Italy Archives - Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com

Day 5 – Valle d’Aosta, Chamonix

Isaac Church — Thu, 16 May 2019 03:59:42 +0000

Today, we’ll explore Italy’s Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta) and Gran Paridiso National Park (Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso). It was a day of waterfalls (cascate), hiking, and grand views. Today is the 5^th day of our European adventure, and our first full day in Italia.

Breakfast

This morning, we awoke in our apartment, La Roche, and headed over to the dining room for breakfast.

Breakfast at La Roche

La Roche

Leaving the hotel

Pont d'Aël

After checking out of our hotel, we departed the city of Aosta down SR47 to the Pont d’Aël, a Roman aqueduct built in 3BC to provide water for the new Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria, which is now Aosta. Pont d’Aël is one of three remaining intact Roman bridges in the Aosta region. The Torrente Grand’ Eyvia flows under the bridge. We paid a small entrance fee, walked across the aqueduct, and then back through the inside of it on a glass floor.

Pont d’Aël

Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso

Cascate di Lillaz

Gran Paradiso National Park

Cascate di Lillaz

Gran Paradiso National Park

Cascate di Lillaz

Continuing past Pont d’Aël on SR47, we traveled to the village of Lillaz in the Cogne Valley to visit the Cascate di Lillaz in Gran Paradiso National Park (Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso). This three-stage waterfall totals 240m (787′). The river Torrent de Valeille feeds the falls. It’s quite amazing how the Italians have built roads and tunnels to even the most remote part of the mountains.

Aosta

Next, we left Lillaz and drove back down to Aosta. Aosta is the capital and largest city in Valle d’Aosta. The city is full of Roman ruins and history, so we walked around the downtown for a while, and stuck our heads in a few shops. It was very difficult to find parking, but once we did, it was free – a huge plus around here. Apparently any space with white lines is free, while blue-lined spaces require validation (at least that’s what I gathered from having a Google Translate-facilitated conversation with a woman who only spoke Italian).

Arch of Caesar Augustus

Valle d'Aosta

Flag

The Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta) is region of Italy that borders the Swiss canton of Valais on the north, and the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on the west. Valle d’Aosta is one of five Italian regions granted governing autonomy by the constitution. The Italian government did this in an effort to protect cultural and linguistic minorities, and to prevent secession after WWII. The region has only 128,000 inhabitants.

The region’s official languages are Italian and French. However, much of the population speaks Valdostan (Valdôtain), which is a dialect of Franco-Provençal (a.k.a. Arpitan). Franco-Provençal is considered an endangered language.

Coat of Arms

Aosta

Lunch

Soon, it was time for lunch. We went to La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori, a restaurant we’d spotted the night before. We ordered some ravioli stuffed with some kind of spiced meat in a fontina cheese sauce, a caprese salad, and tagliatelle with local pork, parmigiano reggiano, and a buttery sauce. The food was incredible, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Caprese Salad

La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori

Assorted bread

Our view at lunch

La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori

Aosta, Italy

A truly spectacular meal – both times I have visited.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After lunch, we walked down the street to Gelaty to get some gelato. It was incredible, and we enjoyed it as we walked around the town a bit longer.

Aosta gelato

Leaving Aosta

Waterfalls, Part II

Leaving Aosta, we drove west to the village of La Joux in the town of La Thuile to see the Cascate del Rutor. Cascate del Rutor is the highest waterfall in Italy, thundering down 700m (2,296′) in three stages. It’s fed by the Rutor glacier.

Unfortunately, the trail to the waterfall was closed due to avalanche danger. Disappointed, we turned around and drove back down the winding road towards Mont Blanc.

Road Closed

At least we got a decent view out of our drive up the mountain

Travel to France

Leaving Aosta, we headed underneath the mountains and drove through the Mont Blanc Tunnel into République Française.

Hotel de L'Arve

We arrived at Hotel de L’Arve in Chamonix, France around 17:15, and immediately enjoyed some afternoon tea and house-made baked goods in the hotel lobby.

Pound cake and chocolate muffins

View from the hotel lobby

Hotel de l'Arve

I hate these weird shower glass things

Chamonix

We took the remainder of the evening to explore Chamonix. The sunset was beautiful, as was the scenery. We went in a few stores, grabbed a croissant and a chocolate croissant from a local bakery for a snack, and then headed back to our hotel for the evening.

Chamonix

The first two explorers to summit Mont Blanc

A meat shop downtown

Chamonix

Mont Blanc

Goodnight

We will be in Chamonix for one more night to do some more alpine exploring. See you tomorrow!

Map // Subscribe

Map

Thanks for reading! If you haven’t already, click to subscribe to our posts.

The post Day 5 – Valle d’Aosta, Chamonix appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 4 – Rhône Alps, St. Bernard Pass, Valle d’Aosta

Isaac Church — Wed, 15 May 2019 03:59:53 +0000

Today we leave the Berner Oberland and head southwest to the Rhône Alps. We’ll pass through Sion and traverse through the Great St. Bernard Pass to the Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta) in the Italian Alps.

