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. 

Slowing Down In Slovenia

After our wonderful week in Croatia, we decided to take a quick side trip, a vacation in a vacation if you will, to Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Lake Bled is in the Julian Alps in northern Slovenia, close to the Austrian border.

It was neat to leave an area that had a warm and Mediterranean feel with palm trees and flowers, and to arrive a few hours north into pine trees and snow covered peaks.

The thing to see in the small town of Bled is Lake Bled and the little island in the middle of it, Bled Island. There are ferries that go back and forth between the shore and the island every half hour.

On the day that we were there, there was a really strong wind and we were a little afraid our small ferry would capsize and dump us all into the beautiful, but really cold Lake Bled.

Here is Bled Island with the Assumption of Mary church on it. The church was built in the late 1600's. I can't imagine having to row all those stones and building materials across the lake in the late 1600's. Ugh.

We made it across dry!

Bled Island is quite small and you can walk the circumference in about 20 minutes. But don't think you can skip this island just because it's small. There is a lot of Slovenian beauty packed into this small island. Just take a look.

My little American beauty in a beautiful, Slovenian place.

I love this cute little building with the green stone windows and tulips. 

Here is the bell tower of the church. When the bells would ring out, they would echo and reverberate in the small valley encircled by towering mountains. The echo would last a minute or two and made it feel like you were surrounded by bell towers.

The church on Bled Island is still open and functioning (if you feel the need to get in a quick little prayer). Even though the majority of the church dates to the 1600's, the nave was consecrated in 1465. And pictures done inside the church date from 1470. 

I just fell in love with these stone steps. I am fascinated with things covered in moss. I grew up in a relatively dry climate. Nothing ever was green or had moss grow on it unless you ran a hose on it for days at a time. I love old, stone, moss covered steps and castles and streets and since almost everything in Europe is old, made of stone and covered in moss, it makes my time here fantastic.

We were really enjoying our quiet visit to Bled Island. We were almost the only people there.  Seeing this great little island made us want to see some more of Bled and Slovenia.

Good bye Bled Island! Side note - Bled Island is the only natural island in all of Slovenia. Whatcha think about that?

Hello Bled Castle!

Bled Castle is really amazing. Nobody really knows when it was built, but the earliest mention of it is in a deed dated in 1011. That's right, 1,003 years ago. And in the 1,003 years it has never been bombed, or burned, or torn down. It seems that the Slovenians could teach the rest of Europe a thing or two about property management.

The castle is intact and complete with covered walls and a moat.

Bled Castle is beautiful and old and fantastic, but it is also expensive to go in and see. So we were fine with standing outside the castle grounds like poor paupers, admiring the ramparts and moss covered walls.

Even though we didn't see the inside of the castle, the hill the castle was on provided us with great views of the mountains and the little village of Bled.

As we stood on the hill and gazed out at the snow covered mountains, we felt them call to us. We had to get in our car and drive up and stand in the snow on some of those peaks.

We found it! Snow!

We also found some great views of the Julian Alps.

We only saw a small, tiny piece of Slovenia. But we were absolutely awestruck by this quiet and quaint little corner of the world.

From Slovenia, to me, to you. Are the mountains calling you here too?

I know I hear their call. Until next time, Slovenia.