CORTINA, ITALY: AN AFTERNOON WALK THROUGH ITS PICTURESQUE TOWN.

i am just so in love with this little church of san francesco! so much so that i dragged my family HAD to stop by again and see it in the day time. we had visited last night and the entire time i kept thinking how beautiful it would be to see sunlight streaming in through the windows!

a trip to cortina d’ampezzo is not complete without a leisurely stroll down fashionable CORSO ITALIA! so many shop windows full of beautifully designed displays and the latest fashions!

you see that sunlight glistening inside the church? how could you resist that warm invitation?!:

we had brunch at la perla ristorante. their food was so simple and satisfying. and they even had ketchup! did you know koreans can’t live without ketchup?! okay, just kidding.. or not! we sat by two elderly ladies and they were so sweet and kind to us and telling us in italian how adorable our kids were. made me miss my grandma so much…

the basilica minore of saints filippo and giacomo was built between 1769 and 1775. i could not stop staring at it – so exquisite from every angle. unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could visit the inside. so any inside church photos you see here are those of the church of san francesco.

the famous gothic bell tower can be seen from just about anywhere around cortina! the sphere on top was gilded in austria from the melting of 60 gold ducats or coins.

by the way, did you know the town of cortina was previously known as ampezzo? and it only officially changed its name to cortina d’ampezzo after it became italian again in 1920 after italy’s victory in world war i.

i would love to come back here in september and sit at these tables with some delicious snacks and drinks after a lovely hike in the dolomites!

right when i snapped this photo of the gorgeous ciasa dei pupe, chris said we should start heading back home. kate was melting down and we suspected she was not feeling well again. i was TORN between getting a closer look at the amazing 19th century frescos by the ghedina brothers and taking care of my child!!! ah well, motherly duty calls and we headed back to our car so we could start our drive home. next time for sure! you have to google “ciasa dei pupe” and see all the beautiful ART on this building!

i so wanted to buy this little outfit for kate – how sweet is that ruffled collar blouse! and for jack, that cardigan to the right or that red velvet blazer! and if we had a third little boy, that little romper is just too sweet for words, but the shop was closed for lunch and as i mentioned we were scurrying back to our car to head back home. insert very sad face here! shop’s name is ghedina zuccaro in case you are interested!

we passed by this golden beauty and jack asked me if i took a photo of it. i told him i didn’t. he looked at me like i should, so i went back and quickly grabbed a shot. i guess he considered it a must have travel photo!

checking out some goodies from lovat bar pastry – YUMMMM!!

jack insisted on having his photo taken with this adorable bear! his HAPPY face just cracks me up! kate thought she wanted one too until she got closer. she said, “scary, NOPE.” this is when i’m reminded that my baby is still a baby at six years old – haha!!

and now we come to the prettiest stencil work i’ve ever seen! i would love to replicate the cognac + cream stencil (bottom right photo) in my home office or dining room one day! just STUNNING!

a photo with the cutest abominable snowmen ever! those mini snow goggles were absolutely hilarious!! :

golden yellow stenciling! makes me want to get this sézane dress in curry or this free people dress (color: hawaiian honey combo) and come back in the summer or early fall!

the rest of these photos were grabbed from our car as we drove away from this enchanting little town! we pinky promised to return….

as we neared the town of belluno, i had this intense craving for mcdonald’s, so i made chris take a slight detour. the folks there were SOOOO friendly and super efficient. seriously our best experience at a mcdonald’s anywhere ever!

as i sat in the parking lot, munching on my fries and waiting for chris to come back from taking the kiddos to the bathroom (best ever hubby or what??!) i looked over to my left and was rewarded with THIS!!!:

final stretch towards home!:

our agenda for today, asides from the stroll through town, included lunch at the masi wine bar, a peek at the helmut ullrich astronomical observatory nearby, and a good play at the playground next door. BUT that plan went out the window when we realized they closed the road leading up to that mountain due to the women’s alpine skiing world cup event. that’s okay! another reason to come back to this amazing town!

hope you enjoyed our photos from cortina! see our complete weekend trip here:

CORTINA, ITALY: ARRIVING IN WINTER WONDERLAND!
CORTINA, ITALY: BRILLIANT MORNING + SKIING!
CORTINA, ITALY: TOWN TURNS JUST MAGICAL AT NIGHT!
CORTINA, ITALY: SURREAL SUNRISE + SLEDDING!

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