 A. Aletsch glacier B. Bellinzona |
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| A. Aletsch glacier Added to the list in 2001 - visited by Maarten in 1993 The region Jungfrau - Aletsch - Bietschhor has the highest amount of glaciers in the Alps and houses the biggest glacier of Europe. The beauty of this area is exceptional in the Alps. Nine peaks in the area are higher than 4000m! The Aletsch glacier itself is the largest glacier in Eurasia: 128km² big, 23km wide and 900m deep. Own impression I was only 14 when I stood on the immense glacier. I stayed in Fiesch for a youth camp with a hundred or so other youngsters of the same age. One of the day-trips we made lead us to the Aletsch. The only thing I remember well is that I was astonished about the shear size of the thing, although I was used to visit Switserland since I was 5 or so, and already traversed several glaciers before... (top) |
 View on the glacier. |
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| B. Bellinzona Added to the list in 2000 - visited by Maarten, Annick & Febe (2013) This worldheritage site consits of three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro) and fortified walls connecting two of the three castles. The fortifications block the passage through the Ticinio Valley in Switserland. We chose to visit the middle castle, Montebello, which gives you a stunning view on the other two and the valley surrounding them. Own impression Annick: what a location for a castle! It was a great pleasure to stroll through the castle and its garden, up unto the ramparts. Great views of the mountains surrounding us, and a warm July sun on our face. I'm quite fond of medieval castles anyway, but this one stands out because of its surroundings. Just look at the pics and enjoy! Maarten: I've been to Switserland many times before, but I never would've guessed this mountaneous country also had its very own medieval castles. Quite surprising! We were blessed with warm, sunny weather and the place wasn't crowded at all, so we had a very relaxed walk around at Montebello Castle. We didn't visit the other two castles because of our limited time schedule ánd the very steep roads. Definitely a must-do, but you need some driving skills on mountainroads to get there... (top) |
 View on the first castle, Castelgrande.  Montebello castle. |
 Entrance gate at Montebello. |
 Second entrance gate at Montebello.  Fortified walls of Montebello. |
 Febe exploring the castle.  Febe & Annick at the thick walls. |
 Castle wall, as castle walls should be :-) |
 Heading up the ramparts.  And what a view! In the distance you see Castelgrande. |
 Behind us was the third castle (on top of the trees): Sasso Corbaro. |