Our departure from Switzerland is only temporary, however. We’ll return in a few days. After crossing the border and spending some time in Italy, we’ll take the Tunnel du Mont-Blanc underneath the ‘White Mountain’ into France. After a couple days in the French Alps, we’ll travel back to Swizerland and slowly make our return to the eastern part of country.

Déjà Vu

Does this sound vaguely familiar? It should. I traveled to some of these places (except in reverse order) two years ago, almost to the day. Click here to read about that trip.

Two years ago...

Chamonix

Valle d'Aosta

Aiguille du Midi

Breakfast - Hotel Oberland

Once again, we ate a Iight breakfast at Hotel Oberland, and checked out of our room. We drank the remainder of our fresh milk from the night before, and sliced up our beef wurst and put it in a bag for a snack later today.

Leaving Lauterbrunnen, we traveled north to Interlaken, west to Spiez, and then south to Kandersteg.

Lötschberg Tunnel

In Kandersteg, we drove our car onto a train, to travel through the Lötschberg Tunnel underneath the mountain to the Rhône Alps.

Lötschberg Tunnel

Basilique de Valère // Château de Tourbillon

Forty minutes later, we arrived in Sion, found a car park, and hiked to the Basilique de Valère and Château de Tourbillon – a church and castle on adjacent hills. It was a painfully steep hike, but we finally made it to the top of both, enjoyed a few exhibits at the Basilique, and then headed back down the to town center of Sion. On the way up, we ate our beef sausage; it was strong but excellent.

Basilique de Valère

Basilique de Valère is a fortified church that sits high on a hill near the middle of Sion. The original church structure was built between 1100 and 1130 AD.

The Basilique‘s organ has been there since 1435, and is one of the oldest functioning organs in the world. It was slightly modified in the 1700s so it could play Baroque music.

Château de Tourbillon

The Château de Tourbillon is a castle on a hill adjacent to the Basilique, . The Bishop of Sion, Boniface de Challant, built the castle in ~1290-1308 as his primary residence.

Despite a fire, the castle’s frescoes remain intact. Valais restored the castle in the 1960s, and it stands today as an official ‘Swiss heritage site of national significance’.

A smaller chapel below the Basilique

Sion

View of the Basilique

Château de Tourbillon

Sion

View of the Basilique from the Château

Hiking down

Army uniforms

Chests made for the castle

Basilique de Valère

A smaller chapel below the Basilique

Basilique de Valère

Château de Tourbillon

Sion

We wrapped up our tour of the castle and finally started walking downhill for a change, as we headed back towards the city center of Sion.

Sion is a neat little town in the French speaking region of Switzerland. We quickly forgot we were even in Switzerland; it almost seemed we were already in France. It felt like a completely different country from the Berner Oberland region.

Sion

Background - Sion

Sion sits in the canton of Valais, with a population of ~35,000. It’s one of the oldest and most significant prehistoric site in the region; archaeologists have discovered settlements dating back to before 6200 BC! Sion was the capital of the Seduni, one of the four Celtic tribes of the Valais. Both Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus wrote of the city at the end of the 1^st century BC, and the Romans built baths there.

Sion’s Coat of Arms

82% of the residents speak French as their first language, followed by German and some Portuguese.

Sion narrowly lost a bid to host the 2006 Winter Olympics to Turin, Italy.

Background - Canton of Valais

The Canton of Valais [see map below] is in the southwestern corner of Switzerland, bordering Italy on the south and France on the West. It’s capital is Sion, which sits on the Rhône in the northern center of the canton.

This Canton is the third largest in Switzerland. The Rhône flows through it’s center separates the Bernese Alps in the northeast from the Pennine Alps on the Italian border.

Valais Coat of Arms

Valais is a canton of contrast. It contains some of the highest peaks in the Swiss Alps, and gentle plains and hill; it also has some of Switzerland’s wettest and driest areas. Three of Valais’ most famous peaks are the Dom, Matterhorn, and Weisshorn.

We stopped at a boutique that sold tea, soap, and other house goods; a nature museum devoted solely to butterflies; and a cheese store. By this time, we were getting a little hungry, so we dropped in Boulangerie Le Délice du Grand-Pont, a French-style bakery in the shopping district.

We split a salami sandwich and a Callier chocolate croissant, and each got a cappuccino. Then, we got a vanilla creme-filled pastry and a shortbread pinwheel to split as we walked around the town.

Boulangerie Le Délice du Grand-Pont

We also filled up our water bottles at this fountain

Great St. Bernard Museum // Martigny

Next, we drove about 20 minutes west to Martigny to go to the St. Bernard Museum. I had been before, but Faith had not. It was a great experience, and we even got to pet a dog! I was a little disappointed that there were no puppies this time around.

