Alpine Magic Photos-6/20/2010

[RSM]

Overall, we thought this trip was awesome. The adventures in this itinerary had a great mix of physical activitiy, cultural things, and sightseeing. The views were spectacular. I really can't think of an instance where any of us (2 adults and a 7 y/o boy) were bored. I won't really call this a full fledged trip report. This will be more photos with a brief description. I have posted some more detailed thoughts in another thread on the trip as a whole. So, here it goes:

Stresa:

A nice little back road of Stresa. Beautiful streets.

[/IMG]


Isola Bela:

A privately owned island.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Mottorone:

We took a cable car and chair lift to the top of Mottorone in Stresa. Some great views of the mountains and Lake Maggiore.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Cruise on Lake Como:

Some historic hotels and homes. Many now owned by celebrities and the wealthy. They said George Clooney was there, but we didn't see him. There was someone at his guesthouse though.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Pasta Making:

This was alot of fun and the group shared a ton of laughs. We had lunch in the restaurant (not the pasta we made) and the lasagna was the best I've ever had.

Jenn kneading the dough:

[/IMG]

Aiden can't believe we are actually going to eat this:

[/IMG]

Dinner at Monterossa:

This is a farm with a family style restaurant high up in the hills of Stresa, again, with more spectacular views. In my opinion, this was the best meal of the trip.

[/IMG]

Aiden on a pony at Monterossa:

[/IMG]

On our Way to Zermatt:

It is about a 3 hour bus ride to Taesch, where you get a 20 min. train ride to Zermatt. Along the way we stopped at the Simplon pass for some great picture taking.

[/IMG]

Jenn, Rich, and Aiden at the Simplon Pass:

[/IMG]

We crossed this? Yikes!

[/IMG]

Main Street Zermatt:

Zermatt basically has one main road with the majority of the activity. You can walk from one end of the town to the other in about 15 minutes.

[/IMG]

Paragliding in Zermatt:

We took off from Riffelberg.

Aiden getting ready to fly:

[/IMG]

Jenn in the air:

[/IMG]

Aiden flying high above the Matterhorn. The pilot who took Aiden is the only person to have paraglided over the Matterhorn:

[/IMG]

The Matterhorn:

The Matterhorn dominates Zermatt. We had never really appreciated it until actually being up close to it.

[/IMG]

Ropes and Ziplining in Zermatt:

Aiden on a zipline:

[/IMG]

Jenn on a zipline:

[/IMG]

That is about what I have time for right now. I will post some more from Zermatt (Glacier Palace) and Luzern within the next few days.

Hope you enjoy.

 

[sayhello]

Wow! That just looks wonderful. I'm totally thinking that as soon I as I can work up my nerve to go back to Europe (the Med took a *lot* out of me!) I'm doing this ABD! Will there be more pictures posted?

Aiden soaring over the Matterhorn is just *too* cool for words!

Sayhello

 

[wdwsos]

What fabulous photos! I really want to do this tour (anywhere in Italy is fine by me!), but I also want to go on another with Angela and Allen. Since you were lucky enough to travel with them on this trip, they may not want to repeat it with me.

I'm looking forward to more photos when you have the time! Thanks, RSM!

Dotti

 

[RSM]

Wow! That just looks wonderful. I'm totally thinking that as soon I as I can work up my nerve to go back to Europe (the Med took a *lot* out of me!) I'm doing this ABD! Will there be more pictures posted?

Aiden soaring over the Matterhorn is just *too* cool for words!

Sayhello

There will be another set of photos. Some more from Zermatt, then Luzern.

 

[Diskidatheart]

Thanks for posting these pictures. They are wonderful. I have to agree with Sayhello that the one of Aiden over the Matterhorn is fantastic. These pics are really getting me exciting for next year's itinerary to come out.

 

[Q's My Princess]

Was the paragliding part of the ABD tour? Thank you for sharing your photos!!

 

[DisFan10]

Hi RSM. Those are some fantastic photos! It sure brings back a lot of fun memories. Looking forward to more. Thanks for posting!

 

[DisFan10]

Wow! That just looks wonderful. I'm totally thinking that as soon I as I can work up my nerve to go back to Europe (the Med took a *lot* out of me!) I'm doing this ABD! Will there be more pictures posted?

Aiden soaring over the Matterhorn is just *too* cool for words!

Sayhello

This trip is really simple to negotiate. You arrive in Milan Malpensa Airport and depart from Zurich and everything else will be taken care of by those fantastic AbD guides!

 

[DisFan10]

What fabulous photos! I really want to do this tour (anywhere in Italy is fine by me!), but I also want to go on another with Angela and Allen. Since you were lucky enough to travel with them on this trip, they may not want to repeat it with me.

I'm looking forward to more photos when you have the time! Thanks, RSM!

Dotti

And you know we look forward to being part of "Dotti's Group", wherever that may take us...

 

[RSM]

Was the paragliding part of the ABD tour? Thank you for sharing your photos!!

Hi Laurie,

Paragliding is not part of the ABD. You have two free afternoons in Zermatt. We did the paragliding on our own on the first afternoon we arrived.

 

[brewcrew]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing!

 

[queenmother]

If someone is not interested in paragliding to do phobia issues are there other fun things to do?

 

[RSM]

If someone is not interested in paragliding to do phobia issues are there other fun things to do?

Hi Queenmother,

Paragliding is not part of the ABD. We did this during one of our free afternoons in Zermatt. There are a ton of other things to do in Zermatt. Many in our group took the Gornergrat train (like a cog rail) up to a peak for some spectacular views of the Matterhorn and surrounding peaks. On our second free afternoon, we took a gondola up to Glacier Palace in the Klein (Little) Matterhorn. This is basically a long tunnel carved in a glacier. At the end of the tunnel is a large area with ice sculptures. Again, stunning views as you go up and when you get there. There is alot of shopping Zermatt you could do. Other things to do outdoors include hiking, and if you want there are some gorges that you can climb/hike through. In Zermatt, there are 2 free afternoons, and there are more things to do in Zermatt than there is time.

Hope this helps.

 

[Turtlemom]

All I can say is -- "WOW!"

I want to go there too!!! Thanks for posting the fantastic pictures.

 

[briano72]

wonderful pictures