Today we got up early, checked out of the monastery hostel.  I asked the desk clerk if the hostel was really attached to the monastery and he took us thru a door and showed us the corridor that went to the church and the big cloistered garden.  Just beautiful and very much attached to the monastery.  

We went on our tour to the Dolomites, the mountain range near Venice and Germany.   Milan is set up for Expo 2015.  This is a 6 month World’s Fair featuring food from around the world and different venues.  We are coming back next month to see the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit that is supposed to be fabulous.  We passed by an apartment complex of two twenty story buildings, each with a balcony planted with trees and plants and vines.  The apartments were built for Expo.    We go for awhile and then I find out we have to take a cable car for twenty minutes to get to where we’re going and lunch.  I am deathly afraid of riding a cable car and never have and never wanted to.  Passed up going to Massada in Israel because you had to ride a cable car.  But, I didn’t want to miss the tour- or lunch – so I got on.  Andy said my face was beet red and she thought I might have a stroke or faint. I was shaking and tears were leaking out of my closed eyes!  A lady next to me asked if she could touch my shoulder to make me feel better.  What a sweet thing to do.  Every time we crossed a tower pole or whatever and it lurched, I would jerk and lurch too.  But, before the ride was over, I started calming down and opened my eyes and even took a picture.  When we landed, everyone cheered!  And Suzanne bought me a gelato as a prize!  I might be able to do it again, but not anytime soon.  We went to a beautiful area that had natural pyramids that were created by wind and rain.  They have a big rock on the top of these pyramids. It the big rock falls off, the pyramid starts disintegrating due to the elements.  We went to a German restaurant and the food was good.  The Dolomites have trails that the Nazis used to escape Italy when the Allies arrived.  Then we went to Bolzano and spent about an hour.  Went to a beautiful church that has huge carved wooden altars.  Very different from other churches I’ve seen.   We got back to the Hostel, grabbed our bags and moved to a convent hotel.  The Hostel was full the rest of our time.  Get to the convent and we have three beds (one a rollaway) jammed into a tiny room.  Suzanne got a single room for the night…and we are all hoping she can continue to get her own room.  A late dinner and off to bed.