I have ALWAYS been fascinated by mountains. I remember seeing the Sound of Music when I was 5 years old and being taken by the dramatic alpine scenes in the opening minutes. I backpacked and skied in the Wasatch mountains in my teen years. When I was 19, I served a mission for my church in northern Italy, starting in Trentino, an area that had been in Austria until WWI. Our district included Bolzano and Südtirol, near the Austrian border where German is the first language.
Our family was fortunate to have our first expat experience in the late ‘90’s in the Bavarian forests south of Munich, in view of the Alps. We took day trips to Garmisch, Innsbruck and Salzburg, and rode the tram to the Karwendel at dizzying heights above Mittenwald. In the Winter, we skied these same areas. A few years later we moved to Switzerland and explored the Alps in the Bernese Oberland, the Jura, and Valais, among others. We took ski trips from our home in The Netherlands.
Over the years, we’ve hiked, biked and kayaked in the Alps from Slovenia in the east to France in the west. I’ve skied the Alps most every year since 1998.
This Summer, we will lead tours to our favorite areas in the Swiss Alps. We will visit family farms and taste fresh cheese, fruit and speck (alpine version of cured ham), eat bread made of ancient grains fresh from the oven. We will show you how to hike European style– taking a scenic tram to the mountain top and walking down, with stops at favorite chalets with Rösti, Bratwurst and Apfelstrudel.
Each place is so unique and spectacular.