It's Travel Week!

This week is Travel Week on Here We Go Again! We're getting excited for our big end-of-the-season trip and we can't stop thinking about all things travel-related so this week we're going to talk about it.

Here's the deal with our trip: for a few weeks in March and April we're going to travel around Italy, stopping in different cities and towns that we've never been to before. We're going to visit churches, vineyards, museums, beaches...anything and everything.

We'd love your suggestions on places to stop, things to see, what to do, where to eat, anything you can think of and want to share.

In the meantime, this week we're going to talk about our favorite travel destinations, memories and experiences. Hope you enjoy!

PS - A few of our favorite trips so far: Trieste, Prague, Rome and Lake Como in January.

This December in Cortina

It's no surprise that we love December in Cortina (last year I wrote about it here) and last week, I wrote an article for the Steamboat newspaper (here) about how living in Cortina in December is like living in a snow globe.

And it is, of course, because there are lights! And glasses of Prosecco! And giant Christmas trees! And skiers! And fur!

There are also some things that you have to battle in December though (and I don't just mean the crazy tourists with their crazy dogs).

The post office, for one. This December, I went to the post office six times - pretty standard for December, you may be thinking. Here's how the post office in Italy works though:

There are no lines (of course, because no one would stand in them anyway). Instead, when you walk in, you take a number from a machine by the door. The number system works like this: there are three letters (E, C and P) and then there are numbers to follow each letter. So, you may get E33 or P55 or C18, depending on which button you press on the machine.

There are usually two postal workers working at any given time, although there are windows for four. The workers make their way down the list calling out "E55! C20!" as they become available to help you.

Now, I'm not Italian, but I know how to read my slip of paper that says P40 on it. Other people though, are very confused by this. For example, if E20 is called, they may run up to the available window even though they have P20. Apparently, no one is actually reading the whole number which includes the letter.

Anyway. As you can imagine, it takes quite a long time to buy stamps.

Once you finally get up to the available window, you have to be prepared to spend. Of course the price of stamps to North America shot up this year (right before Christmas), to 2 euro and 30 cents per stamp. So to everyone we sent a Christmas card to this year: please save those for next year as well.

The other problem with the post office is that it's the only place in town where you can buy boxes to mail presents in. This means that people tend to bring shopping bags filled with presents that they pour out on to the post office counter while the postal worker finds a big enough box which is then assembled, packed, taped, addressed and finally, paid for. In Italy this process takes about 23 minutes per person. Also the post office only takes cash.

But! Now that it's December 22, I'm done with the post office! The most expensive Christmas cards in the world have been sent and all the presents have been mailed. Now it's time to tackle the grocery store. With that in mind, I'm taking the rest of the year off!

Ryan's mother is arriving tomorrow for Christmas and we're going to be relaxing and drinking Prosecco and watching Ryan's games (you can watch the live ticker here).

So! We hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year and we'll be back on January 5th, ready for 2015! xo

3 Reasons We Love Cortina in December

Every year, Ryan says, "Being in Cortina in December is like living in a snow globe." Christmas here is done RIGHT, from the two giant trees in the center of town, the star lights that hang over the promenade, the advent calendar that lights up the windows of the library, and the fact that every hotel is decked.out. in Christmas lights - we ARE completely living in a snow globe (now all we need is some snow!).

The other day we were talking about the reasons we love Cortina at Christmas time, so we put together this little list, just for fun:

1. The people watching is phenomenal - contrary to popular belief in the Dingle household, my favorite December activity is NOT singing Christmas carols, but rather, sitting at a cafe and watching the people walk by. Depending on the snowfall, people start pouring into Cortina from opening weekend (usually around December 7th) all the way through New Years. The busiest week is between Christmas and New Years, and did you know that the population in Cortina goes from 6,000 to 50,000 in the winter?! All of these people seem to think they are required to wear an entire ensemble of fur to enter Cortina. Their hats, their coats, their boots, and their bags will all be covered in mink, fox, beaver, rabbit, and my personal favorite - the time I spotted a man wearing a full length bear coat, head included. Oh, the amusement is endless....

2. Christmas Markets. We are beginning to consider ourselves semi-experts in the Christmas market scene (we've hit Lienz, Bolzano, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Prague and Munich - NOT all this year, that would be a lot). What can I say? In addition to all those sparkly ornaments, deliciously spicy cinnamon sticks, mistletoe and Christmas candles, there is vin brule AND baked potatoes with garlic yogurt sauce. Please.