The dogs are so strong that they can survive over 48 hours in the snow with no food or water, and can carry a grown man on their backs for great distances without stopping. St. Bernards are a cross between a Danish bull and a mastiff.

St. Bernard Museum

Great St. Bernard Pass

The Great St. Bernard Pass goes through the Pennine Alps from the Swiss canton of Valais to the Italian region of Aosta. It is the third highest mountain pass in Switzerland.

Saint Bernard of Menthon founded a hospice for travelers in the pass in 1049. The dog breed and the mountain pass are both named after him.

The Great St. Bernard Tunnel, which opened in 1964, goes underneath the pass. Before its construction, there was no quick way to travel from Martigny to Aosta. The Pass, above the tunnel, is open from June-October, but even then is often closed for weather.

St. Bernard Museum

Roman amphitheater behind the museum

Italia

After leaving Martigny and crossing through the tunnel underneath Great St. Bernard Pass, we officially entered Italy.

We checked into our Hotel, La Roche, which is just north of Aosta, up the mountain a ways. It’s very nice, and by far the cheapest of all our hotels, at less than 60€, including breakfast tomorrow morning.

Aosta

We took our luggage into our rooms, changed shirts, and drove down into the city of Aosta to seek out a place to eat dinner. This was by far the largest downtown we’ve been to, with many winding, twisting, and turning streets and narrow alleyways.

The center of the city is completely traffic free (you must park outside and walk in). Faith and I walked around the town for a bit until most of the shops had closed at 19:30. We also stepped in the local cathedral to snap a photo.

Aosta Cathedral

Aosta

Dinner

Per the recommendation of our hotel, we ate dinner at Aldente, a restaurant that features local specialties from Valle d’Aosta.

We got a few dishes to split:

Assiette – an assortment of lard, mocetta, boudin, and chestnuts with honey; fontina, toma, and bleu cheeses
Crespelle – crepes with ham and fontina cheese, baked with a béchamel sauce
Fresh spaghetti with lamb ragu, with thyme and sweet dry-fried red peppers
Carbonada – beef cooked with wine/onions/spices/juniper berries, served over polenta
Gianduja with caramel and minced almonds, plus two shortbread cookies

Aldente

Carbonada

Dessert

As is the case with most Italian restaurants, we got way too much food, but it wasn’t terribly expensive, especially compared to Switzerland. The total bill would equate to food for one person in a Swiss restaurant. The waiter even gave us a free espresso to split at the end of the meal. [It was VERY bitter – even for espresso. Faith chugged it and was shaking from the caffeine later.] The food was very good, but I think the food I had last time was better. Still, it was worlds better than anything you can get in Boone…

Goodnight

Late Sorry this post is late; our Internet access wasn't good enough to upload photos, so I had to wait until we got to Chamonix.

After dinner we drove back up to our hotel, showered, and headed to bed. I’m exhausted, so we’re hoping to sleep in [a little bit], eat breakfast before 09:00, and go to two large waterfalls in the Valle. If we have time, I hope we can go back to downtown Aosta to eat, get gelato, and go in a few stores. Tomorrow evening, we’ll drive under Mont Blanc to Chamonix, France, where we’ll spend the next two nights.

Sion

If you haven’t already, click to subscribe to our posts.

Map

Today's travels

The post Day 4 – Rhône Alps, St. Bernard Pass, Valle d’Aosta appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Introduction, Part 2.5 – Europe 2019

Isaac Church — Thu, 09 May 2019 14:00:35 +0000

Meta-Intro

First, I’d need to apologize for dragging out this introduction into three parts. I originally intended to be brief, but somehow got carried away. I guess that’s what happens when you live in Boone with little-to-no sunshine for the winter months.

You can catch up on my unnecessarily long introductory posts below:

Teaser

Overview

That said, I’ll make a concerted effort to keep this post short: it will just contain a few final notes before we begin our actual journey.

Final Notes

Since I promised I’d be brief, I’ll only give three last minute “housekeeping”-type items:

We’ll try to send out our blog daily. However, bad Internet connection and lack of sleep might get in our way some days. Don’t worry; we’ll catch up!
Please be lenient with us on spelling/grammar errors…I’m usually trying to write the blog and bulk-edit photos at night when we’re exhausted from the day’s events. I promise we’ll correct them eventually. Thankfully, Faith can proofread for me some.
As mentioned in my second introductory post, I’m planning on adding a few new features to the blog. Whenever I do, I’ll highlight it using an alert box like the one below:

Example This is an example of an alert box. Click the [X] in the upper right-hand corner to close it.

We hope you enjoy following our travels through central Europe. We fly out of Charlotte at noon on Saturday; it’s almost time!

If you haven’t already, click below to subscribe to our posts. We should be sending out daily emails, but things might get delayed a bit for reasons mentioned above.

