ex-Marine (husband, Steve) has one stock answer whenever friends/acquaintances comment that they'd love to travel with us. "No you don't! Perhaps this incident will explain his emphatic answer.

Winter is coming and with that, my thoughts turn to snowshoeing, a favorite winter sport. If ex-Marine had his druthers, he'd spend the winter either in a warm climate or sitting on a couch with a glass of wine in his hand, watching Lifetime, Oprah or True Crime Stories. Unfortunately for the poor guy, he happens to be married to someone who looks for a little challenge and adventure. "He doesn't have to go with you," you say, and, yes, you are right. ex-Marine usually rants, raves and runs around the house like a maniac screaming, "Go by yourself...take one of the kids...find a friend" when he hears my latest vacation suggestion. And when I prepare to do just that, he caves in.

Over the years, we turned from downhill skiing (Alpine), to cross country skiing (Langlauf) to snowshoeing after several winters of scant snow. Snowshoes give the ability to hike uphill (we don't do flat) even with less than one inch of snow. You just clomp through bare sections.

Continue reading "When Snowshoeing on A Ski Hill in Austria Goes Bad" »

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There are high altitude trails; easy trails; trails to walk with children to see the Marmots; for die-hards - Tour Monte Rosa - a walk consisting of 9 daily stages (total of 290 km). You can ascend the Matterhorn (you can, not me) - 4 hours up and 4 hours down with a guide. Barbeque facilities; folklore; climbing walls; geological trips; mountain bike tours; mule trekking; ornithological walks; paragliding; tennis; fishing; swimming pools. Even Summer Camps for snowboarders and skiers the end of July and beginning of August. Is that enough to occupy yourself?

Or, you can sit and do nothing but look at that awesome Matterhorn, wildflowers and people-watch. (swiss flexipass)

Continue reading "Visiting Switzerland in the Summer" »

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We selected the Hotel Aristella for our stay. There are umpteen hotels, pensions, apartments in Zermatt...it's a matter of choice. What tipped Hotel Aristella in my favor was their blurb about excellent cuisine...that is the way to my heart. (They didn't mislead us...the food was excellent!)

Since Lufthansa had managed to lose our luggage between Frankfurt and Zurich, our hotel turned out to be even more important. Natalie and Katerine (front desk people) went out of their way to place phone call after phone call to Lufthansa, Zermatt Post Office, etc., trying to track the bags down. How important was that? Everyone has experienced dialing a call and going through umpteen prompts before a live person answers? Try that when all the prompts are in German! They translated for us, the owners threw our hand-washed laundry into their dryers at no charge...they were all just downright wonderful...and the bags finally materialized, three days later!

We learned our lesson years ago and always travel with hiking boots (or winter boots) on our feet, warm jackets, hats, gloves on us...and never pack your medications or toiletries in your luggage. Just in case! And it was a good thing those items were on us (or with us). It helped us muddle by until the luggage materialized..

Continue reading "In Zermatt, Snowshoeing or Summer Hiking in Switzerland" »

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My research starts by surfing through most ski and resort websites. This year, I chose Zermatt - we've summer- hiked there twice before but never snowshoed in the winter.

Zermatt has a terrific site - information galore - trail maps, hotel listings with prices and direct links to the individual hotels if you prefer. I like to take my time and browse through each hotel's link before deciding.

Next step? Air and rail - how to get there for the least amount of money. We picked Switzerland because the Swiss Franc isn't too outrageous again the U.S. Dollar. Even though the $ has gained some ground against the Euro, some hotels in Euros countries are ridiculously expensive.

Continue reading "Arranging a Trip to Zermatt, Switzerland" »

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