CORTINA, ITALY: TOWN TURNS JUST MAGICAL AT NIGHT!

look at this VIEW! my goodness – doesn’t it look like a place straight out of a FAIRYTALE? i feel as if i am peering into a christmas snow globe – i just want to shake this photo to see the snow swirl around!

the air was crisp and chilly as i stood out there staring at this wondrous sight. twenty minutes later and i still could not bear to tear my eyes away. my family sat nice and warm in the car, but i just had to be out there and FEEL the MAGIC.

this beautiful small church is the church of san francesco and is the oldest in cortina. it is dated back to approximately 1396 and the interior is equally lovely in its simplicity as the exterior.

the first thing i noticed when i stepped inside was the fourteenth century frescoes (what remained anyway) of saint bartolomeo, saint mattia, and saint giuda taddeo on the back wall. the colors were just rich and gorgeous!

it felt incredibly peaceful and serene inside. we “lit” some candles (this church didn’t have real flames burning, but whenever we visit a cathedral or church, the kids always look forward to lighting a candle and saying prayers), said our prayers and left feeling like we tasted a little bit of heaven.

we had such an amazing dinner at il vizietto! you must dine here when you visit cortina. we loved it so much we went there two nights in a row! their food is innovative yet comforting and so very very beautifully presented.

with younger kids, we like to be at the restaurant RIGHT when it opens which is typically at 7:30 in italy. europeans tend to eat their dinners later – around 8:30 and this works out perfectly for us. we are for the most part done when the dinner crowd starts to arrive.

it’s common for the restaurant to be completely empty at 7:30 and packed FULL by 8:30, so be on the safe side and always make reservations. popular places need to be booked a week or at least several days in advance. we’ve seen too many people without reservations looking utterly disappointed as they are turned away – so be sure to BOOK. and this is even during non-peak travel seasons.

and my favorite photo of the night below! chris snapped this on his phone while i was still inside the church taking one last look!

this town is just so magical at night – and the little bit we saw earlier during the day time had me wanting to skip skiing today, so that we could spend more time wandering and exploring the rest of this darling place!! but that must wait until tomorrow! time to go to bed now, so that DOMANI (“tomorrow” in italian!) will come faster!

my camera lenses used to photograph today:

14-24mm – i use this for wide scenery shots!
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85mm (alternative) – i use this for portraits and to zero in on far away details
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35mm (alternative) – i use this for pretty much everything else!

PIN IT FOR LATER:

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