Vaduz, Liechtenstein

The post Introduction, Part 2.5 – Europe 2019 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Introduction, Part 2 – Europe 2019

Isaac Church — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 16:30:26 +0000

Welcome back! Before I proceed, if you haven’t read the first part of this introduction, click here to do so now.

If you weren’t able to read Part 1 and require a recap, Faith and I are traveling to Europe this May for a late honeymoon.

The Big Reveal

Now that we have all the formalities out of the way, I suppose it’s time to reveal our destination–er, rather–destinations.

On May 11, 2019, we will fly out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport (CLT) and land in………Toronto. “But wait”, you say, “I thought you said you were going to six countries. You do realize that only one country borders Canada, and that’s the US?”

Patience, patience. I’m not done with the story yet… After a hearty four-hour layover in Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), we’ll board yet another flight, this time overnight, and wake up as we land in………Zürich, Switzerland!

Zürich, Switzerland

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Destinations

Okay, sorry for all the drama; I promise I’ll stop now. Now I must reveal the answers to my clues; but first, the official list (with official names in official languages) of the countries we’ll be visiting, sort-of in order:

Swiss Confederation (Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft/Confédération Suisse/Confederazione Svizzera/Confederaziun Svizra)
Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana)
French Republic (République Française)
Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
Principality of Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein)
Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich)

Bonus points to anyone who can name the four official languages of Switzerland without having to look it up.

Clues Revealed

Three places I will be revisiting are: Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France; Martigny, Switzerland; and Valle d’Aosta, Italy.

Chamonix, France

Torgnon, Valle d'Aosta, Italy

Martigny, Switzerland

The other facts revealed:

Liechtenstein, obviously, is one of the ten smallest countries in the world – coming in at #6. Liechtenstein is only 160 km² (about 61 mi²), has the world’s lowest unemployment rate (1.5%), and has the highest GDP per capita (USD$141,165.08 as of 2010, which is 1,118% above the world average).
Bears and beets are quite prominent in Switzerland, (as well as in a popular TV show).
Switzerland has four official languages, which explains the aforementioned commonalities.
The languages we’ll likely run into are German (both Swiss German and Standard German), Italian, French, Romansh, and Franco-Provençal.
The cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics are Chamonix, France (1924) and St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928 & 1948). Lausanne, Switzerland will host in 2020. Since writing my original post, I’ve determined we likely won’t make it to St. Moritz.

Destinations

Since everyone is now sufficiently enlightened, I’ll give you a rundown of our plans:

From Zürich, we’ll drive south to Luzern and the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland [2 nights], and then cross the border into Italy’s Valle d’Aosta [1 night] via the St. Bernard Pass.
From there, we’ll travel through the Mont Blanc Tunnel into France.
From Chamonix Mont-Blanc [2 nights], we’ll circle back by Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) towards Bern [1 night].
We’ll spend our final days in Kloten [3 nights], a northern suburb of Zürich.
With Zürich as our base, we’ll travel east to Liechtenstein/Austria and north to Germany.

[Images linked to sources]

Omissions

Feel free to skip this section for a quicker read…click here to move on.

Faith and I are both ecstatic for this trip, but it is worth mentioning the locations we won’t be able to visit on this tour of Switzerland. As I was planning this trip, it really hurt to pass over some of these cities/regions, but there is only so much one can fit into a ten-day excursion.

Northern/Western Switzerland

Geneva – We’ll miss attractions such as the Reformation Wall, Olympic Museum, United Nations, International Red Cross headquarters, and more.
Lausanne – Lausanne is one of my all-time favorite cities. I heard one author describe it as “a real-life version of Chutes and Ladders“. It has everything: beautiful views, a lake, mountains, shopping, history, chocolate, cheese, technology, and more. We might be able to squeeze in a day trip, but it’s not likely.
Titlis – Located in the Uri Alps, Titlis is a mountain home to the world’s first cable car, as well as several glacier caves.
Basel – This city on the German/French border of Switzerland is a cultural hub with lots to do, plus easy access to the Rhine and the other two countries.
Neuchâtel – Home to Neuchâtel cheese and Neuchâtel Castle, the city is also near La Chaux-de-Fonds, the watchmaking capital of the world.

Southern/Eastern Switzerland

Zermatt – This auto-free village, accessible only by train, is the threshold of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous peaks in the world.
Titlis – Located in the Uri Alps, Titlis is a mountain home to the world’s first cable car, as well as several glacier caves.
Lugano – The largest city in the Italian-speaking Ticino region of Switzerland, Lugano is home to lake-and-mountain views, and is also considered by many to be the culinary capital of Switzerland, largely due to its Italian influence. Lugano is location right across the Italian border from the famous Lake Como, and is about 80km NNW of Milan.
Southeastern Switzerland – We will miss St. Moritz, Andermatt, Arosa, Chun – home to Europe’s highest railway – the Bernina Express, the Swiss National Park, and most of the Romansh-speaking region.

