February 22, 2017 - Tanya's Winter Wonderland Tour - Day 17 - Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Elisa's Daily Scoop
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Cortina & The Dolomites

HAPPY, HAPPY HUMP DAY!!

This week has really been very relaxing just hanging out with the girls, going for long walks and hanging with my puppy.

Today, we're going to spend some time with some friends from the barn.  

But, it also happens to be a very special day in our family -- it's Punkin's First Birthday!!!
Yes, my little puppy is one year old today.

PUNKIN - 1 YEAR OLD (c) travelincousins.com

As you know, we adopted our baby from Ruff House Rescue in Freeport, New York.

We set out that day in late August to find the newest member of our family and who would have thought she would have been a sweet, 6 month old hound mix cutie!

It's true!  After meeting and greeting several other pups, Kelsey spotted this quiet and timid little girl sitting in the pen with the other "new arrivals" and we just new we had to meet her after she licked all of our hands through the fence.

We soon found out that she had arrived early that day on Long Island with several other litter mates, from a high kill shelter in North Carolina.

She hadn't even been officially checked in and processed, but it was love at first sight and we knew she was our new puppy.

Her shelter name was "Pumpkin" which we all actually liked (after spending hours thinking of dog names prior to arriving at Ruff House).  

But, shortly thereafter, we decided to modify it slightly to PUNKIN.

The rest is history!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
​TO OUR SWEET GIRL, PUNKIN!

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT - ADOPTION DAY FROM RUFF HOUSE RESCUE, FREEPORT, NY (c) travelincousins.com

A few days after we adopted our fur baby - she is still quite skinny (c) travelincousins.com

My happy girl after her first grooming (c) travelincousins.com

Sleepytime in the car (c) travelincousins.com

Kelsey and her favorite baby (c) travelincousins.com

Investigating at Dream Come True Farm in Manorville, NY (c) travelincousins.com

Curious in Eastport, Long Island- first time on a dock (c) travelincousins.com

TANYA IS IN ITALY!!

Now, if you haven't already noticed from the headline, Tanya is in Italy today.

Cortina d'Ampezzo, to be exact.

Let's take a closer look at this town and comune in the heart of the southern Alps in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, commonly referred to as "Cortina."

17 Interesting Facts about Cortina, Italy

1. ​Cortina is known as the most cosmopolitan of Italy’s ski resorts.

2. The Cortina ski area is part of the Dolomiti Superski Pass, the largest single ski pass area in the world.

3. It is known as the "Pearl of the Dolomites", as well as being one of the major resorts in the Alps.

​4. The town is surrounded on all sides by some of the most celebrated peaks of the Dolomites.

5. These include, the Pomagagnon, Cristallo, Sorapiss, Antelao, Croda da Lago, the Averau/Nuvolau group, the Cinque Torri and finally the Tofane, and – partly concealed by the latter – the Lagazuoi.

6. The end of the 19th Century brought the first "tourists" to, what was known at the time by its ancient name of Ampezzo as it was still part of the Austrian Empire.

PAUL GROHMANN, AN AUSTRIAN MOUTAINEER AND WRITER - THE FIRST TO CLIMB TO THE MARMOLADA, THE DOLOMITE'S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN 1864

7. Ampezzo only became Italian again in 1923 since it had been lost by Venice to the troops of Maximilian of Austria as far back as 1511, and it was at that point its name officially changed to Cortina d'Ampezzo.

8. The first pioneers  to arrive to "Ampezzo" in the late 19th Century came from England, Germany and Austria with the intention of climbing or "conquering" the Dolomites’ summits.

9. Virtually untouched by man, in 1864 Paul Grohmann, the famous Austrian mountaineer  made the first ascent to the Marmolada, the Dolomites' highest mountain.

The Bell Tower ('Campanile') is a point of reference from anywhere around the ‘Conca d’Ampezzo’ , and is a landmark visible for miles. (credit: italy-tours-in-nature.com)

10 At the time of the First World War, Mussolini invested a lot in creating Crotina to  launch it, at that point, as a First Class “Italian mountain winter resort”. It proved successful and the first cable cars and ski slopes were all opened up in those years, marking the beginning of snow-sports tourism.

