Monday, April 4, 2011

What you might see looking around an Alpine village: flowers, chapels, skiiers!!!

One of the first things I did in my exploration of the Alps was to look up a bunch of google images of Alpine villages, and I very quickly realized that there are some shared sights you might see at just about any town in the area.  Here's a little photo-journey!

Even though I usually think of snow and frigid weather in the alps, there are a number of delicate flowers that thrive in the alpine climate.  Here are some examples:

Alpenrose

Alpine Rock Jasmine - it literally grows in the crevices of boulders and stones!

Alpine Pasque Flower

Edelweiss - everybody sing along....

Glacier Buttercup
Also, most alpine villages have small chapels that exhibit traditional architecture from the area:

Saas-Fee, Switzerland

Hockenalp Chapel, Lรถtschental, Switzerland

Mittenwald, Germany

The onion-domed St. Bartholoma, shores of the Konigssea, Bavaria, Germany

I also found a number of pictures showing visitors taking advantage of both winter and summer alpine activities:

Skiing is the lifeblood of Sauze d'Oulx in the Piedmont Region in Northern Italy

Snowboarding is popular at Le Grand Bornand in France
Paragliding in Unterwasser, Switzerland

And then there's...curling? I think?....in Zermatt, Switzerland

Snowshoeing in Heidiland - where's Heidi???

Cycling is popular in the summer months in Mitzoen, France


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