Sorry for being long-winded, but I included the above section for a couple reasons:

I wanted to have a written record of everything I would like to cover in future trips.
I wanted to give you some idea about how much there is to do and see in Switzerland, or Europe in general.

While I certainly can pack a lot into an itinerary, I often have to make very difficult decisions so we can maximize our time abroad.

New Additions

Since this trip marks a new era for Church Trips, I thought I would do a few things differently, or at least include some things I haven’t in the past. So, new inclusions for this trip include:

Maps to show our routes between destinations, and just to show where we are in general. I may post screenshots of these, or simply link to a mapping service like HERE WeGo or Google Maps.
Lodging – several of you have asked to see more pictures of where we stay. In the past, I’ve typically only mentioned our accommodation’s name in passing. I usually don’t see a need to share details about domestic hotels, since they’re largely uniform, but international accommodations tend to be a bit more unique, different, and noteworthy.
Videos – While I don’t have the desire, time, equipment, or battery life to shoot and edit videos by myself, I’ll include some links to videos that will allow you to further explore and better appreciate the places we visit.
Links, in conjunction with the aforementioned videos, to third-party websites that includes information about our destinations, such as culture, traditions, cuisine, travel, history, and more.
Suggested additional content you would like to see…comment below [or on any of my posts], and I’ll try my best to include the content you request.

As promised, here are two maps – admittedly missing a few stops because my computer was being finicky:

As always, you can subscribe to our travels via email newsletter. Click the button below to do so. There is no need to re-subscribe if you have followed us before.

The post Introduction, Part 2 – Europe 2019 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Introduction – Europe 2019

Isaac Church — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 13:00:50 +0000

Church Family Update

2018 was a magnificently busy year for the Church family, as I’m sure many of you know. I think if I tried to group everything that happened in one sentence, the comma key on my laptop would wear out, so I’ll opt for a list instead:

I graduated from Appalachian State University with two Master’s degrees, and was the commencement speaker at graduation.
Mom, Dad, and I traveled to the Pacific Northwest, visiting Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia (you can read about our adventures here).
Dad and I traveled to State College, Pennsylvania to see App nearly upset the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley (read about that here).
I started a new job at Lowe’s Companies, Inc. in their Wilkesboro office.
Dad and I were honored as ‘Alumni of the Game’ at an ASU home football game.
Dad survived another round of kidney stones.

Like I said, it was a pretty eventful year. Oh, and I got engaged and married. No big deal.

Church family Update, Part 2

Actually, it was a huge deal, and we are thrilled to welcome Faith as the newest Church. You can click here to see photos of our wedding. And before any of you ask, yes, we did consider changing her middle name to “Independent Free Will Missionary Baptist” when we went to the SSA. I figured we needed a separate list to cover wedding related stuff, so here’s part two of 2018 events:

Faith and I got engaged on July 14.
We were married at Alliance Bible Fellowship in Boone on December 15.
We honeymooned in Asheville at the Biltmore Estate for a few nights, where we enjoyed some great food, a candlelight tour of the house, and some time exploring Asheville and to catch up on Christmas shopping. I’ll post a few photos below.

Enjoying a cheese board at Chestnut

Biltmore Bistro

Touring the Biltmore House

2019 Update

Even in the new year, a lot happened! At the end of January, Faith and I traveled to Asheville with some friends of ours, and we’ve been on a few other adventures in the meantime. She will graduate with her degree in Violin Performance from the Hayes School of Music at ASU on May 10, and is/will be teaching music lessons in Boone, plus whatever else she decides to do. I’m currently working on a music website for her, so stay tuned for more details about that.

As a late celebration of our wedding, Faith and I are taking an international trip! Mom and Dad won’t be joining us, so this will be a new breed of “Church Trips”. This will be her second international trip, and my third (fourth if Puerto Rico counts, and sixth if Canada counts). We’ll leave the day after she graduates, May 11. Our destination(s) will remain a secret for the time being; however, I wanted to give everyone an update about our upcoming adventure so you can follow our travels.

Hints

Since I usually provide a few hints about our destination, here you go:

The photos on this page are of our destinations.
We are hoping to visit six (!!!) countries on this trip, but will never drive more than four hours a day.
Water is a key theme in our trip–many of the cities we visit are on a lake (or two); our journey will take us to many famous rivers and many waterfalls.
Assuming airports don’t count (they shouldn’t), all six of these countries would be new to Faith, while only three would be new to me.
We will go at least three places that I have been before.
One country we plan to visit is one of the ten smallest nations in the world.
Bears and beets
Some of the countries we visit will have common languages. We will likely run into at least five languages, not counting English or Spanish. All are Romance languages.
We will [possibly] visit two cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics (one of them hosted it twice), and another that is scheduled to host it in the future.

You can click the button below to subscribe to our email updates, as with all of my previous trips. There’s no need to re-subscribe if you’ve already been on my email list.

