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    "html": "<h3 id=\"cadore-north-to-the-mountains\"><strong>Cadore: North to the Mountains</strong></h3><p>We left <a href=\"https://lowvelocity.org/venice-italy/\">Venice</a> early, heading north toward the Dolomites. We took a water taxi from San Marco, and then a short train ride into Mestre to rent a car. The drive from Mestre felt like a steady climb through layers of landscape and time. My great-grandparents came from Cadore, a group of small towns in the mountains near the Austrian border. The one that matters to my family is Vigo di Cadore, which includes the nearby village of Laggio di Cadore. It's where my children and I are registered as Italian citizens living abroad.</p><p>This part of the trip was the most personal. My grandmother, born in the United States to two Italians, had visited the area more than twenty years ago. She passed away several years back, but I inherited many of her documents and photos, including the photos and notes from her trip.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5597.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5597.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5597.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5597.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5597.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"><figcaption><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The modest building where my great-great grandparents lived in Vigo di Cadore. </span></figcaption></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full kg-card-hascaption\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5591.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5591.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5591.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5591.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5591.jpeg 2400w\"><figcaption><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Pastoral landscapes with dramatic views.</span></figcaption></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_8574.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_8574.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_8574.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_8574.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_8574.JPG 2400w\"></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_8571-1.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"3000\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_8571-1.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_8571-1.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_8571-1.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_8571-1.JPG 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_8572.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"3000\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_8572.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_8572.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_8572.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_8572.JPG 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_8573.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_8573.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_8573.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_8573.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_8573.JPG 2400w\"></figure><p>My grandmother had no interest in dual citizenship herself. She was deeply patriotic and skeptical of Italy's politics, but she was a primary and only living source of some of the records I'd eventually need, particularly my formerly estranged and now long-deceased father's name change. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to complete the application.</p><p>The citizenship process took seven years and more paperwork than I could have imagined. Perhaps in some cosmic fate plugged into my own sense of humor, my citizenship was recognized and approved on Election Day in 2020 while I was biting my nails waiting for the results to come in for the presidential race. A small but meaningful moment. Soon after, I registered my son, and later my daughter. It gives me some comfort to know that they'll have the option to live, study, or work in Italy someday if they choose.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_3427.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_3427.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_3427.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_3427.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_3427.JPG 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></figure><p>Outside of fleeting daydreams, or more recently my political nightmares, I don't romanticize the idea of moving abroad permanently anymore. Maybe this is because I'm more settled now with a family and career, or maybe because I've moved great distances before and acquired the painful wisdom that life follows you wherever you go. There was certainly a time where I believed otherwise, but I no longer believe place alone can solve everything. Surely it can meaningfully impact an underlying mindset, opportunities, and even health. But it rarely will satisfy on its own, for any length of time, pangs of longing to be someone different. But I digress. Still, I can imagine spending longer stretches in Italy someday. Half a year at a time, maybe a summer as a family.</p><p>Cadore felt different from the Italy most travelers picture. The architecture leans alpine with its wooden chalets and steep roofs, deep balconies, and neatly stacked firewood. The language shifts between Italian and Ladin, a regional dialect still spoken there. We arrived between seasons, after skiing but before the summer hikers arrived in droves, so the towns were pretty quiet.</p><p>I visited Vigo and Laggio and found the building where my great-grandparents once lived after returning from Michigan. My great-great-grandmother, Ursula, disliked life in America and brought their family back to Italy after each successive birth of their five children, including my great-grandfather. I walked the narrow streets, stopped by the small cemetery, and learned that graves there aren't permanent. When a family's connection fades, remains are moved and space is reused. Practical, though it still caught me off guard.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5738-1.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5738-1.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5738-1.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5738-1.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5738-1.jpeg 2400w\"></figure><p>We based ourselves in Cortina d'Ampezzo for this leg of the trip, about an hour away. It's more polished and commercial than Cadore and closer in feel to a ski town like Breckenridge, but it was a convenient base for a short visit. We stayed at the Franceschi Park Hotel, which was quiet in the off-season and surprisingly affordable. </p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full kg-card-hascaption\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_8579-1.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_8579-1.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_8579-1.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_8579-1.