Making Our Way to Italy

Can one write a blog post after an almost 8 month hiatus? Is there a statute of limitations on an acceptable amount of time between the actual travel period and publishing a blog on said travels. If there is, I feel like I’m way past it, but that being said, here it goes. I’ve been a bit busy since returning home in October 2023 but now find the time to get my thoughts down on our finals days of our European trip. Hopefully it provides a bit of inspiration for you, and I’m certain it will entertain Brent and I in our twilight years when we can no longer travel and only have the written word (and our Youtube channel) to jog our lagging memories.

After our week long tour of Normandy ( see the last blog post), we returned to Paris, to drop off the camper van before taking the train to Zurich, where we visited with friends, and hiked the Matterhorn for Brent’s birthday. If you ever get the chance to visit Zermatt, may we suggest booking the Gornergrat, a cogwheel train, that will snake through beautiful landscapes to 3100 m where you can take in the Matterhorn, other peaks and glaciers. It truly was a lifetime experience.

Birthday at the Matterhorn

From Zurich, we took another train from Switzerland to Marseille, France where we would spend the following week visiting with friends and attending Rugby World Cup 2023. Brent had been planning this part of the trip 5 years prior, and the time spent in this area didn’t disappoint as the rugby was fun and the time spent with friends memorable. Marseille, Cassis, and Bordeaux are a beautiful part of France known for its’ beaches, the rugged coastline, and let’s not forget the wine!

After a week of debauchery, we travelled to Paris to meet our friend, Joanne, for the week. Of course, we took in the obligatory Parisian sites, but the highlight was the few days we spent in Geneva and Chamonix, where we took the cable car to Aiguille du Midi and Mer de Glace. What an incredible experience and again, may we suggest you add this to your travel bucket list. How blessed were we to have experienced the Matterhorn and Chamonix in such a short window of time? Chef’s Kiss!

After seeing Joanne off in Paris, we took yet another train to Nice. After a few hiccups with the train, we finally arrived in Nice late at night. We quickly dropped off our luggage and took a stroll through town that ended in an incredible dinner of wine and pizza. I’ll never forget that dinner. The food was so good, and more importantly I truly felt relaxed and was able to enjoy the moment. The stress of our “travel” day slipped away once we took a breath and enjoyed the atmosphere of the town. We’d like to go back to Nice again as one night is not enough.

A memorable meal in Nice, France.

The next morning, we took the train and travelled the Italian Rivereria or the Riviera di Ponente - “Coast of the Setting Sun”. The ride took us along the coastline through seaside towns overlooking the turquoise Ligurian Sea and rugged cliffs. This would be a place to return to in our future travels; maybe for a 60th birthday celebration?

We switched trains at Genoa to arrive at Milan, our first “official” destination in Italy. Although we only spent two nights in Milan, we spent some time at the Cathedral Duomo and walked through the Galleria, a little too luxurious for our pocketbook. Regardless, we did purchase a fridge magnet (that’s our thing), and drank a Negroni - my first in Italy. It’s was hard not to appreciate the beauty of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II as it’s the oldest shopping mall in Milan dating back to 1861 when the design process began.

From Milan, we took the most beautiful, scenic train ride to the Dolomite Mountain range bordering Switzerland. I know most wouldn’t think of coming to this area, especially with only a couple weeks of vacation, but when you get more time to explore, you need to book some time here. I really should dedicate a separate blog entry to our Dolomite experience, but I’ll try to wrap it up in few sentences.

I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. The small villages nestled among the mountains are like those in the fairytales I read as a little girl. Picture “The Sound of Music”! We stayed in Castelrotto or Kastelruth. Both are acceptable as Italian and German are two of the three official languages in South Tyrol - Ladin being the third. Kastelruth is the capital of the Alpe di Suisse, a picturesque pasture and known to be the highest elevation alpine meadow.

There is much to do here including hiking, cycling and skiing of which we will be coming back to do in the winter. But none of those were the reason for coming to the area. Instead, we came for the “Transhumance”! This is when the farmers bring their cattle from the high alpine meadows where they’ve been for the summer months, to the valley below for the winter. Yup - we came for the cows. I can’t get enough of cows. In the four years travelling with Brent across multiple countries, I must have said “Oh! Look! Cows!” hundreds of times. This is a serious event in the Alps with celebrations including farmer’s markets, music, dancing and food.

We didn’t just “watch” the cows come down from the mountains - nope - we walked with them. It took about 6 hours to walk from Compatsch to Castelrotto, where the local villagers lined the streets to welcome both the cows and farmers. At the end of the day, our bodies were so sore. Needless to say, we took a couple of pain pills and fell asleep.

The next day, the village celebrated Thanksgiving with mass and a parade where the participants dressed in traditional costumes. It was our first Italian festival. I’ve seen many on Youtube and always thought they were pretty cool. I absolutely love the community spirit and respect for tradition, and it felt good to be part of the festival, even as an outsider.

As I write this blog entry, my heart is filled with gratitude for all the things that we were able to see and experience in our last few weeks of travel. I still have two more entries to write so stay tuned for our adventures in Slovenia and our last days in southern Italy. I hope you’ve found a bit of inspiration to make your own travel plans and please leave a comment letting us know the special place you hold in your heart. Cheers everyone and I’ll link additional videos below showing our adventures in more detail.

Hiking Matterhorn: https://youtu.be/rzM3Ava7NEM

Exploring France: https://youtu.be/CTd23eNMw4s
We Made It to Italy: https://youtu.be/1FxtlUgAg2c

The Dolomites: https://youtu.be/qDw5uxj3Ae0