10 reasons why we returned to cortina d'ampezzo:
village: cortina has a 1,000 year history making it not just a ski resort. in the southern part of the italian alps, cortina is a pretty little place that is easy to walk around just to wile away time. 'downtown' is essentially one street but oh, what a street... small cafés, luxury shops, 18th century buildings and a mountain backdrop, it's pretty charming.
a special call out to pasticceria lovat and embassy bar café, two great places to spend time. i would find myself a corner table with my book, put in my order - usually tea, mini sandwich with thin sliced speck, and the cream-filled krapzen, a dolomite specialty - and enjoy.
people watching! on the surface cortina appears to be the place for the jet-setters but everyone we encountered is friendly and down to earth. so while many of the women walk around in their fur coats carrying their high couture handbags, i never felt out of place. i loved watching the locals taking the time to stop and chat in the middle of the street, hands gesticulating and me, wondering what gossip is being shared :)
the evening passigiata: everyone is in town walking along corso italia, the main street, on their way for an après-ski drink before dinner. there are a number of enoteca wine bars to choose from (which we did during our first visit) but we headed to de la poste american bar, of which writer ernest hemingway was a fan, and we would definitly recommend it. we enjoyed drinks here while playing cards... crazy eights, of course. i love this ritual, so civilized.
spa: the mountian air and pretty vista screams wellness. and i signed up for a little extra wellness at the bellevue spa, in town. it was hard to choose a service but in the end i was happy with my persian rose body and face treatment. the on-site staff member was knowledgeable and friendly. it was like speaking with a long-time friend, especially when we discovered we both had ties to sicily, her husband's last name is spataro, like mine, and she knows two other women named concetta :)
local cuisine: the restaurants look humble and rustic but the dishes are culinary stars. il vizietto, a cozy place serving great food, i still think about the aubergine dish, the pasta with ricotta and prawn, and tiramisu. cinque torre for pizza. croda cafe where the bread basket was to die for and i am so glad i tried the local casunzei, a beet filled ravioli-like pasta with shaved parmesan and drizzled butter on top. and of course, we had to go back to tivoli, kai insisted. he loved their capton broth which he had again!
our hotel: with its quaint rooms, really comfortable bed, and best breakfasts - those apricots and mini donuts made me so happy - hotel villa blu was the perfect place to call home. of course, the hotel's best decor is what's on display from every window: the gorgeous dolomites.
skiing: the skiing, of course, in the stunning dolomites, a UNESCO world heritage site! while there hasn't been huge amounts of snowfall in europe this year, most of the slopes were open with plenty of challenging slopes to keep my boys occupied and happy. but these mountains, grand, towering jagged rock formations are quite the sight. it's what lured my boys back here. and me too.
snowshoeing: we snowshoed in an area nestled in the cinque torre range which is near the encampment the austrian army held during the first world war (cortina had been under austrian rule) so the history the guide shared was interesting and shocking. the snowshoeing conditions were not great, at some points there was literally no snow to walk on (quite different than our first time, take a peek here). nevertheless, it was gorgeous, i had a hard time deciding which view was my favourite. we even saw goats :)
rifugios dotted all around the mountains! i met stefan and kai at the rifugio faloria when they stopped for lunch; they have a huge charcoal grill 2123m above sea level (crazy italians!) and my boys enjoyed the perfect cup of coffee. after snowshoeing we ate at rifugio scoiattoli, just a stone's throw away from cinque torri and the food here was eye rolling delicious... pasta con bianco ragu di salccicia and a salad with balsamic, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce and speck. so simple and so good.
the farm: on the way back to the airport, we stopped for lunch with a view at el brite de larieto. i wanted to eat here when we first visited and was disappointed that we hadn't made reservations. this time, i made sure to book. the person i was emailing with was so lovely and when we met she greeted me like a friend. the people are awesome! anyway, this place was the best, exactly as i imagined it. we sat outside admiring the scenery as we ate delicious food that came mostly from the farm. it was the perfect ending to our trip.
dolomites, we'll be seeing you again!
