Scootering In Scuol - Switzerland

After our beautiful stop at Flüela Pass, we pushed on to our first night in Switzerland in the small little village of Scuol. Scuol, pronounced shkwol, is in the mountainous, eastern region of Switzerland.

It is a tiny village full of dairy farmers, river rafters, hikers, and skiers.

This is the view from downtown Scuol. Not bad, huh?

Or there is this view. Everywhere we looked we were surrounded by towering granite peaks. It was breathtaking. As beautiful as Scuol was, we weren't there just to partake of the views. Alexander and Ashlenne had a date with some white water river rafting.

Here they are! Suited up and ready to get wet! Want to raft or hike here too? Click Engadin Adventure to see what they have to offer. (Great company with English speaking guides. They gave Alexander and Ashlenne the ride of their lives!)

My two younger ones, Aidan and Andre, were too small to raft. The river was running too high and they had a weight and height restriction, so I had to find an activity for them to do. The guides directed me over to a company that rented industrial grade scooters that you could ride down the mountain on.

Here are these two! Suited up and ready to ride! But let me back up a bit. Before we got the scooters, I had to rent them from the chairlift operator who spoke absolutely NO English. My German has come a ways from when we moved here, but my vocabulary lacked the word for scooter. The operator and I went around and around in circles in our complete lack of understanding each other until he went and grabbed a scooter and brought it to me and said "You?" To which I said, "Yes! Me! Ich möchte!" As I pointed at it. Scooters rented.

This is the view from the summit of the chairlift looking across the valley to the mountains.

The mountains at this time of year were bursting with wildflowers. A sweet, clover like smell hung in the air as we whizzed past the meadows.

The entire trip down the mountain takes about an hour and a half, but it took us longer because we stopped often for pictures and snacks. Nothing like a Capri Sun and string cheese on the side of a mountain in the Alps among the wildflowers on a day like this.

It was one of those days where you think to yourself, "I will never forget this. I will never forget this place. I will never forget how this place made me feel. I will never forget the mountains, the flowers, the sunshine, or the smile on my children's faces."

Through out these meadows, there were cows grazing. We could here the clanking of their bells ringing out through the trees, making milk for all that yummy Swiss cheese.

Down at the bottom we found little waterfalls made from all that snow melting up at the top. It was a fantastic day. I felt a little bad that Alexander and Ashlenne missed it. But not too bad, they also had a great day.

Photo credit - Engadin Adventure

They had a fantastic time themselves on the river, roaring down the canyon on waves of white, frothy water. Life in Switzerland is good.

Life Is Full At Flüela Pass - Switzerland

Back in June of 2014 we were on our way for a five day trip in Switzerland. The first night planned was in a little town called Scuol. But before we could spend that night in Scuol, we had to drive across one of the highest mountain passes in Switzerland, Flüela Pass, which sits at 2,383 meters or 7,818 feet. This part of Switzerland is extremely difficult to drive through. Lots and lots of ups and downs. (Flüela Pass is only open May through August, depending on snow fall.)

We had no plans to stop there, but upon reaching the summit of the pass, I was left speechless by the stark beauty that greeted us up above the tree line in this mountainous wonderland.

I had to get out.

I had to breathe thin mountain air. 

I wanted to smell snow, and rocks, and trees, and mountain wildflowers, and icy cold streams flowing down from the peaks. I wanted to feel cold mountain wind on my face, and feel it lift my hair and go through my jacket.

Not only did I want to feel these things, my children wanted to also. You see, we were born in the mountains, made in the mountains. We escaped to the mountains in our old life in America.

One of the best natural highs in the world has to be standing on a mountain with your face to the sun. Take a deep breath, and just... be.

We jumped over creeks of melting snow and climbed on rocks that had been tumbled down the mountain peaks by the receding glaciers.

We smiled. We laughed. We ran.

Our hearts beat with excitement and the exertion of breathing at almost 8,000 feet when you've been living around 300 feet above sea level. 

They say you find love at the beach, you find yourself in the desert, and you find God in the mountains.

Or maybe, God finds you. 

Licking It Up In Liechtenstein

I had family come and visit me in June of 2014. We had five fabulous days in Switzerland planned. I decided to make a small detour over to the tiny country of Liechtenstein to check it out. Now when I say Liechtenstein is tiny, I mean it is teeny-tiny. Not as small as Monaco, but pretty small. In fact, it's really not even considered a country. It's called a microstate. 

Can you see that little purple blip? That's Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is squeezed in-between Switzerland and Austria. It's doubly landlocked which means it's landlocked by two landlocked countries. I wouldn't say that Liechtenstein was worth a trip in itself to Europe, but if you are in the area, check it out. You get one more notch on your country belt, after all.

We spent our time in the green and lush mountain valley city of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein.

In the city of Vaduz, there is a model of the Vaduz Castle as it appeared in the Middle Ages. The actual castle sits above the city on a hill.

