Eldorado Hotel Crans-Montana

... control recently has broken down, this was the perfect sign to follow, where I planed to cross the border to Switzerland.<br><br>Just arrived in late afternoon to Aosta, I was not only already entered to the italian part of the alps but also to the point of good bye. Here I decided not to spend another night in Italy and crossed the border to my homecountry Switzerland a hour later at Calle del Gran San Bernardo. <br><br>BIENVENUE EN SUISSE - WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND

... the casualties of the Matterhorn.<br>Zermatt itself is tiny, with only electric taxis. It is much colder than Lauterbrunnen even though it's on the border of Italy.<br>Switzerland is strange. It has no language of its own. In Bern, Lauterbrunnen and Zermatt they speak German but in Montreux they speak French, even the train announcements change languages. It gets confusing, so I just stick to greeting people in English most of the time. When I had arrived here I was fuming a bit because I ...

... blankets. That night we went to the restaurant\bar and had rosti and beers..hmm. My eyes were so sore from the snow tho it hurt pretty bad. Whoops. It was so lovely and warm in there we contemplated hiding under the tables so we could sleep in there!<br>That night was even colder and we were really iced in the next morning. Poor Kathleen started feeling like she was getting sick and couldnt get warm. In fact it was so cold at night the cold air in ...

... there were a few people who though it was pretty funny that I went all the way to Switzerland to hike in the Alps and have never done the same in the Rockies. Looks like I have some hiking to do when I get back home. <br><br>The pictures will do a much better job of telling the story than my words.<br><br>Also, this is the first place in my entire trip where I did not meet a single Australian. Whats up?

... few days here would not be wasted. Dave had been here before so it was a Dave magical tour day, and we got to see the highlights. Lauterbrunnen was stop no. 2 and what a place. The camp site we stayed in was surrounded by mountains and had two waterfalls falling silently from above; I think I had fallen in love. After chilling out for a bit we got a combined ticket and got a few gondolas and trains around the Lauterbrunnen area. It was a great day in ...

... This chap (Andrew) had a tuned exhaust on his Elise and he went blatting through a tunnel making a right racket, brillient it was even if he did get a finger wagging from a french lady in a pug who didn't approve. *Gallic shrug* Such a day's driving infact that I didn't get to take any photos. Will try harder tomorrow (St Gothard and St Bernadino). Bring it on!

... the falls can even be heard after you have left the mountain. My time has been way to short, I have one more day and plan to see a few other places, but I am simply enjoying myself way too much. Its funny how the relaxing times, the peaceful times in quiet places go so quickly, but the hectic cities stays seem to last forever. The weather this morning was simply stunning I couldn't have asked for anything better!

... Mike switched bikes and left to try riding the hill again so Mike got to try the smaller, faster bike.  Marla watched the gear and we trekked around what looked like an old bunker turned museum on the rocky slopes.  Gabrielle spent the next half hour snapping wild flower shots while we jumped the rocks and explored nooks and crannies.   When Mike and Nate got back, Gabrielle and Marla switched so Gabrielle finally got a ride on the back of Mike's ...

www.elodie50a.com<br><br>Here is a video (sorry for the very bad quality)<br>http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=R5_9hODsqgs<br><br><br>

... just to be able to say we've been there. Corny, I know, but kinda fun. After lunch, we drove to Lucerne. I was so excited to go there again, and it was every bit as beautiful as I remember it from back in 1993. The wooden bridge was rebuilt from the time it burned down two days after the last time we walked across it, but you'd never know it because they did a good job on the reconstruction. We saw the lion monument to Swiss ...