Clockwise Around the Alps: Innsbruck to Chamonix
Innsbruck, Austria
We visited a most interesting and memorable little museum here in Innsbruck – Glockengiesserei Grassmayr. It is a working bell foundry in which they describe the history, art and science of making bells. It transformed my experience of bells. My increased ability to discriminate what I hear has since caused me to pause and appreciate every bell I hear!
We visited a most interesting and memorable little museum here in Innsbruck – Glockengiesserei Grassmayr. It is a working bell foundry in which they describe the history, art and science of making bells. It transformed my experience of bells. My increased ability to discriminate what I hear has since caused me to pause and appreciate every bell I hear!
Berchtesgaden, Germany
Mel and I ate lunch while watching clouds gather and darken over this valley in Obersalzburg. The waiter picked up table cloths as we left and it started to pour just as we got in the car.
Mel and I ate lunch while watching clouds gather and darken over this valley in Obersalzburg. The waiter picked up table cloths as we left and it started to pour just as we got in the car.
Nonnberg Abbey, Salzburg, Austria
Contrary to the Sound of Music hoopla throughout the town, this cloister remains a serious place of prayer.
Contrary to the Sound of Music hoopla throughout the town, this cloister remains a serious place of prayer.
Hallstatt, Austria
Summer beauty is only half the ticket - the locals hold a serious curling tournament in the winter, when the lake freezes over.
Summer beauty is only half the ticket - the locals hold a serious curling tournament in the winter, when the lake freezes over.
Bolzano, Italy
It is asparagus season here. The fat yellow stalks are featured on every menu; you see it being harvested from mounded rows covered with black plastic; you can buy it at roadside stands and in the market.
Bolzano is the final resting place of Otzi - that copper age man found in the ice at an alpine pass 20 years ago. They have dedicated an entire museum to the find and are still working to map the entire DNA of the remains. I was touched by the level of craft in the many artifacts they recovered from the sight.
It is asparagus season here. The fat yellow stalks are featured on every menu; you see it being harvested from mounded rows covered with black plastic; you can buy it at roadside stands and in the market.
Bolzano is the final resting place of Otzi - that copper age man found in the ice at an alpine pass 20 years ago. They have dedicated an entire museum to the find and are still working to map the entire DNA of the remains. I was touched by the level of craft in the many artifacts they recovered from the sight.
Porte di Logno, Italy
Just another average alpine view - as often as the clouds clear. We had about one sunny day in every three.
Just another average alpine view - as often as the clouds clear. We had about one sunny day in every three.
Bergamo, Italy
Completely intact old town built within a hill fortress.
We thought we were eating well until we crossed into Italy. Although I have been impressed with the quality and attention paid to preparation everywhere, there is a delicacy and perfection in Italian cuisine that has no match. The best bread, wine, food pairing, coffee.
Completely intact old town built within a hill fortress.
We thought we were eating well until we crossed into Italy. Although I have been impressed with the quality and attention paid to preparation everywhere, there is a delicacy and perfection in Italian cuisine that has no match. The best bread, wine, food pairing, coffee.
Chamonix, France
People started climbing Mont Blanc from here only after 1786, when Jacque Balmat dispelled the belief that a person could not return from the mountain alive if they spent a night on the glacier.
I got a chance to do several hikes in the area and that gave me an appetite to return to the Via Alpina.
Avalanches are a real problem in this terrain. You can't hike a quarter mile without crossing an avalanche chute. We road a little train to a view point over the glacier Mer de Glace and then were held up all afternoon due to an avalanche that cast debris across the tracks just after we got to the top.
People started climbing Mont Blanc from here only after 1786, when Jacque Balmat dispelled the belief that a person could not return from the mountain alive if they spent a night on the glacier.
I got a chance to do several hikes in the area and that gave me an appetite to return to the Via Alpina.
Avalanches are a real problem in this terrain. You can't hike a quarter mile without crossing an avalanche chute. We road a little train to a view point over the glacier Mer de Glace and then were held up all afternoon due to an avalanche that cast debris across the tracks just after we got to the top.
Mel Parks, My Mother of Immaculate Youth
I tried to run her down with 2-3 mile forced marches over cobble stones every day and damn if she didn't just start finishing her dinner, getting a good night's sleep and charging up those fortress walls!
I tried to run her down with 2-3 mile forced marches over cobble stones every day and damn if she didn't just start finishing her dinner, getting a good night's sleep and charging up those fortress walls!