Visiting Cortina d’Ampezzo has  been a dream of mine ever since I saw the original Pink Panther (the 1963 Peter Sellers, David Niven, Capucine, and Claudia Cardinale version) movie when I was 15 years old.  Much of the move takes place in this lovely Alpine setting and at the time I dreamed of being the first American to win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing (Why not dream big?).  All I could think of was what a wonderful thing it would be to live in a place where you could just ski from where you lived.

The day after we visited Bolzano,  we set out for Cortina with the same hope and trepidation about the weather and road conditions.  We met with the same result, clouds and some fog on the way, but clearing before we arrived to a beautiful blue-sky day. It was a bit colder, but neither of us was complaining.

Cortina is much smaller than Bolzano, about 6,100 year-around residents, but it may very well be the most beautiful setting for a town that I have ever seen.  In every direction there are rugged Alpine mountains, quaint Alpine architecture and very high-end shopping opportunities..  It was also the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics and the ski jump hill (see pic below) is still on the edge of town.

I will be back to this enchanted place with either my skis or my hiking boot depending on the season.

On our way back to the airport in Treviso to fly back to Lecce, we stopped in Padova (Padua)  and that may have been the pleasant surprise of our trip and that will be my next post.