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_8579-1.JPG 2400w\"><figcaption><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">View from our hotel room in Cortina d'Ampezzo. </span></figcaption></figure><p></p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_8580.JPG\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_8580.JPG 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_8580.JPG 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_8580.JPG 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_8580.JPG 2400w\"></figure><p>The room looked out on snow-capped peaks, and the breakfast spread was the kind you remember (and we still talk about it). Fresh fruit, eggs, pancetta, espresso made to order, and honey dripping from the comb.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-gallery-card kg-width-wide\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-container\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-row\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5627.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5627.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5627.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5627.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5627.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5636.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5636.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5636.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5636.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5636.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5626.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5626.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5626.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5626.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5626.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div></div></div></figure><p>Late snow kept us from some of the higher hikes, but we made the best of it. Lago di Braies was a highlight. The drive was a bit long but idillic, with a calm, green lake ringed by mountains that greeted us upon arrival. This was the busiest place we visited in the Dolomites, likely with higher than usual traffic due to the other locations being inaccessible. We hiked the circle on foot, taking photos and pausing just to take it in. </p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full kg-card-hascaption\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5648.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5648.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5648.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5648.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5648.jpeg 2400w\"><figcaption><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Lago di Braies</span></figcaption></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5700.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5700.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5700.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5700.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5700.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"><figcaption><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Parking lot was a bit chaotic at Parco Natural Fanes-Senes-Braies. There were so many of these BMW GSAs riding around the countryside, giving me ideas about how I might navigate the region during future trips ;)</span></figcaption></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5655.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5655.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5655.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5655.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5655.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5657.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5657.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5657.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5657.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5657.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5669.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5669.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5669.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5669.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5669.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5683.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5683.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5683.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5683.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5683.jpeg 2400w\"></figure><p>That afternoon we crossed into Austria for lunch in Sillian, enjoying how language and signs shifted while the scenery and architecture remained unchanged, or at least in a way that was imperceptible to my unfamiliar eye.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-gallery-card kg-width-wide kg-card-hascaption\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-container\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-row\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5711-1.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5711-1.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5711-1.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5711-1.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5711-1.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5712.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5712.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5712.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5712.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5712.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div></div><div class=\"kg-gallery-row\"><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5707.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5707.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5707.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5707.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5707.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div><div class=\"kg-gallery-image\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5703.jpeg\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5703.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5703.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5703.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5703.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 720px) 720px\"></div></div></div><figcaption><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Our short excursion into Austria for lunch. </span></p></figcaption></figure><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-wide kg-card-hascaption\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5725.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5725.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5725.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5725.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5725.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1200px) 1200px\"><figcaption><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Back in Cortina d'Ampezzo</span></figcaption></figure><p>Cortina itself was pleasant to walk in. In the evenings I explored while my wife rested, noticing the local schools, churches, and public spaces tucked among the boutiques. As a co-host of the next Winter Olympics, I noticed signs of change as hotels readied for guests and large cranes dotted the edge of town.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-wide\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5733.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2667\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5733.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5733.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5733.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5733.jpeg 2400w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1200px) 1200px\"></figure><p>The area felt quiet and a bit subdued. Beautiful but in need of the next season to wake it up again. Still, it was meaningful to finally stand in the place where that part of my family's story began. The drive south the next morning felt less like leaving and more like closing a small loop and contemplating how I'll spend future visits to the area.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-width-full\"><img src=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5751.jpeg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w600/2025/11/IMG_5751.jpeg 600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1000/2025/11/IMG_5751.jpeg 1000w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w1600/2025/11/IMG_5751.jpeg 1600w, https://lowvelocity.org/content/images/size/w2400/2025/11/IMG_5751.jpeg 2400w\"></figure>",
