- .Ahh, the Italians! You gotta love their style. Good looks, personality... not so sure about the charm part, they’re quite stingy with their smiles. But dogs are allowed in shops (on leash, of course) you can consume alcohol anywhere, and every street, shop and restaurant is spotless. Buses are prompt and convenient to all places. Cheery red geraniums and white petunias drip from window boxes everywhere, acting as happy trim around multi-storey balconies. The country exudes quality. And the coffee! Damn, they know how to make a café au lait. (“Latte!” one waitress corrected me.)
Speaking of style, I can pretty much guarantee that I am the only person in this chic little Cortina café perched on a chair with a butt in “George” shorts. You know—George as in Walmart’s brand? Is there even a Walmart in Italy? I’d be surprised.
Cortina d’Ampezzo is a picturesque town nestled in a valley in the Dolomites, an Alpine mountain range anchored in northeastern Italy and designated as a Unesco heritage site. It’s a stone’s throw away from Austria (well, something like 40 kilometres) and in fact, was part of Austria until the end of World War I. And if you think the name Cortina sounds vaguely familiar, think 1956 Winter Olympics. If you’re too young for that (I am, but you know, Wikipedia), you might remember the 1981 James Bond movie, “For Your Eyes Only”. Those gunmen on spike-wheeled motorcycles, which I do recall—hard to forget if you’ve seen the movie—were chasing Roger Moore down Cortina slopes. The population is reportedly around 6,000 but swells to 30,000 in winter at least, not quite that many in summer, although this is hiker, biker, and rock climber heaven during that season.
What am I doing in Cortina this July, surrounded by the majestic Alps, that could, maybe, match the beauty of the Canadian Rockies? (I have to see more before making a definitive judgment.) Well, we, my husband Douglas and fine son Fionn, are on our first overseas family vacation. Italy has been on Doug’s bucket list for years and Fionn has a friend who visits his grandmother here most summers. It’s only two hours from Venice, the city Doug really lusts for, and with Fionn just turning 17 (and his last summer without a job, I promise), this was the year to come.
Airfare is not cheap for three adults, so we weren't going to land her for two weeks. We booked a two-bedroom apartment in Cortina for three weeks at €1,700, which works out to a very reasonable $850 a week. It's a 10-minute walk to town (20 back up, since you have to stop and catch your breath so many times from the steep incline) and we have our last three nights booked in Venice (which is flat). Generously, our Italian friend has offered us her brother’s apartment, sparing us $600. Speaking of money, it can fly away very quickly here. But we are on holidays so I am trying not to be too frugal, although Doug and I are arguing about how much tip to leave. He wants to leave his usual 20% and I don’t think that’s necessary! Not to mention we are not getting service with a smile!
It is Day 3 now and we’ve acclimatized to the time change; Italy is six hours ahead of Ottawa. Doug has been practicing his quite good Italian, while I struggle with using sign language for simple things like ‘hand soap.’ Every once in a while, I hear someone speaking English and have to stop myself from running over, screaming, “You speak English! You speak English.” But maybe it’s lucky I can’t communicate well with the Italians at this point. I would probably drive them nuts with my questions and running commentary about what I love about their country, and my (unwelcomed, no doubt) advice for improvement: “It’s okay to smile at strangers and should be encouraged around tourists.”
Time to plan some serious hiking trips, and get some groceries so we can head off the Euros as they try to escape out the window. And we’re not talking about using a butterfly net, we’re talking tennis rackets!
Heading into town.
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