Once you have reached the 3343 metres of Punta Penia with a challenging ascent and after admiring the spectacle that surrounds you from the top of the Queen of the Dolomites, you will want nothing but a good meal.

And you will find it in Capanna Punta Penia, a spartan and essential refuge, but with a warm welcome. The legendary manager Carlo Budel is an excellent cook and, over the years, has further honed his skills on the stove. At the Hut the cuisine is rustic and the menu varies, depending on the food available and the supply of fresh ingredients, such as vegetables. Here, however, you can always find hot and regenerating soup, pasta with tomato sauce or meat sauce, stew with polenta and various desserts, from strudel to tarts. It's all wood-burned in the cheap kitchen of the hut. Summer novelty: the pizza, which Carlo prepares a few times a week. Not bad for being on the roof of the Dolomites.

Its history has its roots in the 1940s: it was built by the alpine guide Giovanni Brunner of Canazei, who converted an Austrian military garrison of the First World War, located at the top of the Marmolada, into a refuge, recovering the materials brought up by the soldiers in the years 1915-1917. The weather, as you know, changes quickly in the mountains and the refuge today also offers hikers and mountaineers the possibility of an overnight stay with six beds. Spending the night in this hut, anchored to the rock with steel tie rods, is a truly incredible experience. And, in the morning, you find yourself waking up above the clouds.