11. Cortina really took off as a major mass-tourism destination after World War II with the biggest boost  from the Winter Olympics of 1956, hosted in Cortina,

12. The local Ladin language of Cortina is called ‘Ampezzano’.

​13. The Dolomiti d'Ampezzo Natural Regional Park (Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo) was established in 1990, and it covers 11,200 hectares in the heart of the eastern Dolomites, on the border between Veneto and Alto Adige/Suedtirol (South Tyrol).

Parco naturale regionale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo (credit: parks.it)

14.  One of the most beautiful natural monuments within the Park consists of the waterfalls formed by the Fanes stream ('Cascate del Rio Fanes'), reaching the ravine of the Travenanzes valley. The falls develop in three successive jumps, each more than 50 m high, and given the great quantity of water flowing into them, they are roaring and particularly suggestive.

15. These mountains had strategic importance during World War 1 and situated so close to Austria, there was much World War I battle debris, left over from the old 1915-18 front. Many walks (for example at Monte Piana, around the Tre Cime and, especially, in the Lagazuoi area) pass scenes of savage fighting, and around this latter area a striking Open-Air War Museum has been created, making hiking up here a particularly moving experience.

16. The nearby old Forte Tre Sassi at Sass de Stria (the “Witch’s Rock”, on the road to the Passo Valparola; 2,192 m), also, has been converted into a museum.

17. In addition to the natural wonders, Cortina also boasts beautiful buildings and cultural sights.

Cascate del Rio Fanes in The Dolomiti d'Ampezzo Natural Regional Park (credit: Guide Dolomiti)

Okay, I'm ready to leave for Italy -- right now!!

It is such a wondrous country!  Well, please do't miss Tanya's Scoop today and her magnificent photos from being up close and personal in Cortina!!


As for me, we're headed out for a girls' day with some friends.

I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN:
​CORTINA d'AMPEZZO, ITALY

No skiing for us in Kitzbuhel​

I finally made it to the Dolomites!

Best explained in the NY Times Travel section as: "Set in a teacup-like Alpine valley and surrounded on all sides by slopes, Cortina has been attracting visitors for much of the past two centuries" 

​This is home to the Dolomites. And with every sunrise or sunset a warm horizon glow seemingly painted into the craggy peaks will make you pause to take a looksie in awe every time. Or maybe that is just me.

The Dolomites are situated on the sunny south side of the Italian Alpine range, they make a stark and slightly pinky-orangey backdrop to this mountainous village. Just so incredibly stunning that UNESCO has even made them a world heritage site. 

​This is a first time visit for us to this ski town surrounded by Dolomites! 
Cortina d'Ampezzo, commonly referred to as Cortina, is a town and comune in the heart of the southern Alps in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, where it is obvious that one of their proudest moments was hosting the Winter Olympics in 1956!


Now about our last day in Kitzbuhel. yesterday..

Well well well as you know our skiing in Kitz got rained out yesterday. Boo

For some odd reason although I've had plenty of fabulous ski days and trips planned for this season - me actually getting to ski hasn't quite been working out all that great. 

It definitely bums me out when I'm right at the slopes, but can't get on them. 
I guess that's just the way it goes from time to time when your sport is weather dependent.

And I suppose finding the humor in the situation is the high road...but I'd rather be skiing.

So since skiing was out of the question (for us), not to say that some other folks weren't out there getting soaked, skiing in crappy conditions and putting themselves at risk of injury (even more so than usual), we on the other hand went to check out the town - which I always love doing regardless.

At first it seemed a bit ahem "boring" but then as we continued and turned off of the "main road" suddenly we were on a busy little pedestrian only cobblestone street and right smack in the middle of the old Tyrollean town.

Filled with churches, bakeries, small boutiques, restaurants, street vendors selling spun candy (cotton candy), roasted chestnuts and more and to top it off we then heard the faint sound of clippity clip as a horse and carriage buggy would turn the corner and roll on by.

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We bopped in and out of shops, thought about going to the Kitzbuhel museum - then decided against it, picked up our daily Bretzel fix (although now that we are in Austria I'm pretty they are pretzels), and attempted to go curling! Lol

No we do not know how to curl.

After getting to know Kitz pretty well, we made our way back to the comforts of our apartment and called it a night.

Being that today has cleared up nicely we are heading up to the Hahnenkamm cable car to check out the view!

And then off to Italy we go...

Catch ya back here tomorrow,
-T