Dolomites

Leaving Liechtenstein, Mom, Dad and I enjoyed a night in Innsbruck (check off another Olympic host city!) where we enjoyed a surprise traditional music concert during dinner. Driving south over the Brenner Pass, we re-entered Italy into the the Alto Adige, home of the famed Dolomites.

Another highlight of the trip was staying in this Agriturismo. The Italian government, trying to keep families on their farms, subsidize the renting out of rooms in agricultural homes. The place was clean, new and had a kitchen.

Here's the view down the Anterselva/Anholtz valley.

Why does everything have two names? Back in WWI, Austria-Hungary was defeated and the treaty gave the province of South Tyrol to Italy. Italy, tried to Italianize everything (that's why the province is called Alto Adige in Italian) but the residents still speak German as their first tongue. I loved it up there because I speak a little of each language and I could mix and match and the people understood me.

A typical scene driving through the Dolomites.

We drove up to the lookout for the "Tre Cime" or "Three peaks." The weather was amazing and at the end of the day, the light was soft and perfect. Plus, we essentially had the entire place to ourselves. Note to readers, travel in Europe in late May/early June. Europeans kids are still in school and the weather is not yet too hot.

Dad in action.

A requirement that I pose for a picture for Dad. More importantly, I've had those faux aviators for 8 months now without losing them. A record for sure.

I have lots of more pictures of the Dolomites, but they all look repetitive after awhile. Again, as with any grandeur, it's impossible to capture the feeling and awe of the place.

This is the view from Corvara, home of a THIRD language in the region, called Ladin, which is an ancient derivation of Latin. It is primarily spoken and taught in two valleys, Val Badia and Val Gardena. It is officially recognized by the country of Italy and given legitimate status. In those areas, there are three names for every place.

Descending into the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo (check for another Olympic venue). It's just on the other side of one of the Dolomite ranges, but historically Italian and therefore, Italian comes first. It's a mere 20 km but the line is distinct between the two languages.

One more look down the Anterselva. The area is known for being a hotbed of biathlon and there is a world cup competition sometime in January 2011. I want to head up and see it and see the area in the wintertime.

Zurich and Liechtenstein

Zurich, Switzerland. Doesn't really conjure up much passion, does it? So, why did Mom, Dad and I visit this "time is money" city? The Zurich Airport. Turns out back in 1983 when the former Swiss Air (now out of bankruptcy as Swiss International) purchased a 747 from Boeing and my Dad spent three months here as their technical adviser. He wanted to see the place again, and lo and behold, its not the same. There are more buildings and even the hotel he stayed at had built a new building and moved across the highway. After visiting the airport in Kloten, we headed downtown to walk around.

Just like Luzern, Zurich is situated at the northern tip of a lake (Lake Zurich) with a river flowing out of it (Limmat).

The Grossmunster. It was here in 1520 Huldrych Zwingli initiated the Swiss-German Reformation. 

From one of the spires of the Grossmunster, looking across the Limmat River at the Fraumunster. Three of the five windows designed by Marc Chagall are seen here.

St. Peter's church, which has the world's largest church clockface. Seems fitting that the Swiss would have that title.

In this building, the Dada Art Movement was started in early part of the 20th century.

Next stop, Liechtenstein. It's the 4th smallest country in the world. It exists because the Liechtenstein family wanted a seat in the government of the Holy Roman Empire, so it bought this land. It has remained independent ever since.

It contains 62 square miles with most people living in the flat land and foothills by the Rhine River. To the west is Switzerland. To the east is Austria.

The country is known for its stamps, but it's economy is driven by being a business haven. It has a low corporate tax rate and therefore the country has more registered businesses than actual citizens. Of the four smallest countries in the world, I've hit three, San Marino and Vatican City being the other two. The one left....Monaco.

Luzern and Interlaken

Next stop, Luzern. This is the famous Kapelbrucke which crosses the Reuss River.

This lion carved into a stone in town has the inscription "Helvetiorum fidei ac virtuis" or "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss". It is dedicated to the Swiss mercenaries who in the service of Louis XVI of France, were killed during the French Revolution.

In Northern Europe, instead of domes, it's steeples with clock faces on them that indicates you've found a church. Here's the main church of Luzern.

After an afternoon in Luzern, we trekked to Interlaken, about an hour and a half away. Our hotel was way at the top of a mountain in the town of Beatenberg. This was the sunset view.






At dinner, we were treated to this impromptu concert. It was great, but it inspired my father to purchase CD's of the same genre which we listened to repeatedly in the car the rest of the trip.

The highlight of any visit to Interlaken is a ride up the tram to Jungfraujoch, a tourist/tram station located at the "Top of Europe". It's located between two mountains and is 11,332 feet above sea level.

From Interlaken, first stop Grindelwald.

From here we took the tram to Kleine Scheidigg and along the way, we passed by the famous north face of the Eiger.

Alas, the sun of the lower part of the mountain was not what we found at the top. Here's the view from Jungfraujoch.

One cool thing is the Eispalace.

This sign was totally meant for me!

I think this is a funny juxtaposition.

But then, what was this. There was a restaurant in the complex called Bollywood and tourists from the Indian subcontinent were EVERYWHERE. Turns out because it's so dangerous to film Bollywood movies in Kashmir, they film in Switzerland. Therefore, the Indians want to see the scenery and flock to this part of the world. The Swiss are simply taking the economic opportunity and running with it.

We finished off the loop by coming down on the Wengen side. I know of Wengen (and a lot of Alpine locations in Europe) from watching downhill ski racing on television.

Wengen sits on a ridge above the amazingly beautiful Lauterbrunnen Valley.

Throughout Switzerland, it seems like every sheer rock face has a waterfall coming off of it. The Lauterbrunnen Valley had what seemed like 5 or 6 total coming off both sides of the valley.

This is the Switzerland we picture in our minds. It's not fantasy, it truly exists!