Säntis

We have been already several times in Switzerland, but a place where I want to take you today is special. Here three cantons meet: Sankt Gallen, Appenzell Auserrhoden & Appenzell Innerrhoden. And in a good weather conditions you could see six countries: Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, Italy & obviously Switzerland.

Let's start our trip at the parking place Schwagalp.

High above you can see the goal of our trip, a bit in the clouds.

Let's take the table car.

Our destination is called Säntis. Let the journey begin.

Here comes the second cable car.

One special thing about Säntis is its topographic prominence of 2021 m.

Not everyone had chosen the easy way as we did.

I hope that they are well prepared, including crampons and ice axes.

Welcome at the top, 2'502 meters above sea level.

Unfortunatelly today it is very cloudy.

But there are plenty of interesting items on the peak, like the topographic pole, …

gentiana flowers, …

and a 123.55 meter high transmission tower, using prominance to allow signals to reach really far destinations.

If you would like to go down the hill and take a hike, here you can see a few propose destinations. all between two and a half and three and a half of walking.

I see that the sun is getting through the clouds.

With a bit of patience every moment we can see more.

And more.

And more.

Time to go down.

Say "tschüs" to the local family. They are very conservative. To give you just a few examples: women got their voting rights in 1991, New Year's Day festivities are still governed by the Julian calendar and are thus currently held on January 14 and they always reject any federal Referendum.

Probably the adults work at the local dairy famous for the Appenzeller cheese. Although the recipe and the taste are traditional, the equipment is extremely modern.

We are leaving this beautiful experience behind.

Cross-country ski

We have managed this year to do some downhill skiing and some sledging as well. But we have never done cross-country skiing so far. And the best place to start is Flumserberg.

To arrive there you can take the cable car or drive. The road is winding but as always in Switzerland - very well maintained.

The views are breathtaking.

In the back you can spot the ski lift for those who prefer to go downhill.

But we will use different type of shoes today. Cross-country skiing shoes are softer and much more comrfortable.

The cross-country skis are slim. It is almost difficult to imagine than an adult human can keep his or her balance on them.

The good thing is that they fit in the trails especially designed for them.

So off we go!

And after a long day of cross-country skiing, we deserved some proper food.

Enjoy!

The Dolomites

The Dolomites are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They are a part of Alps, but unlike  the Central Alps which are built from slate and gneiss, they are built of a special type of limestone which is called dolostone. I believe you can easily notice the difference in colour and mountains' shapes.

The name of this stone and mountains comes from Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu (1750–1801) who first described the stone. Thanks to their unique character, the Dolomites mountain were declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009

We came here in winter so the best way to get up the heel is to take a T-bar lift. Keep your legs together.

If you prefer to sit instead of standing please use the chairlift ...

up to the upper station ...

next to the Refuge Fronza Alle Coronelle at altitude of 2337 m.

Here you can drink a warm Bombardino with cream ...

... and admire the Central Alps in far North.

Now the funniest part: down the hill.

If you have sport ambitions you can even try yourself a slalom ...

... driving you back to the hotel.

Evening you can also ski or sledge on selected floodlit slopes or go to a typical après-ski tent. Just try to keep straight afterwards :)

Have fun and see you on the slopes of Carezza.

Bay of Kotor

As we move along the shores of Montenegro, we have to come to the Bay of Kotor, one of the most amazing places in the Balkans.
 

It looks like a fjord, but fjords are created by glacier erosion and can only be found in Northern Europe and America. And we are in the Balkans. Sunny and warm Balkans. Still, just take a look at this view.

The sea enters sharply in between the mountains, being the Dinaric Alps. But what you actually see is the remaining of an old river that does not exist since ages. It used to flow from the mountains to the sea. Now all that is left is the bay, spotted with small villages.

As we go down, you will immediately recognise that for sure we are not in Norway or Alaska.

This nice city is called Perast. It is an important point on the shoreline because of its ferry service.

The ferry can take you to the islands of Our Lady of the Rocks and St. George.
 

The Island Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) was made as an artificial island from more than a hundred shipwrecks filled with stones. According to a legend, two seamen from Perast have found an icon of the Holy Mother of God with the Christ on a sea rock in 1452 and they vowed to build a church for that icon. They had no land to build it on, so they start building the isle first. Finally, the church was built in 1630. As the island had to be maintained, the seaman continued to bring the stones and rocks, and that tradition is alive even today. This event is called Fašinada and it is held on every 22nd of July. It’s now accompanied by a two-day yachting regatta, the Fašinada Cup, with participants racing to Tivat and back.

The other, darker island, is the Island of St George (Sveti Đorđe). That island is natural and it used to be a cemetery for all nobility from Perast. Now there is an Orthodox Church. As you may imagine, both churches are hugely popular as wedding destinations for catholic and orthodox couples respectively. 

The unique and universal value of the Kotor Bay was recognised by UNESCO who inscribed it on the World Heritage List already in 1979. I hope that after this post  you will not be surprised.

(C) IP Studio Strugar (postcard)