Mount Grappa

Mount Grappa
The Saturday before we left for Rapallo, we caught up with schoolwork, well everyone but Abbey, who worked on school and Facebook pictures until the wee hours of the morning. The day was warm and sunny, so we decided to appease a desire we have had since arriving here – going to the top of Mt. Grappa, the majestic mountain of the Dolomite range that greets us every morning.

Tim, Emma, and I set off in our little Punto to Borso del Grappa, near which we found the road leading up to the peak. The lovely tree-lined road with a few gentle switchbacks hardly prepared us for what was to come!

About the 4th switchback, we stopped to let a herd of sheep gather in a small alcove. Two farmers – and about 5 dogs – were driving them down from the mountain for the winter. About 6 donkeys were with the herd, quite probably as watch animals while the sheep graze high on the mountain. Once the sheep were herded into the alcove, we could drive past, and then the farmers and dogs took the animals down the next leg of the road.

Para-sailers were taking advantage of the warm temperatures and clear, sunny day: brightly colored parachutes dotted the mountain side. As we climbed, they were above, directly across from, and even below us. At one point, we came across one of the many “launching” areas for them. “I want to do that,” exclaimed Emma. My answer? Need I even say it?

At about switchback 15, we knew we were in for some heavy-duty climbing, which the little Fiat accomplished quite well! The views are truly breathtaking. Looking down on the Veneto plain, we could see some familiar sights – Paderno, Crespano, Bassano and the Brenta River, Asolo. As we climbed higher, the views became more expansive, until near the top, we could see the Adriatic shoreline.

“Look, there’s snow,” shouted Emma. Right, I thought – until I looked at the side of the road. Indeed, there was snow – which brought on a refrain by everyone of “Snow, snow, snow, snow” from the White Christmas song. We had to stop and make sure that it was indeed snow. After all the day was a balmy 65 degrees with beautiful sun. Sun, yes, but when we got out of the car, we quickly realized why there was snow here: it was in the upper 30's at the most! So, on with the fleece hoodies and back in the car to continue to the top.

Above the tree line, the terrain became more barren and stark, rocks jutting out of pasture land that would barely accommodate sheep and certainly not cattle. One switchback after another offered another vista of the Veneto plain. Suddenly, we found ourselves at the top of Mt. Grappa. Still admiring the familiar landscape of the plain, we were complete unprepared for what was behind us, and when we turned and took in the sight, we literally lost our breath and not simply because of the high altitude – the northern range of the Dolomites and the Austrian Alps!

Stately, imposing thrusts of earth and stone rising skyward, these mountains epitomize the sublime. The 18th century British writer Edmund Burke defined the aesthetic principle of the sublime as that which is immense, darkly magnificent, threatening, waking in our souls both a terror of and respect for what has existed for ages and will exist for more to come. Percy Shelley’s “Mount Blanc” comes to mind as I survey this vista that defies my ability to describe it with words:

Mont Blanc yet gleams on high:—the power is there,
The still and solemn power of many sights,
And many sounds, and much of life and death....
...The secret strength of things
Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome
Of heaven is as a law, inhabits thee!
And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,
If to the human mind's imaginings
Silence and solitude were vacancy?