There is a reason movie producers keep coming back here to the Dolomites. It isn’t because they are easy to get to…..it is because they are uniquely beautiful. These UNESCO protected peaks are stunning and provide the most amazing backdrop for any movie…..Pink Panther (1963), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Cliffhanger (1992) to name a few, have showed them off the best. Thats what drew me in….well, that and the pink granite against the white snow….like no other place in the world…it appealed to my academic geology roots and just to my sense of specialness. The fact that divinity dropped them into Italy is not a surprise….this country seems to have the ability to make the most of color and light….things seem more vivid here.
So it was when I rolled into the famous ski town of Cortina d’Ampezzo in the early evening….feeling chills by just finally being in a place I had targeted years ago. Of course, I said “rolled”….well I was in a bus from the Venice Airport…not how I had drawn up my entrance into this most elegant of Italian ski resorts but….taking the bus in Europe is not like taking “The Hound” in the United States…which can be a death defying experience…given where their urban stations are normally located. No, European buses are nice Mercedes Benz created “carriages” with TVs and Lavs and they carry no social stigma. It is one of the great ironies that the continent who invented elitism does mass transit so well.
It is near dark when we pulled up and I grabbed my gear for the short hike ahead and gingerly made my way over icy sidewalks and streets to my Airbnb overlooking the main Piazza in Cortina, Piazza Angelo Dibona. I did my Airbnb dance with my host and I was in and warm again…..sipping on a host furnished glass of local red wine and overlooking the Piazza from my balcony. I generally pay great attention to finding the right place….location is always the key…..one of the maxims of life…..and this is supremely located. Piazza Angelo Dibona right below and the Basilica Minore dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo and its lovely lit Campanile dominating the piazza….I have the perfect spot…actually more than I even realize.
The thing about ski towns like this in Europe….they were until recently something else…being a ski destination is a tiny slice in time of what they are; this is sometimes not the case in the United States where ski resorts are often purpose built. For Cortina d’Ampezzo, before it was Roman or even Etruscan, it was populated by Mesolithic man. It’s mountainous location, making it a natural boundary, caused it to change hands many times in it’s history from the Romans to the Venetians and then, the Hapsburgs and French, the Austrians (in the World War One, locals were fighting for Austria-Hungary on the Russian Front against Italians…i.e., complicated) and finally Italians. They still have their own regional language, Ladin, which is spoken all through this mountainous area. I enjoy having this knowledge of a region before I travel there to better understand where they have been.
Having all this knowledge also takes my mind off of skiing. I’m not good. My brothers aren’t good. My sister never skied that I know of…I could legitimately be called the best skier my family has ever produced and that and a quarter would buy me a cup of coffee. I haven’t skied in 25 years and the last time I did, in Norway, I finished with a heavily bandaged, sprained knee and a steady supply of alcohol to dull the pain. Twenty-five years later, I want to do this at least one more time..and so..here I am. But here is the deal. I am viewing this as a wine and cuisine vacation to a beautiful location with a little skiing mixed in…thus, less pressure to do it….just want a taste….the opposite of Norway 25 years before….alcohol to dull the expected pain and ski afterwards….preventive medicine they call it
What I found in Cortina d’Ampezzo was the perfect spot to do just that. Beauty in this wide (Ampezzo means wide or ample in Italian) valley abounds. The morning light on the pink granite is so stunning and I awake to that view from my bed. I had little doubt that this was the right choice but still, that confirmed my decision to come here. Out I went to investigate the town….what I found was a much simpler place than I had expected….not the overtly glamorous Italian Ski Resort that I had anticipated but subtle in the best sort of way. Shopping could be high end fashion and I enjoyed that but it could also be sustaining….shop owners were friendly and outgoing and the local grocer, a Co-Op, was great and made me striking a nice balance of dining out and in, very easy to manage. And there were bars galore….expected beer halls…like Hacker Pschorr Haus were friendly and fun, loud and boisterous with typical southeast German/Austrian fare….not so unusual if you understand that this place, as I have mentioned, was for many years Austrian. There were other restaurants that served the local staples as well and also, traditional Italian places that you could count on.
