are free. We asked reception to bring the car around for us (the hotel parks it for you and keeps your keys as part of you using their parking) and we went back into our room to bundle up in merinos. Lew had done some weather searching yesterday and we knew this was the day to do it and sure enough it was a stunning bluebird day. The rest of the week they are expecting snow and the temperature will begin to drop even more so we got lucky. Still the temperatures was going to be around 0-5 degrees and possibly lower as we reached the summit of Col dei Bos at 2559m (8400 feet above sea level). Taking snacks, our climbing equipment and a lot of merinos we threw it all in the car and set off on the 30 minute drive into the Passo di Falzarego (Falzarego Pass). The was incredibly picturesque and I spent a lot of time trying to take pictures out the car window of the Dolomites piercing the blue sky above with the coloured trees covering the ground around them. After 30 minutes of driving and probably an extra 10 minutes of photography we came across a basin with a small ski field on the left side called Col Gallina and a resturant called Da Stobel with a large gravel carpark on the right side. The gravel car park is where you can leave your car as you go to hike or climb in the mountains. It felt pretty safe and there were already a few cars around. As we left the car park at 1040am it was easy to see where we were supposed to walk to find the start of the via ferrata Alpini. It took us about 35 minutes to walk in and we zig zagged up through some pine trees and then passed some ruins of a alpine hospital from WW1. This was rather impressive and included a couple of helicopter pads as well which we were slightly confused by since there wasn't any of those contraptions back then! The patients and staff would certainly have had an insane view out their windows!

Initially we began climbing up the shingle scree of a path only to reach a plateau and discover no via ferrata in sight and it was at that point Lew decided we had come the wrong way and had to walk back down. A combination of the sun and climbing some hills made it actually rather warm and it wasn't long before I was walking in my merino single thinking perhaps I had packed too many warm clothes - a merino singlet, a long sleeve merino, a merino hoodie and my 800 loft duck down jacket. After reaching the bottom of the shingle track we looked again at the sign post that indicated the start of the via ferrata was at the bottom of the cliff face behind us. Sure enough from there we could see a small square triangle of white attached to the start of the climb. There are 42 via ferratas in the Cortina region and a lot of them were constructed in 1915-1917 during WW1 when the Italians and the Austrians were fighting in the passes, summits and ridges of the Dolomites. They were intended to ease troop and supplies movement throughout the area of steep cliffs, crevases and shear rock faces. When we reached the bottom of where via ferrata Alpini started, which was established in 2007 by the Italian military of Bolzano I looked straight up the rock face and wondered what on earth we had got ourselves into. Lew did remind me that when he had researched this particular climb the initial part is very steep but it plateaus off further up in order to put people off who may not be skilled enough to climb it. We had gone for a "medium" ability level track since it said kids older that 7 years would be able to complete the "easy" ones and we though with a little bit of climbing experience from school camps and watching a Youtube video last night on how to use the equipment with some via ferrata specific tips and trick we would be right as rain! I think Lew did ask the question as to whether our insurance would cover us for this sort of thing as we glanced up at the cliff face in front of us. We harnessed up like we had practiced in the hotel room back in Cortina and made sure to double check each others as well. Lew had decided that I was to go in front since if I was to dislodge any rocks they were likely to be a lot smaller than what he would rain down on me. I thought it may have been so he could provide a soft landing if I fell right? I hooked both my carabiners on to the wire and began climbing straight up the cliff face being strongly reminded of how much I didn't enjoy rock climbing last time I did it. This time was going to be different with the view of the Dolomites behind us, the sunshine and the fact that we were in Italy and not at work!

Once I got a short distance up I changed the carabiners over one at a time onto the next section of wire cabling. Lew was able to hook on now as it was recommended that you only ever have one person on each section at a time in case you fall. We both got to about 4 meters up there was a section of the wire that ran diagonally upwards that I got stuck on. We both stayed here perched on a small rock foothold whilst we tried to problem solved our way around it. Most of the options included my legs having to be atleast an extra 20cm longer and I considered getting Lew to pass me somehow so he could get up himself and then pull me up. We both came to the conclusion and also were very thankful that we had hired gloves at this stage as the best option was for me to hang off the wire and shuffle upwards across the small crevasse until I could find somewhere to put my feet and pull myself up to the next wire section. I really wondered what we had got ourselves into at this stage and we were both making a conscious effort not to look straight down or be reminded that our lives are in the hands of two carabiners. Thankfully this was the hardest section we encountered and although there were other challenges higher up we had a bit more confidence to attack them. The pathway of cables and occasionally a large metal step wound their way up the South Face of the Col dei Bos pyramid which would be a otherwise unaccessible area without them. Every direction we looked it was just stunning and we risked getting the multiple camera devices out to take photos and videos a few times. There was even a section where it was flat and we were unharnessed to walk up to the next section of wiring where Lew got his drone out and took some footage whilst I climbed up the mountain behind us. The poor Gopro certainly did look a bit more banged up than when we started as both Lew and I dropped it - or Lew nearly threw it off the cliff and I had to attach my carabiners to him and hold onto his hand as I stretched down the cliff face to retrieve it. The large ding out of the side of it will forever remind us of the Dolomites!