The post Introduction – Europe 2019 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 8: Torgnon, Aosta, Champex

Isaac Church — Sun, 21 May 2017 21:40:49 +0000

Today marked my eighth day on my study abroad trip. This morning we had breakfast at our hotel, Chez Gorret, said goodbye to Nadia and our other hosts at the hotel, and then hit the road to begin our journey to Switzerland. We descended the mountain, and eventually stopped in Aosta, Italia to eat lunch and to explore. We did some shopping, and then walked down the main street until we found a place to eat lunch.

Breakfast cakes - Chez Gorret

Blueberry filled donuts

Woodpile at Chez Gorret

Lunch - La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori

We descended the mountain, and eventually stopped in Aosta, Italia to eat lunch and to explore. We did some shopping, and then walked down the main street until we found a place to eat lunch.

Aosta, Italy

Aperitivi la Bottega

Pasta with prosciutto, parmesan, and a butter white wine sauce

We split two meat and cheese trays as appetizers

La Bottega Degli Antichi Sapori

Aosta, Italy

A truly spectacular meal – both times I have visited.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Exploring Aosta

After lunch, we walked around the town some more, and then got some gelato to eat while we walked down the street. We actually came back to the gelato place a while later and split some cannoli as well.

Exploring Aosta

Gelato shop - Aosta

Dark chocolate gelato

Cannoli

Aosta town square

Aosta, Italy

Champex, Switzerland

We got back on the bus and continued our journey in the car. After driving for a few hours, we finally made it to the St. Bernard pass at the Swiss border. The landscape changed dramatically, with many more grassy hillsides. It was interesting to see the differences between the different mountain ranges.

Mountain pass

About an hour after crossing the border, we started our ascent to Champex, Switzerland. Champex is a quaint mountain town situated high in the Alps around a crystal blue lake. It is a beautiful landscape, but unfortunately is very far away from anything.

Champex

Champex, Switzerland - Our hotel is in the top of these mountains

Dinner - Gite Bon Abri

We settled into our hostel, Gite Bon Abri, (which was bunk-style), met for class, and then ate dinner at the hostel restaurant. The owner cooked us fondue, salad, bread, and soup. In Switzerland, it is customary to coat your plate with fresh-cracked black pepper and then dip your cheese-covered food in the pepper and a brown savory sauce. We did this with boiled potatoes and bread.

Homemade salad dressing

Salad and bread

Soup with peas, green beans, and fresh herbs

Conclusion

Sunset at the top of the mountain

This evening, we worked on some group assignments and relaxed around the hotel. Tomorrow morning, we are heading to an alpine botanical garden, and then traveling to Lausanne, Switzerland for our final two nights in Europe.

Goodnight everyone!

Sunset at the top of the mountain

The post Day 8: Torgnon, Aosta, Champex appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 7: Torgnon

Isaac Church — Sun, 21 May 2017 18:28:54 +0000

Ciao!

Today was my first full day in Torgnon, Italy, in the Aosta Valley. We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel, which consisted of a sweet, cream cheese-filled croissant, smoked ham, some excellent cheese, and two kinds of tarts. I thought the croissants were even better here than they were in France.

Breakfast - Chez Gorret

Meeting with ARPA

After breakfast, we met the local CREA representative, Eduardo, and took a bus up the mountain into the center of the village. The mayor of Torgnon met us and gave us a brief tour of the town hall. Eduardo gave us a brief information session in the city council chamber, and then we re-boarded the vehicles and began our ascent into the Italian Alps.

Eduardo actually works for an organization called ARPA, which is essentially a regional EPA for the Alps.

Italian Land Rover

Valle d'Aosta, Italia

Mountaintop Observation

Our task today was to go through an ecotourism experience and then give feedback on how they might improve the program. We drove up a winding road high into the Alps, stopped at about 7,000′, exited the vehicles, and began to hike to our destination for the day, a solar-driven weather station on a grassy hillside. The views were absolutely stunning, and the knowledge we gained was fascinating.

The station is essentially a RaspberryPi (mini computer)-driven weather station that allows the PhDs from universities around the world–including Cal Berkley and Duke–to do remote and on-site tracking of the weather in the region. We learned about the importance of using long term weather data, rather than seasonal trends, since mountain weather is often unpredictable. The biggest change with the snowfall in the Alps is that it is coming later and leaving earlier, allowing bugs, plants, and other flora/fauna to begin their reproductive cycles earlier, thus forcing the alpine permafrost to recede and allowing the forest’s tree-line to gain elevation.

This didn’t seem terrible to me at first, since more trees is usually a good thing, but then John Luca, our other guide, trekked with us to a lake that has nearly vanished because of the lack of melting snow. He explained the ecological chain reaction and how a simple change in average temperature can wreak havoc on an entire ecosystem.

On the trail up to the site

A previous traveler had gotten suck in the snow

John Luca educating us

Automated time-lapse camera

Inside: the camera and the RaspberryPi

Valle d'Aosta

A greenhouse simulation to determine how the climate will react to 2-3°C higher temperatures--the grass had grown noticeably faster inside.