There was a bar/restaurant just below my flat called La Suite which had both an indoor and outdoor space and was always lively and fun and attracted the apres ski crowd. It had large cocktails and a very serviceable wine list and a very eclectic group. I met a tiny older lady there…she was maybe five feet tall, but probably less, with a twinkle in her eye…she started a conversation with me after she heard me converse in English…she being previously Scottish and now Italian….an internationally ranked Curler back in her curling prime who married an Italian internationally ranked Curler..a whole world I did not know existed. I love people you come across in traveling…Ann, was a delight and she had a secret she was bursting to tell me….there was this wine bar that just the locals and informed few frequented…it was below La Suite…so two bars below my flat. I tell you…location, location , location….I have bars stacked up below me! Ann told me to go to Enoteca Cortina and let them know that “Ann” had sent me…..of course she finished these instructions with a knowing wink. Always listening to my elders, I did and Ann was right…so right. Great ambience, complex wine list that changed daily…incredibly interesting staff, tasty small plates ..a low lit space full of dark wood and copper…but the crowd….well that was the show. Amazing local folks….a few stray Americans, Canadians and Europeans of all flavors and then, the most beautiful people I have ever seen….upper crust Italians who just lived in various places around the globe during the year….it was January and so, it is Cortina time..they had just come from Aspen…and no doubt, were waiting for the weather to warm in Positano or Santorini for their next stop. They were gorgeous…perfectly tanned and fit, incredibly clad….and extremely friendly…in an easy, warm way. Without Ann, I would probably have missed this….the importance of reaching out and making friends makes it a much better experience and cannot be overstated.
So I suppose by now, you are wondering what happened to all this skiing…well, it happened and turned out to be a great experience…plenty of bruising but no broken hips although my ego was pretty beat up. I went to the local ski rental place and got what I needed for a moderate price…honestly, a very good deal. Then, off to the ski clothing store to find something nice to ski in. I have to tell you…Italians know how to make ski fashion….and it fits….in a very form-fitting sorta way. Finally on the slopes, I signed up for four days worth of lessons and it was a great thing..my ski instructor was older than me and a great guy and saw that I was a mess…so he made sure I wasn’t in positions to destroy myself or other humans. He, more or less, succeeded and I had a great time…..ski every other day and just enjoy the experience. While I was there and unbeknownst to me prior to my arriving, there was a Woman’s World Cup event with all the world’s great women skiers…their medal ceremonies every night for that week were held in the Piazza just below my flat and so i would toast from my balcony to their greatness every night…us skiers have to support each other you know. I bring this up because Cortina has slopes for everyone…for dangerous beginners like me….and World Class professionals…not like me….it even hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics.
What I have found over the years of traveling to Italy is that Italians never ever miss a chance to have a glass of wine and a bite and skiing was no different….it was just another reason…another opportunity. There was a large lunch and wine bar at the bottom of the hill and also lounge chairs for sunning which I loved after a long day of falling down the mountan…. but also, there were bars and restaurants at various stages coming down the slopes….so thirst was never gonna be an issue. My ski instructor even took our group to a mountain lodge way up the mountain, towing us in a sleigh behind a snowmobile for a full scale traditional lunch…really special. In addition, there were two gondola rides that went up other mountains in the area that provided a full restaurant and cocktail bar and all the sunshine you could soak in….dozens of lounge chairs to facilitate…in the most amazing setting imaginable.
Still….the beauty of the place was always there, always mesmerizing…always the star of the show. The wide valley, spread out below me, never stopped in it’s ability to grab my attention. I would go back in a heartbeat and would ski again but I understand that it is just as great during the non-ski months when hiking and summer activities take over. In the end, it is about the unique craggy, pink peaks…waking up to them and realizing that they are always ready to entice you….to seduce you….they always have the last word.