Our hands also got a beating as the gloves didn't cover our fingers and you kept one hand on the rope to push your carabiners up as you went. Every meter of so we would have to unclip and reclip our carabiners over the reinforcement bold in the rocks to continue onwards up the wire. I was very surprised at how much I was enjoying it and we were thoroughly enjoying being out in the fresh air with something challenging to do. They say your supposed to do one thing that scares you every day? Well this is absolutely my one thing for today! (Eleanor Roosevelt). Once we reached the top of the via ferrata there wasn't any sign indicating this and we felt a bit strange unclipping ourselves only to continue walking around the cliff edges with no safety ropes. We followed a track up and over and were only encouraged to keep going by hand made rock piles indicating the track direction. I can't say it was easy or felt very safe but we made our way onto the main track which was barely one person wide of gravel scree. We decided to walk up to the summit of Col dei Bos at 2559m (8400 feet above sea level) and we passes a mountain guide with a couple of people on their way down and confirmed that this track is indeed the right way down when we try to get home. Coming up onto the summit we had an incredible view out into the valley of what probably used to be a glacier some thousands of years ago. The eery thing too was that up here we started to see some remains from WW1 with barbed wire, wood and old tin cans scattered around and we really couldn't imagine soldiers having to fight a war up here. Since there was not another person in sight Lew thought he should get his drone out again and this was the most airtime Mr Zoomie has seen all trip! Once the battery was relatively drained and some epic footage had been captured we realised it was about 3pm and we hadn't had anything since breakfast. I had packed some snacks this morning and we sat in the sun enjoying them. Since we were so high up and had stopped excising we realised how cold it was and I was suddenly very pleased of all the layers I had brought up with me. The entire way up we had admired the beautiful black birds called the Alpine Chough that had provided us with an aerial display as they swooped from their high cliff face nests down into the valleys below. They acted as though they were wearing a wingsuit and dropped suddenly downwards before pulling up using their wings which made a incredible swooshing sound as they did so. Iv never seen birds quite like it and as we sat and ate lunch they swooped around above us and initially landed next to us as we rustled around in the food back. They were rather friendly and inquisitive and as I held my hand out with a bit of biscuit one jumped up into my shoe and plucked the crumb straight out of my hand. It became a great game and soon we had at least four different ones vying for our attention despite knowing we shouldn't be encouraging these birds. Knowing that we still had to get back to the car and that the sun was steadily dropping lower in the sky making it get colder we got back onto our feet.

The way down wasn't much fun and you spent a lot of time sliding in shingle and screwing your nose up at the strange smelling dead thistle on the sides of the track - it literally smelt like a dead animal but I bend down and sniffed it a bit closer to confirm that it was definitely the dead thistle. On the way back down we explored the hospital ruins and vowed to do some google searching in regards to it when we had service again. We arrived back at the car at 4pm feeling completely exhausted and proud of our days efforts - can we eat pizza now?! Once again we drove the switch backs down the pass lined with black and yellow poles to indicate the road when they get a large snow dump back into Cortina. Lew took a stunning time lapse over the Cortina valley on the way back as the sun set whilst I waited in the car trying to keep warm.

Returning our equipment to the Kobe Sports store we changed into our togs and went to swim in the hotel pool, for once I was actually dreaming of the warmth of the water in Dubai and the pool temperature wasn't far off it. Once changed we walked 5 meters across the street to a shop we had gazed in the window at yesterday and it was only open for a few hours tonight. Lew had spotted some cool Italian made boots in the window and just had to try them on. The ended up being a perfect match and these new boots will soon be walking the streets of London! Dinner was at a place called Ristorante Pizzeria Ariston which was above the town and Tripadvisor considered it to be the #1 in town. As usual it included a cover charge of €2.50 ($4.20 NZD) per person but we were given some very tasty selections of homemade bread and for the first time in our entire Europe trip so far a jug of TAP water for free! The pizza wasn't one of the best we have had but it wasn't one of the worst either and we seem to have lost the tasty neapolitan base as we have got further north which we have grown accustom to and love. We were given the dessert menu and to my absolute delight they were offering a vegan blueberry cheesecake and despite being full to the brim of pizza and bread I thought for an extra €8 ($13.50 NZD) we would share it. It did end up being a nice end of the meal and overall it wasn't as expensive as last night at €31.50 ($53 NZD). Lew had left the house in a t-shirt and his Huffer vest since our hotel room is scorching hot and he wanted some fresh air on his skin, every person we went past on the street looked at him in horror at his exposed flesh and he was certainly not enjoying the cold on our walk back to the hotel! It was 9pm by the time we got back and we called it a night having done a very small amount of planning or tomorrow which will be to see Lake Misurina and also to walk the famous Tre Crime of Lavaredo loop before driving to Oriveto about 1.5 hours away where we will stay for the next two nights. We hadn't heard from our Airbnb host Lucia since her initial message telling us to contact her cousin through Watsapp so we re-messaged her through Airbnb reminding her of our arrival tomorrow and hope we hear back by tomorrow.