Vaduz Castle is still a private residence. The Prince of Liechtenstein lives here and he isn't to keen on letting people in to walk around his living room. You can still hike up to the castle and check it out up close, though. Which is exactly what we did.

Half-way during our hike up the hill towards the castle, my boys became utterly exhausted. It was hot (80 degrees Fahrenheit, not really hot, but warm), it was long (it was about half a mile), it was steep (I wouldn't even call it a hike, it was more like a leisurely stroll through woods). They had had enough. What has happened to these boys?! Europe has made them soft! We used to climb mountains over 10,000 feet when we lived in Utah! I need to whip them into shape.

After a hot, long, and steep (but not really) hike up the hill, we arrived at the back of the castle. The castle was built some time in the 12th century and has been expanded and restored, giving it a kind of mishmash of architectural styles.

When we got to the top, we found that the prince still wasn't letting people in to see his castle. Or use his bathroom, much to Andre's dismay.

These are the royal roses on the royal wall protecting the royal grounds from all the commoners. That was us.

This turret is the oldest part of the castle. I would like to live in a place someday that has a turret. Then when people asked where I was I could answer them, "In my turret." Probably with a fake British accent.

Right across the street from the castle is this cute alpine style house. But compared to your own castle, it's just a shack. Imagine having a house as cute as this, and your house is the eye-sore on the street, because when the street has a castle on it the only way you can compete with that is to have a bigger castle.

After only a couple of hours in Liechtenstein, we had to get going. We weren't very far from our final destination in Eastern Switzerland. While leaving Liechtenstein I was thinking - it may be small, but what it lacks in size it sure makes up for it in beauty.

Kicking It In Köln (Cologne) - Germany

We visited the beautiful city of Köln, or Cologne, back in May. Köln is an ancient Roman city on the Rhein River in Northern Germany.

Köln is the German name for the city, and Cologne is the French and English name for the city. Yeah, after Napoleon flexed his muscles in Germany, Köln became Cologne and officially part of France. Obviously Germany eventually got it back. That happened in 1815. 

The "thing" to see in Köln is the Cologne Cathedral, or Kölner Dom. And when I say it's the thing to see, it really is THE THING to see. It is the most visited spot in all of Germany.

And this is why. It is ginormous. I couldn't even fit the whole thing in my camera viewfinder. It has the largest facade of any church in the world and the second tallest spires of any church in Europe. That's why 20,000 people a day visit it.

Well, if 20,000 people a day are going to visit it, we better too.

Construction started in 1248, but it stopped 1473 with only the nave (main body of church) completed. In the 1800's, Germany went through this romantic fascination for the Middle Ages and a desire to have the cathedral finished swept through the country. Kölner Dom was completed in 1880, 632 years after it was begun. 

The Cologne Cathedral is immense and fantastic and a great box to check off on your travel list. But there really isn't too much more to see in Köln. That's because after World War II, Köln looked like this.

Köln was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany and was virtually destroyed. Major projects took place to restore sections of the city along with large areas of new construction. The mix of the restored old and the newly built give Köln special and unique look and feel.

Even though most of the areas of Köln are restored and not original, they are still cute and quaint and provide an idea of what life was like here in the Middle Ages. The church in this picture, the Great St. Martin church, dates from 1150 AD. 

There is also a chocolate factory located in Köln that is worth seeing. We didn't include it in our travel itinerary. Our visit to Köln was during the World Cup 2014 and Germany was playing that night. Matt wanted to book it home so he could scream and yell in excitement or terror as Germany played. (Germany went on to win the World Cup that year. Go Germany!)

A quick fun fact about this beautiful city is that this is where the original Eau de Cologne or as it is known in German, Kölnisch Wasser, was developed. Cologne (the stuff that smells good that people wear, not the city) was invented 1709 by an Italian immigrant. People went freaking nuts over the stuff it smelled so good. Probably because nobody really bathed except for once a year back then, but eventually every royal house in Europe had a stock of Eau de Cologne. The name cologne stuck around and is now used to describe mainly men's scents. But, it all started here!

As we hurried back to our car (can't miss any of the World Cup, heaven forbid), we turned a corner and came upon this excavation site of ancient Roman ruins dating to 2,000 years ago. They weren't even looking for Roman ruins. A construction company was tearing down an old building that had sustained damage clear back in World War II and when they got down to the foundation, they found all these Roman ovens, and rooms, and stone pathways.  I love that about Europe! There is so much history here that they can't even stop from finding it when they are just cleaning up an old building. It's everywhere. It's in the basements, and the fields, and in old castles on the hill. Everywhere has a story. I could have spent hours sitting at this site imagining a life in Köln 2,000 years ago. BUT. Matt had to get home for the World Cup. (If you are picking up a little annoyance in my post about having to get back, believe me, the annoyance was intended.) Good bye, Köln!