Grüetzi, Grüetzi! That's Amoré!: A 2015 Italy/Switzerland Trip Report - Complete!

[GAN]

Like the first night, we started with a Barbera, but this time a d'Asti rather than a d'Alba. I'm not sure what the difference is, so I'll have to look it up because it's not sparkling.

Loving your Trip Report, by the way! In case anyone is curious ...The difference is that each refers to the hills surrounding the villages of Asti and Alba ..they are separate denominazione and the styles of making the wine are slightly different in each region. The Asti must be made with a minimum of 85% Barbera grape, while the Alba is 100%(and usually more expensive). It's a great food wine for people who enjoy reds, you can find it in good wine shops but it's not as popular as Chianti's or Barolo's ....its what Italians in Northern Italy would drink(exporting everything else), kind of known as the common-people's wine of choice. They knew a good thing and kept it for themselves!

 

[RSM]

Great photos. We loved Zermatt and the Matterhorn. It looks like you hit great weather. The first time we went we had great weather in Zermatt. We loved it so much, we arranged with a local sherpa to try and summit the Matterhorn 2 years later. Alas, the weather didn't cooperate and there was a pretty bad storm causing us to scrap the climb. But we are committed to try and get back to climb it (assuming DH and I don't get too old )

 

[mare1203]

Spectacular!!

Sayhello

Thank you! Switzerland just begs to be photographed!

So beautifull hotel, I am on day 1, cant wait to see it all!!!

Welcome to the trip! Enjoy the ride.

Awesome view!

Oh yes! It was a little overwhelming, actually!

Loving your Trip Report, by the way! In case anyone is curious ...The difference is that each refers to the hills surrounding the villages of Asti and Alba ..they are separate denominazione and the styles of making the wine are slightly different in each region. The Asti must be made with a minimum of 85% Barbera grape, while the Alba is 100%(and usually more expensive). It's a great food wine for people who enjoy reds, you can find it in good wine shops but it's not as popular as Chianti's or Barolo's ....its what Italians in Northern Italy would drink(exporting everything else), kind of known as the common-people's wine of choice. They knew a good thing and kept it for themselves!

Glad you are enjoying the report! And thanks for the information! I love Barbera's and am always stoked to see them on a wine list, though they are often out of my price range out at dinner. I also happen to have expensive taste, so it is of no surprise that I prefer the d'Alba to the d'Asti.

Great photos. We loved Zermatt and the Matterhorn. It looks like you hit great weather. The first time we went we had great weather in Zermatt. We loved it so much, we arranged with a local sherpa to try and summit the Matterhorn 2 years later. Alas, the weather didn't cooperate and there was a pretty bad storm causing us to scrap the climb. But we are committed to try and get back to climb it (assuming DH and I don't get too old )

Thank you! Glad I'm able to bring back some memories for you! Yes, we absolutely lucked out on the weather. And go you to attempting that climb! I couldn't imagine, though I do have a penchant for such adventures! I hope you are able to make it someday soon! I'll be rooting for you when you do

 

[mare1203]

Some of my favorites

I do have another update for you soon, but I was going through my pics and decided I would do a post of some of my favorites, without extra commentary. Many of these were taken with just my iPhone 6, which speaks to the amazing strides we've made in cell phone camera's. Some of them actually came out incredible.


























I think this last picture is my absolute favorite from our trip, even though the Matterhorn isn't present. I'm not sure why, but I'm just drawn to it. It's like a painting. Maybe it was too much Bob Ross growing up and loving 'happy little trees'...

Have a good week, Adventurer's!​

 

[Chirple]

I've been following your trip reports and absolutely loving all of the photos and details. Really breathtaking, and those iPhone shots are beautiful!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Were you on the family ABD? I am thinking of taking my adult son on this trip next summer. Is it something you would recommend for the 2 of us (he'll be 25 at the time)?

I am really enjoying your trip report (it's further enhancing my desire to go on this adventure).

 

[AquaDame]

We were just there in Zermatt on Sept 12-15th, loving your pics too! Like you, we are already plotting when best to go back even though we have so many more places to see!