Eduardo teaching the group

Lunch // Stagno di Lodetor

After we finished touring the site, we hiked up a steep hill, and drove back down the mountain a ways to a spot that Eduardo and John Luca had picked out for lunch. We ate by the lake, which was partially dried up, and enjoyed a beautiful view. Our hotel had packed lunches for us, which consisted of a ham sandwich and a cheese sandwich (which I combined into one), vanilla pudding, and a hazelnut chocolate bar. It was very delicious and filling.

On the road down from the site

Our view at lunch at the lake - Stagno di Lodetor

Italian ham sandwich for lunch

Duplo Nocciolato

Pudding

Waterfall on the other side of Stagno di Lodetor

Stagno di Lodetor

Second Observation Site

After we finished eating, we walked around the lake to a waterfall that was cascading down the mountain from the snow melt. After snapping a few pictures, exploring for a bit, and nearly falling in the lake a time or two, we walked back to the vans and headed to our second CREA site for the day.

Site number 2

Triatel

Eduardo told us about the tower, and after a brief hike, we headed back to the vans and started the long drive back down the mountain to Torgnon. We stopped by the local supermarket, showered and freshened up at the hotel, and relaxed for a bit. Eduardo and John Luca picked us up again at 17:40 for the next leg of our adventure.

Eduardo first took us to an overlook in Triatel a few miles up the mountain. From there, we had an excellent view of the Aosta valley, and the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is one of the three most famous north faces of the Alps. The other are Mont Blanc and the Eiger. I was particularly excited because the Matterhorn has been my phone background for years.

Aosta Valley and the Matterhorn

Aosta Valley

Steep drop-off from the overlook

The Matterhorn's iconic triangular shape is visible on the left

Mulino di Etirol // Petit Monde

We snapped a few pictures, and then quickly got back in the vans to drive to a local museum that told about the agricultural and cultural history of the region. Here are a few things that I learned:

The building was built around 1400 and still has its original walls and some of the original floor. It was built without any nails.
Once a year, locals made a type of hard, crusted bread that would keep for a year.
The village only had a road built to it around 1950. Until then, it had been isolated since around 1100.
On our way there, we passed a ski (sci in Italian) lift that led to one of two villages in the Alps that are not accessible by car.
Some people in this area still speak a language called Franco de Provence. It is native to the Provence region that extends from the Alps all the way down to the Mediterranean. It is different from Italian and French, and even Irene (from CREA in Chamonix) and Eduardo couldn’t understand it.

Mulino di Etirol - Petit Monde

Flowers outside the museum

Cheese-making equipment

Replica of alpine bedroom

Dinner - Bar Ristoro La Montanara

We finished our tour and headed about halfway up to where we were earlier today to a restaurant for dinner. Eduardo had arranged for us to eat a traditional Italian meal, not like the traditional Aosta meal we had the night before at the hotel.

If I have learned one thing, it’s that meals in Italy are an ordeal. Our dinner lasted almost five [from 18:30-23:15], and was nine courses! Everything was outstanding!!! We enjoyed lots of food, and a beautiful sunset and bonfire with a stunning view of the Aosta valley and the Italian alps below.

Restaurant atop the mountain - Bar Ristoro La Montanara

Course 1: Caprise - toast with fresh mozzarella, basil, and cherry tomatoes

Course 2: Pizza

Bread

We headed inside for the main courses

Table setting - Bar Ristoro La Montanara

Translated menu for the "main" part of the meal

Course 3: Bruscetta

Course 4: Mountain salad

Course 5: Albese (rare beef) with gorgonzola cheese

Course 6: Lasagna

Course 7: Tagiolini with Porcini mushrooms

Course 8: Roasted veal and potatoes

Course 9: Fruit salad with gelato

Bar Ristoro La Montanara

Torgnon, Aosta, Italy

Maybe it was just my first real Italian dinner experience (I doubt it), but the food here was amazing, and the views even more incredible.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Conclusion

We got back from dinner and immediately fell into bed in a food coma. In the morning, we head through the St. Bernard pass (yes, that’s where both the dogs and the monks come from) to a small town called Champex in Switzerland. Champex is on the backside on Mont Blanc from Chamonix.

Goodnight everyone, and as always, thanks for reading!

Torgnon, Valle d'Aosta, Italy

Fire at Bar Ristoro La Montanara

Torgnon, Valle d'Aosta, Italy

The post Day 7: Torgnon appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 6: Chamonix, Bard, Torgnon

Isaac Church — Sat, 20 May 2017 03:30:28 +0000

Ciao! Today, we traveled to Italy–but first, let’s talk about breakfast. Per usual, we ate breakfast at Hotel de l’Arve and then loaded a bus to travel through the Mont Blanc tunnel.

