Interview with Paolo Hendel (a famous Italian comedian),
one of the prominent guests in the Aqua Bad Cortina.

1. Dear Paolo, how do you like to be called by your first name by a simple mountaineer?
Dear Nicol, first of all, I would like to compliment you for your hotel and for the way you run it, with respect and love for nature. If all simple "mountaineers" (or "coastal dwellers" or "urban people") were like you, many things in this world would look much better!

2. You and your wife have spent your first few days here in the shops of San Vigilio, searching for the right pair of hiking boots. Was this important choice very difficult?
But of course! For a lowlander like me, it is not easy to understand, which one is the right shoe. Comfortable footwear is ok, but if you wish to walk over boulders and hike rocky trails, then you will need a somewhat stronger and perhaps even higher shoe, but then again, it should not be too hard... These are very important questions of life you need to ask yourself! And then there is the hard-hitting decision: "Gore-Tex or not Gore-Tex" (a Hamlet doubt!). I could talk for hours without finding a solution to this problem... But, in reality, the search for the “perfect shoe" was rather an excuse to fill the rainy days. Since we could not do any excursions, my wife and I went shopping, and we played that game until the sun came back ... And I must say we’ve been successful (at least almost).

3. Do you think you will ever fulfill your childhood dream of becoming a famous mountain climber?
This is true, as a child, I wanted to become a "cattle drover"; perhaps because I was so fascinated by Western movies, or maybe because I had so many wonderful excursions in the Dolomites together with my father. Or maybe simply because I really loved the word "drover", although back then I did not really understand what it meant ...

4. A holiday in San Vigilio, among the elegant shops and up to date restaurants - this can really hurt the family budget. What are the reasons for this audacious choice?
To tell the truth - and you who live here know it only too well - San Vigilio, in comparison to Corvara and San Cassiano, is much more "sober" and less mundane, and that is why I like it so much here. I like the simple beauty and the intimate atmosphere, the quietness, the stillness and the sound of water that flows abundantly and accompanies you anywhere. From my room here at the Aqua Bad Cortina I can listen to the creek, which flows directly under my balcony and I look at Berta, with her long wooden legs; and in the background there are the valley and the mountains, under low clouds, and at the end I even started believing the legends of the Kingdom of Fanes, with its kings, the marmots, the princess Dolasilla, the monstrous Spina de Mul ... But we should also not forget that in San Vigilio you can still find the real Ladin kitchen, with its true treasures, like Fana Ladina and Garsun. Simply wonderful!

5. Since by now you apparently know us so well, will you be next year’s leader on the excursions to the "Aqua Bad Cortina" well?
Little knowledge, but a lot of "ignorance". Nevertheless, regarding the legends and the "thematic trail", I would like to make a remark. At station Nr. 5 (each station has a text in three languages: Ladin, German and Italian) you give advice on how to behave in case of thunder storms and lightning. The Italian version reads: "Leave the fixed paths." I think you wanted to give the right advise to leave the rope routes in case of a thunder storm; but if you take the advise literally, then hikers will leave any trail in case of a storm, running for the forests or – even worse –somewhere between the rocks looking for shelter... Those who speak German or Ladin will soon solve this misunderstanding by reading the other texts, but those who, like me, just speak a bit of Italian, will run from the path at the first thunder, never to be seen again - Gore-Tex or not Gore-Tex! But, fortunately, here in San Vigilio there would immediately appear the helpful marmots, who federalize with the Queen of Fanes, and solve the problem ...