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  "description": "This is a retrospective and one of a series of journal entries recapping our trip to Italy in 2024. We continued our journey from Venice to the Cadore region where my great grandparents emigrated from, and eventually returned to live out the remainder of their lives.",
  "path": "/the-dolomites/",
  "publishedAt": "2024-05-25T08:01:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:peshyp24p4yyoaz3zdsppp3e/site.standard.publication/3mgwfts634r2z",
  "tags": [
    "Field Notes",
    "Photography"
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  "textContent": "Cadore: North to the Mountains\nWe left Venice early, heading north toward the Dolomites. We took a water taxi from San Marco, and then a short train ride into Mestre to rent a car. The drive from Mestre felt like a steady climb through layers of landscape and time. My great-grandparents came from Cadore, a group of small towns in the mountains near the Austrian border. The one that matters to my family is Vigo di Cadore, which includes the nearby village of Laggio di Cadore. It's where my children and I are registered as Italian citizens living abroad.\nThis part of the trip was the most personal. My grandmother, born in the United States to two Italians, had visited the area more than twenty years ago. She passed away several years back, but I inherited many of her documents and photos, including the photos and notes from her trip.\nThe modest building where my great-great grandparents lived in Vigo di Cadore.\nPastoral landscapes with dramatic views.\nMy grandmother had no interest in dual citizenship herself. She was deeply patriotic and skeptical of Italy's politics, but she was a primary and only living source of some of the records I'd eventually need, particularly my formerly estranged and now long-deceased father's name change. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to complete the application.\nThe citizenship process took seven years and more paperwork than I could have imagined. Perhaps in some cosmic fate plugged into my own sense of humor, my citizenship was recognized and approved on Election Day in 2020 while I was biting my nails waiting for the results to come in for the presidential race. A small but meaningful moment. Soon after, I registered my son, and later my daughter. It gives me some comfort to know that they'll have the option to live, study, or work in Italy someday if they choose.\nOutside of fleeting daydreams, or more recently my political nightmares, I don't romanticize the idea of moving abroad permanently anymore. Maybe this is because I'm more settled now with a family and career, or maybe because I've moved great distances before and acquired the painful wisdom that life follows you wherever you go. There was certainly a time where I believed otherwise, but I no longer believe place alone can solve everything. Surely it can meaningfully impact an underlying mindset, opportunities, and even health. But it rarely will satisfy on its own, for any length of time, pangs of longing to be someone different. But I digress. Still, I can imagine spending longer stretches in Italy someday. Half a year at a time, maybe a summer as a family.\nCadore felt different from the Italy most travelers picture. The architecture leans alpine with its wooden chalets and steep roofs, deep balconies, and neatly stacked firewood. The language shifts between Italian and Ladin, a regional dialect still spoken there. We arrived between seasons, after skiing but before the summer hikers arrived in droves, so the towns were pretty quiet.\nI visited Vigo and Laggio and found the building where my great-grandparents once lived after returning from Michigan. My great-great-grandmother, Ursula, disliked life in America and brought their family back to Italy after each successive birth of their five children, including my great-grandfather. I walked the narrow streets, stopped by the small cemetery, and learned that graves there aren't permanent. When a family's connection fades, remains are moved and space is reused. Practical, though it still caught me off guard.\nWe based ourselves in Cortina d'Ampezzo for this leg of the trip, about an hour away. It's more polished and commercial than Cadore and closer in feel to a ski town like Breckenridge, but it was a convenient base for a short visit. We stayed at the Franceschi Park Hotel, which was quiet in the off-season and surprisingly affordable.\nView from our hotel room in Cortina d'Ampezzo.\n\nThe room looked out on snow-capped peaks, and the breakfast spread was the kind you remember (and we still talk about it). Fresh fruit, eggs, pancetta, espresso made to order, and honey dripping from the comb.\n\nLate snow kept us from some of the higher hikes, but we made the best of it. Lago di Braies was a highlight. The drive was a bit long but idillic, with a calm, green lake ringed by mountains that greeted us upon arrival. This was the busiest place we visited in the Dolomites, likely with higher than usual traffic due to the other locations being inaccessible. We hiked the circle on foot, taking photos and pausing just to take it in.\nLago di Braies\nParking lot was a bit chaotic at Parco Natural Fanes-Senes-Braies. There were so many of these BMW GSAs riding around the countryside, giving me ideas about how I might navigate the region during future trips ;)\nThat afternoon we crossed into Austria for lunch in Sillian, enjoying how language and signs shifted while the scenery and architecture remained unchanged, or at least in a way that was imperceptible to my unfamiliar eye.\n\nOur short excursion into Austria for lunch.\n\nBack in Cortina d'Ampezzo\nCortina itself was pleasant to walk in. In the evenings I explored while my wife rested, noticing the local schools, churches, and public spaces tucked among the boutiques. As a co-host of the next Winter Olympics, I noticed signs of change as hotels readied for guests and large cranes dotted the edge of town.\nThe area felt quiet and a bit subdued. Beautiful but in need of the next season to wake it up again. Still, it was meaningful to finally stand in the place where that part of my family's story began. The drive south the next morning felt less like leaving and more like closing a small loop and contemplating how I'll spend future visits to the area.",
  "title": "Returning to the Dolomites",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-20T19:18:54.000Z"
}