Took a walk after work and was treated to this magnificent view.
Vintage Luggage Labels
Found these amazing luggage labels at a brocante a couple of weekends ago. We've visited about half these places and have driven through all of them (Grindelwald was actually by accident when we were trying to get to Mürren...).
A weekend hike
With fall rapidly turning into winter, we decided to head up to Rochers-de-Naye for a hike before the snow started to fall.
To get to the trails, you take a cog-wheel train 45 minutes into the mountains. On the ride up, the sky was blue with just one cloud in the sky. As we approached the station, the sun began to fade and we realized that the one cloud had settled exactly where we'd hoped to hike.
After a quick confirmation that it was, in fact, gray in every direction, we decided to hike down the mountain, figuring that we'd get through the fog that way.
It's not unusual to see paragliders out in droves when the sky is clear.
There were even more than usual floating about and as we rounded a corner we soon learned why.
It seemed to be a takeoff point for people well acquainted with the art of slowly falling. We stood for awhile, watching the gliders pop earbuds in, queue up some good music and then run off the side of the mountain.
Dent de Vaulion
We had a nice, long fall this year and used it to soak up as many views and (since the animals had all come down from their summer alpine grazing spas) domesticated livestock as we could.
A favorite hike of ours is near the Vallée de Joux and is a short, 45 minute trek up to some spectacular views.
Hobbit hole or doomsday bunker? You decide.
This is the same lake that we walked on, frozen, what seems like five minutes ago but was actually almost two years ago. (WHAT?).
Swine love.
Gliders were out in full force.
The hike may have been short but I still find rewards very motivating.
Cows, scenery and chocolate. All in all, a great way to spend Saturday afternoon.
Fall Harvest
All at once the vines have turned from green to gold and the harvest is underway. Our neighbor is hard at work filling enormous wine vats in the cave under his house and the air smells like fermenting grapes (delicious). I arrived home from work today to this incredible view and rushed inside to grab my camera. I still can't believe that places this beautiful exist.
A Birthday Adventure Part 3
On our last full day in the mountains, we decided to take the Bernina Express that runs through the Bernina Pass into Tirano Italy.
This railway is the highest in the alps and the section that we rode is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. With good reason as we were soon to find out.
The station is positioned on Lago Bianco a watershed of melted glacial water that runs both south into the Adriatic Sea and east into the Black Sea. I've seen these opaque, stunningly blue-green lakes a few other times on our various road trips but they never stop being breathtaking.
Set between the lake and mountains, the train station looked like a lunar outpost. Given the massive and long-lasting snowfall common to this area, the time and labor needed to build it must have been immense.
By the time the water winds its way down to Poschiavo, it's clearer but retains a beautiful mineral blue color.
Poschiavo in the distance from a much higher vantage point.
The last descent before arriving in Tirano is the Brusio Circular Viaduct- a massive, slow spiral into the town. Serious wow-factor.
The journey took about 1.5 hours, every inch of it beautiful. However by the time we reached the station in Tirano, we realized that we only had about 15 minutes to look around before we had to head back. Luckily this experience was entirely about the journey.