I’ve been coming to Cortina since I was a teenager, and it’s definitely changed quite a bit over the years.  Surely not as much as those who have been traveling there since the 60s might be able to say, but it’s still fascinating to watch the changes of a town first-hand over a 20 year time frame.

I first traveled to Cortina d’Ampezzo at the age of 16, when I was living in northern Italy with a wealthy host family who owned a prosciutto company. They owned two vacation homes: one in Grado (by the beach) and another in Cortina (in the mountains). So we traveled to Cortina for the Christmas holiday to enjoy the snow and some skiing. I remember being truly in awe of how stunning the mountains were, but also how cold it was (-15°C, or about 5°F). There was also a 50s era skating rink that we went ice skating in, which ended up being a fun and Hallmark-card-like way to celebrate the Christmas holiday.  

I returned to Cortina a few years back, over 15 years later.  I was still of course in awe of the mountains but was surprised by the fact that the place hadn’t changed much. This is, in most cases, a good thing, with the exception of the fact that most of the hotels could use a facelift. Although still beautiful and still encompassing its glamorous and high-society aura, Cortina is a bit of a “once was” since it’s heyday was back when they hosted the winter Olympics in 1956.  This is the same era where the James Bond film was shot here, and when all of Europe’s elite came here to ski in the summer and play golf and tennis in the summer.

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Now, don’t let those comments deter you. It’s honestly part of the charm of Cortina. It really does feel like a world away, untouched and frozen in time. Its beauty makes it one of my favorite places in the world.