Dolomites - first European trip of 2010

Last weekend we spent four days in Cortina d'Ampezzo - host to the 1956 Winter Olympic Games. It feels like the town is living a little in its past... the biggest reminder of the Olympics is the massive ski jump which makes me feel queasy just looking at it. Locals like to tell you how Pink Panther, For your eyes only (Roger Moore as Bond) and Cliffhanger were all filmed here. Another ancient relic seemed to be the women - I have never seen so much fur in my life. Full length fur coats, 3/4 length fur coats, fur hats etc etc. very off-putting. There were also several fur shops in the village. What are they thinking? Also, the village is pretty much closed between 12-4:30 - i suppose so everyone can have lunch. Very laid back Italian.

Olympic jump as you drive into the village...


So, being pregnant and deciding not to snowboard I was looking for things to occupy myself with. Fortunately, Friday was a beautiful day. Although warmer than it looked, it was sunny and a perfect day for pretending to be a professional photographer with Nick's digital SLR. So here are a few I have picked for my folio ;-)




On Saturday I did not do very much. I had downloaded a few episodes from season 1 of Mad Men that I had not seen, spent a bit of time reading and napping. It's hard not doing anything. On Saturday night, we went to a restaurant that you got to by taxi (25mins), chairlift (5mins), ski-do (25seconds).... seriously, the ski-do ride to the restaurant was one of the scariest things I have ever done. It was dark, we were getting air, there was Nick and I hanging on for our lives while the driver screeched to the top of the mountain. After dinner one of the girls asked the waiter how we get back down to the car park and his reply was - "ski-do... all the way down" (!!) Anyway, going down was easier than up (and thanks to Nina and Andy we didn't have to sit in the two seater trailer the driver attached to the back of our ski-do to take 4 people down at once) and we have lived to tell the tale.

On Sunday morning I decided to catch the cable car up to Tofano where I met Nick for lunch. This is the view from the top with the village in the background. The scenery is just amazing and I was so disappointed to not be snowboarding as the snow looked fantastic. Had a great weekend anyway and maybe we'll go back someday.


An action shot of Nick after lunch...