We had breakfast service on the plane and then arrived at Munich a little later than planned because of the delay in Dulles. It was raining in Munich and all ground crew work outside was on hold. So, we waited some more.
Because of the new EES processing, Chris and I made our way to Immigration as quickly as possibly. All non-EU (European Union) travelers had to have their picture, passport, and fingerprints processed before going through Immigration.
Once through, we claimed our bags which were just circling at baggage claim and made a quick stop at the restrooms to freshen up. My schedule was off, but it seemed like a good time to take my morning vitamins.
We found our rental car from Hertz. It was a Mercedes, but Chris has since proclaimed it "gutless".
The rain began soon after we left the airport and continued as we left Germany, drove through Austria, and made it to Italy. In fact, it started raining even more as we left the freeway and began our ascent up the side of the mountainside to our first hotel in Ortisei.
Good thing Chris and I both watched the welcome video for our hotel, Garni Snaltnerhof (Garni means bed and breakfast). Parking was a lot easier to find knowing what to look for. It was a tight squeeze in the underground parking, but we made it.
We carried our luggage to the check-in desk at the hotel where we were greeted by Peter. He gave us the choice of our originally booked room or a larger family size room. We took the larger room. "You Americans like-a them bigga." It had a king size bed, pull-out couch in the same area and connected to another room with bunks and a kitchen table and an extra powder bath. We used all of the space except for the bunks.
Our room key was a large medallion that we kept hanging on the board at check-in when we were out and about.
It was late and pouring when we arrived; we opted to eat at the restaurant connected to the restaurant—Vedl Mulin. It must have been halal (food permissible. under Islamic law); we noticed many middle easterners eating there in the ensuing days. It was also the first European restaurant where they asked if we wanted to tip. No.
After finishing our dinner, we walked around the small town of Ortesei. It was pouring rain, so I tried to take pics with my cellphone as I tucked the umbrella handle under my chin.
In the winter months, Ortisei is a very popular area for skiing. At the end of August, it was still busy as a lot of Italians take their vacations then as well. We found all nationalities during our visit.