small trips around a big world
Despite Lyon's reputation as a food and wine mecca, it can be easily overlooked as just a stop on the way from Geneva or Paris to southern France. After watching it pass by the window numerous times, we chose a weekend and began planning a trip to explore Lyon's world-famous sites and cuisine. Lyon's... Continue Reading →
Once past the treacherous mountain roads, the drive from Vieste to Matera wound peacefully from the Puglia to Basilicata region through fields carpeted in brilliant poppies and wildflowers, an ocassional ancient wooden farmhouse or crumbling stone building dotting the hills. But as we neared Matera, the landscape became more urban, full of worn homes and roadsides... Continue Reading →
As I crossed the bustling square, I heard my name and looked up to see two smiling faces framed in the wooden shutters adorning an old stone building, now an airbnb apartment. My father and brother leaned over the iron rail, waving with one hand, a glass of wine in the other in an official... Continue Reading →
People have been wandering through the Lötschental Valley since before the Bronze Age. Up until the Middle Ages, the Lötsch Pass was an important connection between Switzerland's Bernese Oberland and Valais. Nestled between the Bernese and Valais Alps in the Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site, the remoteness of the Lötschental has preserved a simple way... Continue Reading →
Once upon a time, herders used to walk their sheep across the massive 23km Aletsch glacier from the Belalp to the Riederalp. Sadly, today this is no longer possible due to the effects of global warming, which have caused the largest ribbon of ice in the Alps to retreat 3km since 1870, with 90 percent of... Continue Reading →
Any wine lover should immediately head to the north shores of Lake Geneva where one of Europe's best-kept secrets lies waiting: the timeless Lavaux Vineyards. Just an hour from Geneva by train, Lavaux is the largest contiguous vineyard region in Switzerland, covering 800 hectares between Lausanne and Vevey, and has been protected as a UNESCO... Continue Reading →