CORTINA D'AMPEZZO — With the Olympics less than a week away, attention is turning to Italy's host cities: Cortina d'Ampezzo and Milan.
Cortina is a city with the feel of a mountain town – kind of like an older, bigger Park City. Everywhere you look, there is high-fashion Prada and Louis Vuitton, but it is also very common to see people walking down the street in ski boots or carrying a snowboard.
For the next couple of weeks, the Cortina city center will also be known as the Olympic fan zone.
It is a short walk from the city center to two of the Olympic venues, including the sliding center, which will host bobsled, luge and skeleton events.
The Olympic curling center is just a curling-stone's throw away.
The bus that leaves from the center of town will trade skiers for spectators heading up the mountain to watch the women's Alpine skiing events.
These are the Milan–Cortina Olympics, with many events taking place in Milan. But one thing that makes Cortina unique compared to Milan is that it has done this before.
Everywhere you look, there is a celebration of the Games returning in 2026, along with homage to the fact that the Olympics were in Cortina 70 years ago, in 1956.
Aside from some construction touch-ups, Cortina is ready to go.
