Driving in the Alps...with an unfortunate soundtrack:(

Visiting a tiny Alpine village with Rick Steves

I've been watching a bunch of Rick Steves' specials this month - if you'd like to see more, you can find some full episodes on hulu, and many clips on youtube!

Alpine Biking - Tour de Romandie

In selecting the countries/regions for  my blog, I checked in with friends and family to get their suggestions, and my Dad is the one who inspired me to check out the Alps. Dad is a big cyclist these days, and he's been following some of the races that wind their way through Alpine regions, and there happens to be one going on right now!

The Tour de Romandie is a 6 day race through the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and it began in 1947.  The race has a little bit of everything - flat stages, time trials, and a tough mountain finish that ends in some breathtaking Alpine scenery.  The race is known for having some narrow passages and for traversing ancient roads - some of which dating back to the Romans!

Here are some pix of the race in years past:

I loooooove this picture. I watched a Rick Steves Alpine show the other day and there were cows EVERYWHERE in Switzerland, so this seems super fitting!

This is the map for this year's race.

I read one cyclists' description of the yesterday's route - which tackled classic Romandie countryside complete with narrow, twisty roads and lush hills, and climaxed with a climb up Col du Pillon, with the cyclists reaching 1545 meters before descending to a ski resort. Whew!

Alpine Skiing - a firsthand perspective

I stumbled upon this video during my lunch break today  - two skiers in the French Alps testing out head-mounted HD cameras. It starts off a bit tame, but then they fly off the edge of the mountain and parachute down. At one point they look back to see an avalanche that started on their heels. Crazy!

Der Biergarten - Alpine eating in Atlanta!

I recently visited my parents in Atlanta, and as they are avid followers of my blog, I figured it'd be fun to involve them in a culinary adventure!!!

Finding Alpine cuisine can be a bit tricky - it is quite difficult to find restaurants that specialize in food just from Alpine regions, however if you scour the menus of many Swiss, German, Austrian, French, and Italian restaurants, you can often find a couple of dishes that correspond with Alpine cuisine. As such, we figured we'd try out a German restaurant - "Der Biergarten" and try to find some Alpine delicacies from the Bavarian region of Germany!

This is the street view of "Der Biergarten" - it's located on the top floor of the structure.

The sign outside said "Come in - Drink Beer" ....I, of course, was happy to comply.

Mumsy dearest on her way up to the restaurant.

We sat in an outdoor patio. They had tables set up, I think to be reminiscent of a beer hall. The murals on the back wall featured beautiful landscapes, some of which with some Alpine mountain ranges in the distance!

I started off with a "Radler," which I mentioned in a previous blog. It's a mix of beer and lemon-lime soda. It was nice, but a bit sweet for me!

The bar was dark and seemed to be fashioned in an authentic manner.

We started off with a super yummy soft pretzel with three accompanying mustards...we were soooooooo happy.

And then the feasting began!!!!

My sister, Joyce (up in the top left hand corner) got some kind of beef stew that my dad thought was unbelievable. Mom and I split a few things I learned about in my research - spatzle (plate at the bottom), and potato pancakes (similar to reiberdatschi). We also got some salad, roasted potatoes, and a cucumber salad (which I had also read about in my research). Dad got some kind of roll with corned beef and saurkraut. Everything was super yummy!

I had a beer from the Paulaner Brewery, located in Munich, just north of the Bavarian Alps. Yummm - I liked it better than the Radler:)

For dessert we had German Chocolate Cake, and the Alpine treat Apple Strudel. Don't even think about trying to steal some from my sister!!!

I couldn't help but make my parents pose for this lovely photo op- the only time you'll ever see my mom holding a beer stein!

Visiting the Alps in the lap of luxury

Well, after eating some delicious Alpine treats I've become more and more enamored with the idea of doing an Alpine tour. Today, I came across a few fabulous looking options for "roughing it" in the mountains:

Nuit Nature

Does the idea of sleeping under the stars appeal to you? How about waking up to see the sun rise over Mont Blanc?  If so, you should DEFINITELY check out Nuit Nature, an eco-friendly option for staying in the French alps.

Estelle and Olivier Isoux run this eco-tourist venue just outside the French mountain village of Combloux.  Visitors stay in a transparent plastic bubble in an isolated grass meadow away from any prying eyes (unless you count nearby donkeys), and experience total immersion in nature.  Depending on the season, visitors can watch snowflakes drift by, hear rain drops hit the plastic ceiling, check for constellations in the night sky, and revel in the sun rising over Mont Blanc.  

Now, don't worry, you don't have to run off to do your business in the woods - there are bathroom facilities about 50 meters away at the edge of the forest.  Olivier built a wooden cabin complete with sunken wooden tub, shower, sink and dry toilet. A generator runs to ensure that hot water is available, and you can even use handmade soaps in the shape of the donkeys that roam the property. 

A stay in the bubble will run you about 270 Euros a night, however that comes complete with a gourmet dinner, wine, and breakfast!

I'm basically obsessed with this. It's my new dream.

Alpine Snack-time!!!!!

One of my favorite things to do when I visit my parents in Georgia is to visit "Your DeKalb Farmers Market."  Starting in 1977, this market features foods from around the world and is a massive warehouse of ethnic delights. The store hires a lot of recent immigrants, encouraging them to bring their cultures and recipes.  They also feature a cafeteria where you can sample some international dishes and beverages.

So, while there I decided to pick up some Alpine snacks to share with my family. The result was delicious!!!

Well, obviously, I had to get some Swiss chocolate!  I went with some Lindt - I went for the "Swiss Classic" which was dark chocolate with crushed hazelnut. Oh man, delicious!!!! I love dark chocolate, but sometimes it can get a tad bitter, but not the case with this delicious specimen!!!!

Also, I picked up some swiss cheeses - Alpenhorn and Raglette.  Alpenhorn is a gouda produced in an Emmentaler style and is known to have sweet, nutty flavors.  It looked kinda like swiss cheese to me - it has holes and was kinda firm.   The Raglette is a Swiss mountain cheese and supposedly has a mix of wine and fruity aromas. It was melt-in-you-mouth smooth and soft, really yummy!

We picked up some fresh soft pretzels from the market's bakery - they remind us of the ones we used to get back when we lived in Pennsylvania Dutch territory..mmmm delicious! Pretzels are very German and are popular in the Alpine Bavarian region. I picked up some specialty mustards, including a French one to try to tie in another country that the Alps runs through. 

And, since the market has a great wine and beer selection and helpful staff, I picked one wine worker's brain to find an Alpine wine. He recommended an Austrian wine - the 2009 Kurt Angerer Gruner Veltliner.  Now, I am horrible in describing how wine tastes...like for this I'd say "it's nice and light  and not too sweet and is easy to drink!" which says basically nothing, so I looked up a bit more and found out that it is is "singularly associated with Austria" and has "a bright, slightly vegetal scent with notes of flowers and white pepper accenting the green berry fruits"