Italy isn't just Rome! Go northeast...

What do you think of when someone says "Italian vacation"? Tuscany? Rome? Cinque Terra? Florence? Me too.

But thanks to a happenstance home exchange in October, we stayed in the northeast of Italy, smack between the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. True, Venice was only an hour and a few odd minutes away (and I wrote about it here), but we were stationed in Pordenone, which was sparsely touristed - and within short drives of the sea, the Dolomites and lovely little towns.

Caorle was a seaside gem and a good place to visit even if it's too cold to be beachy. We saw the wind-swept Church of the Blessed Angel and some fascinating rock carvings along the shore, as well as the candy-colored buildings and Cathedral of St. Stephen in the interior. The family we exchanged with were around (they exchange their parents' old home) and gave us a tour of the whole place, with their perfectly coiffed Italian hair and impeccably pressed Italian clothing. It was impossible not to feel frumpy next to them!

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Much to our rumbling stomachs' delight, when we arrived in the fishing settlement of Portogruaro, a Fall festival was happening. Nope, we couldn't understand a thing, but we knew what looked good and indulged in big plates of cheese and sausages, then walked them off whilst our exchange family's son got into a stare-down with a goose. Oh! And we saw a whimsical bicycle covered in tin figurines :)

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Our home base, Pordenone, was an ideal place to camp out at for a week. We visited one particular chocolate shop (aherm) three times while we were there and strolled along the Corso Vittorio Emanuelle II just about every day. The old center is magical with all its medieval palazzos and bistro cafes and weekly junk markets. Another hit was the Enoteca in the belltower; we ate ourselves into a cured meats coma.

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In exploring the base of the Dolomites, we happened upon Caneva, a tiny hamlet with a beautiful church that I can't seem to find the name of. Just above the village were the ruins of the Castello di Caneva, which had a still-functioning cemetery. It was pretty quiet, save for the occasional mountain biker who made his way up the very steep hill. 

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I lumped these two Dolomite goodies together because we went in non-skiing seasons and they were, for lack of a better word, dead. Still stunning, though. Cortina d'Ampezzo was the home of the 1956 Olympics - you can still see the ski jump from the highway. We saw superb mountain views and a pretty cemetery (what is it with us?), and then continued northward to Lago de Misurina, the lake where Olympic speed skating was held for the last time on natural ice. We grabbed a sidewalk table at a restaurant and soaked up the scenery. 

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Would I say to skip Tuscany? Absolutely not. But these were all charming spots within a couple of hours' drive from one another, and we were able to be a bit more "Italian" than "tourist" on our trip. Ciao!

Linking up with Bonnie Rose, Cynthia, Courtney and Yalanda for #Travel Tuesday.