 

[tgeorge]

From what I've seen, all the northern Italy/Switzerland trips are family trips. I didn't see any adult exclusives for next year. Looks like they are limited at times they can go (June, July and August)

 

[RSM]

I know the weather in Zermatt can be dicey once you get beyond mid August or so. A few years ago we were supposed to summit the Matterhorn around mid to late August, and we got stuck in a blizzard a couple of days prior to the climb.

 

[AnnaGiselle]

Just stumbled upon your trip report, and wow, this is amazing! Like you, I'm an introvert, but I've discovered that when in Disney and amongst fellow Disney fans, it's so easy to converse with anyone.

I love all the gelato and the food in Italy looks amazing. And that hotel! Talk about living out any Disney princess fantasies. However, as soon as the Switzerland photos showed up, I was floored. Wow, so gorgeous! All I want to do is go to Switzerland and eat that cheese fondue. The toblerone looked interesting too, but, again like you, I'll always choose cheese over chocolate. I'm so excited to continue following and see what's next!

 

[mare1203]

I've been following your trip reports and absolutely loving all of the photos and details. Really breathtaking, and those iPhone shots are beautiful!

Thank you so much! I was surprised at how well many of the pictures turned out!

Were you on the family ABD? I am thinking of taking my adult son on this trip next summer. Is it something you would recommend for the 2 of us (he'll be 25 at the time)?

I am really enjoying your trip report (it's further enhancing my desire to go on this adventure).

Yes! Kathy is a teacher and I work in higher ed, so the adult itineraries don't really work out for our schedules. Plus, we all generally like kids, so having some on the trip is fun. You see it through different eyes, and I love that. On our first ABD, most of the kids were between 13-18, but there were also a couple of young adults on the trip. For this one, the kids were a bit younger, averaging from 8-15, but still a couple of young adults. It hasn't bothered us at all. Plus, the guides are usually young and my sister and I have enjoyed interacting with them.

We were just there in Zermatt on Sept 12-15th, loving your pics too! Like you, we are already plotting when best to go back even though we have so many more places to see!

Haha! I feel your pain on that sentiment. Zermatt is wonderful!

Just stumbled upon your trip report, and wow, this is amazing! Like you, I'm an introvert, but I've discovered that when in Disney and amongst fellow Disney fans, it's so easy to converse with anyone.

I love all the gelato and the food in Italy looks amazing. And that hotel! Talk about living out any Disney princess fantasies. However, as soon as the Switzerland photos showed up, I was floored. Wow, so gorgeous! All I want to do is go to Switzerland and eat that cheese fondue. The toblerone looked interesting too, but, again like you, I'll always choose cheese over chocolate. I'm so excited to continue following and see what's next!

Thank you so much! Now that I'm done with most of my fall travel, I'll be back to updating more regularly!!

 

[mare1203]

Hiking and a Surprise Visitor!

Hello again, adventurers! It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but an incredibly fun whirlwind. I would recommend, 100x over, Disney Fairytale Weddings, if you or a loved one is thinking about getting married. But, that's not why I'm here. Now that I'm back in town and have completed 90% of my big work events for the semester (the last semi-stressful one is tomorrow, woot!), I can get back to updating this thing regularly. Enjoy!


When we got back on the train, we took it just one stop. Stephanie had offered to take anyone interested on a hike after taking the Gornergrat train. Our hike was set to begin there and we would hike down to the next stop where we would again grab the train. You can actually hike all the way back to Zermatt, but that would take a few hours. However, before heading out on the hike, we had a surprise waiting for us. Or, at least we were supposed to have a surprise waiting for us. Turns out, the best laid plans… Our surprise had, unfortunately, missed the train and it threw off the timing by about half an hour. That meant we had some relaxation time at the stop while we waited for the next train to arrive.






The kids took this opportunity to burn off some energy and we took a few more (hundred) pictures.














Upon arrival of the train, we gathered to meet our surprise.


A St. Bernard! Switzerland is the home of the St. Bernard, and the breed was originally bred for alpine rescues in the Italy/Switzerland section of the alps. In fact, there is even a mountain pass named the Great St. Bernard Pass in Switzerland. There is a hospice here, the Great St. Bernard Hospice, that is believed to be the origin of the breed.


