Italian Ironies

So last we met, I was on my way up to the mountains to escape the oppressive heat of Umbertide.  We drove 6 hours north into the Dolomites that surround Cortina d'Ampezzo to find....yes it is hot and no they don't have air conditioning because we are in the mountains and we don't need it.  But it is hot today, I say.  Yes they say it is hot but that is unusual. It isn't usually hot.  The mountains are refreshing and we don't use air conditioning.  Sigh.  We looked at one another and couldn't face the fact that we had driven 6 hours to a place that was hot with NO AIR CONDITIONING!!  These 3 spoiled American tourists have been hoisted on our own petard.  Well not exactly.  The good news is that hot here is 85 not 101 and it will cool down tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70's.  That's what they say anyway.

Some words about Cortina and my love affair with it. When I was 14, in 1960, I came to Italy to visit with my Italian side of the family.  My father's relatives are from the "Cadore" part of Italy that is quite near Cortina.  My Italian family drove me up to the mountains and it was love at first sight.  Speaking of sight, here are some pictures from the Stoic One.

This is the view outside our window.  A little cloudy, but the mountains are beautiful.  There have been many movies filmed in Cortina, the most famous was the original Pink Panther with Peter Sellers.  In 1956 the Olympics were held here after the Olympics of 1944 were cancelled because of the war.  There is still a well maintained ski jump, ice skating pavilion and beautifully maintained ski and hiking trails. It is a beautiful city to shop, walk, eat and drink the local wine.  All of our favorite things.

We stayed at the Hotel Rosapetra which is a little outside of the Centro.  It looks like a Swiss Chalet on the outside but is extremely modern and chic on the inside.  During the high ski season,our rooms listed for 600 E. but we got them for less than 150E a night.  We were very happy with the deal
Rosapetra hotel

The shower was made of the most fantastic stone from the local mountains.  Who ever designed this hotel was in love with natural surfaces.