Breakfast at Hotel de l'Arve

Tunnel du Mont Blanc

The tunnel goes underneath the Aiguilles du Midi to the Italian side of the Alps. It is over 10 miles long – a true feat of engineering! I felt like we were underground forever. Our bus driver was not the best driver, but nonetheless, we arrived at our destination safe and sound. Our professors bought us some macarons for the trip, so that was an nice snack.

Macarons

Forte dí Bard

We stopped at a village called Via Emilio Chanoux in Hône, Italy. The town was also known as Bard. We explored the Forte dí Bard, an ancient castle dating back to the 1100s.

Valle d'Aosta

Hône

"The Burial of Christ"

Lift ride to the top of the castle

Prison in the castle

Walking to Forte di Bard

Lunch

We explored the castle for several hours and then headed back down the mountain to the village for lunch. Three of us stopped at a small cafe (three tables with seating for seven people), and sat down for what was supposed to be a quick lunch. That was the moment I quickly learned that eating in Italy is quite the ordeal.

The lady who owned and operated the small restaurant prepared our entire meal by hand, which took over an hour. We were skeptical at first, but once our food came we doubted no more. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever head. We split an appetizer of peppercorn prosciutto and bread, and for the meal all three of us got carbonada, which is a beef dish with a red wine sauce served with polenta, which essentially is Italian grits. The meal was phenomenal, and we left just in time to make it back to the bus to continue on our journey to Torgnon.

Bread and water

Black peppercorn prosciutto

Carbonada and polenta

Casa Ciuca

Bard, Aosta, Italy

Exceptional, handcrafted food.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Torgnon, Italy

We finally arrived in Torgnon, Italy (home of the International Winter Olympics Committee). We checked into our hotel, had a class meeting for a little while, and then walked around to explore the town, which was a decently long walk up the mountain. It was pretty much a ghost town because everything shuts down when it is not the skiing season. The views were beautiful, and we had a fun time exploring.

Dinner

At 19:00, we met back at the hotel to eat dinner in the downstairs restaurant. Once again, dinner was an ordeal, and was five courses. Everything was exquisitely delicious, and we basically had the entire restaurant to ourselves.

Freshly baked bread

Salad with local balsamic and olive oil

Salad and pesto-covered fresh mozzarella

Smoked dried beef, prosciutto-wrapped local sweet bread, and sauce-covered eggs

Appetizer plate

Roased eggplant and eggs

Rolled cheese and ham crêpes

Local sausage and polenta - an Aosta Valley specialty

Peach and cream dessert

Espresso Americano

Conclusion

After dinner, we played some foosball outside for several hours, and then everyone gradually headed towards bed.

Friday Night Foosball Lights

Today was a great day with beautiful scenery. I’m looking forward to working with our CREA partners in the field again tomorrow!

Goodnight everyone; thanks for reading!

Valle d'Aosta

The post Day 6: Chamonix, Bard, Torgnon appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Alps Introduction

Isaac Church — Fri, 12 May 2017 18:20:58 +0000

Greetings!

May is here, and with it comes many exciting events–so many, in fact, that it may be difficult to list all of them.

First of all, if you haven’t noticed, I have a new blog/website! It’s a project that I’ve been working on for a while, and it’s finally complete. Feel free to explore! If you would like to subscribe via email, click here.
On May 13, I will graduate from Appalachian State University for the second time, with a Master of Science in Accountancy. I’m staying one more year to finish up my dual degree and get an MBA in Data Analytics, so this is really only a halfway point, but it’s still exciting!
Finally, the real reason for this blog. As you may have guessed by the title of this post (or just by the fact that I’m posting something), I’m about to travel again! The MBA program at App requires that all students go on a study abroad, so I’m embarking on an exciting journey to Europe!

Trip Info

The official title of this trip is Climate Change in the French Alps: Developing Volunteer Tourism and Public Policy Approaches. We are going to be working with an organization called CREA, which stands for Centre de Recherches sur les Ecosystèmes d’Altitude, or more simply, Research Center for Alpine Ecosystems. We will be conducting research to figure out how to best implement public policy and “voluntourism” or “ecotourism” strategies so that the area can have a sustainable future.

We are traveling with about 20 graduate and undergraduate students. A lot of our trip (including destinations), is going to be flexible, so our activities and destinations will be as much of a surprise to me as it will be to y’all. No matter where we go I hope to encounter some great scenery, great cheese, and great chocolate along the way.

Our tentative itinerary (try saying that three times fast) looks something like this… (I’ll do it in picture format for your viewing pleasure).

Chamonix, France

Torgnon, Italy

Aosta Valley, Italy

Champex, Orsiéres, Switzerland

Lausanne, Switzerland

Montreux, Switzerland

Geneva, Switzerland

Conclusion

Needless to say, I’m ecstatic about this trip! Per usual, I’ll be posting daily updates so I can document my adventures.

Thanks for following my travels! Click here if you would like to subscribe via email.

The post Alps Introduction appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.