We arrived in Cortina d’Ampezzo late afternoon after driving in heavy rain from Milano. Just as we arrived, the clouds parted, and the sun came out. As we drove up the windy roads to our Airbnb we saw the snow covered mountains and the blue sky. It snowed this morning making our arrival even more spectacular.

Cortina d’Ampezzo is beautiful. Skiing, mountain and road biking, hiking, or enjoying a drink outside one of the many restaurants and bars in the area.

The views are amazing.

Big, beautiful, and upscale. When the Olympics come, prices will go sky high. This is the view from our Airbnb again.

We had the best Airbnb ever. After three years of Airbnb in Italy, this was the real 5 star rating. Our hosts were fantastic. The rooms were spotless, and relaxing. The views amazing. Put a comment on the blog and I will send you the info. We liked it so much we cooked dinner for our hosts. Ninety per cent of our conversation was in Italian. Glad to have Italian Pod and Duolingo helping me.

First and O2 Travel Fan, Runs from any USB charger or the enclosed power supply 120/220 volts. This is also perfect for speeding the drying of clothes.

I charge 2 iPhones, 2 iPads, 1 Camera, 1 Watch, and can plug in the USB travel fan if need be.

After waking into wall at 2 am I newer travel without a night light. This is a dual voltage model available on Amazon. Six for less than $10.

On this month long trip to Italy, we are using carryon luggage only. My wife did better than I did. She traveled with 1 carryon suitcase, and a small handbag. I brought the carryon plus a small under seat back back.

I love the lake region of Italy. Each lake has it’s special appeal. The mountains that surround the lake give it a special charm.

The villages rise up from the shore of the lake.

Taking the ferries is inexpensive. A all day pass for all points served is 30E and if you are a senior it is 24 Single trips are 5E.

Some of the views may seem familiar. This is the location from many movies. Think Star Wars, and A Month By The Lake..

Next up is Vicenza. Home to much of the work by the Architect Palladio.

The Triennale in Milano is a design museum in Parco Sempione. In short is has some very interesting exhibits of design in Italy from the early 1900s to present.

The physical displays are very interesting and cover furniture to technology. You will see by the photos what it is all about.

What is lacks is additional assets and repairing of infrastructure and better signs.

Here are some of the exhibits I saw.

Smile.

The above is live art.You will see sections of the painting move as this is a video creation made to look like an oil painting. Exhibition was sponsored by Samsung.

Well not exactly. Like Eataly, and Balduccis the foodie markets in Italy and New York there are extremes here. Prices are alti, high. Selections, nothing but the best.

Bringing items home from Peck can cost more than dining at a fashionable ristorante.

My wife purchased about 8 oz of pecorino cheese, and a small container of frutti di mare and the total was 35 Euros. But this is a special place. Prosciutto is on a cutting board and is cut to order. Nothing that is not fresh is sold here.

Unaffordable but delicious. South African lobster tails.

We enjoyed our visit, and the pecorino cheese is delicious. I think the prices at Eataly are much more affordable. Both at the Rome and Milan stores.

When you make your selection,the items are weighed and you are given a label to take to the cashier. Each selection is wrapped like it was purchased from Tiffany’s but in yellow, not in blue.

Tomorrow, the Triennale Milano, the musuem of design.

We just finished our second night in Milano, catching up on needed sleep. They city is very active as this is Fashion Week in Milano and you can see activity everywhere. The weather is pefect, 20-22 C and we walk everywhere.

The photos above are from Starbucks Reserve. With the competition for caffè in Italy, they are doing very well.There was a waiting line go get in, but when I approached a security guard, he ushered Angela and I into the building. They say I look Italian, it does help sometimes.

Last night we had the best meal ever in Italy. That says a lot as this is our nineteenth trip here. Amazingly, it is next to our Airbnb. The ristorante is Ferrelli a Milano. Vino e Cucina . The chef is from Puglia, southern Italy. The menu is very simple and changes daily. I had pasta with pomidori ( three types of tomatoes) a bit of parmigiana and it was delicious. My wife had the tenderloin strips of beef cooked medium rare. Local Pugliesi wine, Nero di Troia wine complemented the meal. We were treated to 4 glasses of limoncello. We shared a torta al cioccolato for our dolce.

IF you are in Milano, I highly recommend this small treasure.

UPDATE. The correct descriptions of our meals are

Angela La Tagliata di Scamone al Pepe Bocciolo e Rosmarino

Greg, Gli Spaghetti ai Tre Pomodori e Sfoglie di Parmigiano

Via Carlo Farini 6 Milano

http://www.ferrelliamilano.it

Next post, Peck and the art of buying at a very expensive grocery store.

When traveling light with carryons I hate to have too much paper for my trips. I use the Send To Kindle app and keep a copy of plans and dates on it.

The boarding pass was sent as a back up in cases something happened.

This was done on my iPad, I keep itineraries and spread sheets here just in case.

It is a simple and secure way to handle paper which can get out of control.

All the documents appear in the library of my Kindle app. You can send man types of files to your Kindle. Can be done from desktop computer or i devices.