3. And finally - the two P's of December: Prosecco and Panettone. Now. I love Prosecco but I despise Panettone, but Ryan likes it, so it made the list. Also, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas here without panettone. What it is though, is an awfully large, usually dried out loaf of Italian fruitcake (originally from Milan) and no, it doesn't taste any better than American fruitcake. But some people like it (everyone in Italy, for example). Every year for Christmas, Ryan and the rest of the team gets a box with two bottles of Prosecco and a huge loaf of panettone:

I am not even kidding, Ryan walked in from practice like this when I was writing this, proving my point exactly. Anyway, Ryan will happily gobble up the panettone while I sip the Prosecco and watch him. We had our first encounter this year with panettone two nights ago at the team's holiday party, and it was just as I had remembered it from last year, so I won't be eating it again this month.

But December, I love you, even with panettone.

Making Casunziei

Yesterday we were invited over to our friend Paul's house to learn how to make casunziei. Casunziei are little half moon-shaped raviolis that are typical to our region - you can find them in any restaurant here made with a beet or spinach filling and topped with warm butter and poppy seeds. Yesterday, our Italian friends Luca and Ellie taught us how to make them from scratch, with a fig filling which is native to their hometown of Fassa. We ate them with cooked pears and poppy seeds, and of course they were completely delicious!

New Neighborhood

Since we still don't have the internet - no big deal, we've only been here for three weeks - lately, we've been taking some time to explore our new neighborhood. Last year we lived in the Savoia which is a hotel/condo building right downtown. This year, we live in an area of Cortina called Chiave which is about a 15 minute walk from downtown. It’s great to be away from hotel life, and be somewhere new where we can get more of a feel for how Italians really live – for example, there are four wine openers in our kitchen, but zero wine glasses, and what we thought was a pull-out couch really turned into two twin beds!

So far we’ve found tiny winding roads that lead to the rink (which is very close this year), a little church, and a few little markets along the side of the road.

There are lots more fields out here, and we’ve found that most of our neighbors have gardens. Obviously we need to make friends with them by saying “nuovi vicini!” so that we can get some fresh zucchini blossoms and scallions.

And of course, we live right next to the Hotel Menardi which is convenient for everything including chickens who lay fresh eggs, lunch and dinner, beautiful window boxes and neighbors who we know and love.

Life is pretty good in old Chiave.

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao

Arrivederci, Italia!

 

The Krampus

One thing I'm not sure that anyone at home knows about is how incredibly dangerous it is here on December 5. You're just getting in to the holiday swing of things, all the lights are going up on the hotels, the trees are up and lit around town, the Christmas market is being set up....and then December 5th rolls around and you have to stay inside all day, hiding from the Krampus.

ALL images via Google, I would be too scared to take a picture myself

As you can see, the Krampus are beasts who accompany St. Nicolas on December 5 to punish children who have been bad and to scare children into being good during the Christmas season (children, adults, whatever.....I was scared). They drag chains along the ground and always pull a wheel barrow full of fire. They come out as soon as it gets dark and walk around town scaring.....everyone.

This mostly happens in Austria, also in some parts of Germany,  and unfortunately, the South Tyrol - which is basically where we are, and why we have them lurking around in Cortina...the downfalls of being only an hour away from Austria.

Anyway, I had my first scare last year - my friend Natalie and I were caught outside in the open as the Krampus descended on Cortina from the hill behind our apartments (we had to make a run for it to get inside - and they are not afraid to chase you) - so this year I had written on the calendar in big letters "DO NOT GO OUTSIDE". We were able to watch them come down the same hill, right at 5 o'clock when it was dark, from the safety of our balcony. It was thrilling. But then we really couldn't go outside for the rest of the day so...it was time for a glass of prosecco.

The Carbonara Challenge

Last year, when we moved to Cortina, my dad gave us a challenge: find the best carbonara in the town and take him to it when he came to visit. After searching for a few months and trying different versions at various restaurants (now that was fun), we found it at Cinque Torri, which is, incidentally, our favorite restaurant in town - and not only because of the carbonara. Challenge completed.

This year....he raised the stakes. Two nights ago, he sent me a picture of the homemade carbonara that he had made himself. I figured if he could do it in Massachusetts, I could certainly do it in Italy. (Although I should mention now that I did have a bad experience in my childhood that involved watching my mother making it one night and realizing that it was made with raw eggs which still freaks me out a little bit).

Anyway, here we go....

Yum.