His owner gave each of us a chance to take family pics with the dog, who was a mix, as most St. Bernard’s are these days, before we were on our way.


Nearly all the families in our group chose to stay and join Stephanie for the hike down to the next station. This was one of my favorite activities of the whole trip. The views were just beautiful, and it was a great way to really take in Switzerland. I would call this a very easy hike. You do not need to be in great, or even good, physical shape to complete it, as it was mostly a slight decline over a well-traversed path. If you can walk on an uneven dirt path, then you can complete this hike. It probably took us 30-45 minutes total.












This is one of my favorite pictures I snapped. It's just so perfectly ABD. I think it could be in the ABD viewbook (or, that's just me patting myself on the back). I dunno, you decide.





Once we arrived at the station, we had some time before the train was set to arrive, allowing us to hit the facilities. We also got a picture with this Swiss Cow!

On the way back, we chatted with a few others about dinner. It is in this situation where my family and I often disagree, and I can be a bit stubborn (working on it, though). I myself am all for stumbling upon our own spot, or doing my own research on trip advisor. However, my dad is not and prefers to go along with the verbal recommendations. He’s the type of person who would eat at the hotel restaurant during a solo business trip, because it’s there. I am the type of person who ventures 2 miles out of my way for a place on Yelp I found and then, extremely satisfied with my meal, arrive back at the hotel with blisters because I miss-read the directions and wore the wrong shoes (nope, this has never actually happened to me before and definitely not more than once…right). Not feeling like arguing the point, upon arrival at the station, it was decided that we would tag along with another family to the dinner recommendation suggested on the train. I guess you’ll have to wait for the next update to find out about our meal.
​

 

[GAN]

I am the type of person who ventures 2 miles out of my way for a place on Yelp I found and then, extremely satisfied with my meal, arrive back at the hotel with blisters because I miss-read the directions and wore the wrong shoes (nope, this has never actually happened to me before and definitely not more than once…right). Not feeling like arguing the point, upon arrival at the station, it was decided that we would tag along with another family to the dinner recommendation suggested on the train. I guess you’ll have to wait for the next update to find out about our meal.
​

Yes....sounds very familiar! Great update...

 

[distravel]

Thanks for taking the time to do this wonderful trip report. The scenery look stunning! Loving your photos.

 

[kanadar]

On the way back, we chatted with a few others about dinner. It is in this situation where my family and I often disagree, and I can be a bit stubborn (working on it, though). I myself am all for stumbling upon our own spot, or doing my own research on trip advisor. However, my dad is not and prefers to go along with the verbal recommendations. He’s the type of person who would eat at the hotel restaurant during a solo business trip, because it’s there. I am the type of person who ventures 2 miles out of my way for a place on Yelp I found and then, extremely satisfied with my meal, arrive back at the hotel with blisters because I miss-read the directions and wore the wrong shoes (nope, this has never actually happened to me before and definitely not more than once…right). Not feeling like arguing the point, upon arrival at the station, it was decided that we would tag along with another family to the dinner recommendation suggested on the train. I guess you’ll have to wait for the next update to find out about our meal.

Hey, sometimes people are hungry and don't want to walk around for an hour looking for food haha!

 

[tgeorge]

I definitely think the picture could be used in an ABD advertisement! I know for sure this trip is on my list! I'm not sure when, but it is definitely going to happen.

Glad to hear the wedding was amazing! I really wanted to get married at Disney, but DH is not a Disney fan. I'm sure it was spectacular.

 

[sayhello]

Man, if you needed to kill 1/2 an hour waiting for the next train, that looks like a FABULOUS place to do it! Just gorgeous!

I'd use your photo for the brochure!

Sayhello

 

[AnnaGiselle]

This is one of my favorite pictures I snapped. It's just so perfectly ABD. I think it could be in the ABD viewbook (or, that's just me patting myself on the back). I dunno, you decide.

This photo immediately made me think of the ending scene of The Sound of Music! Totally brochure-worthy.

 

[Cousin Orville]

This photo immediately made me think of the ending scene of The Sound of Music! Totally brochure-worthy.

Exactly what I thought! Very von Trapp Family.

 

[Tink rules]

Mare.... where are you?

Waiting for another update!!!