The Swiss Alps!

Speaking earlier of hiking the Swiss Alps brought back a rush of wonderful memories. Three friends and myself went on a little 2 week trip to Europe; starting in Amsterdam, flying to Switzerland and then on to Scottland. Sandwiching Switzerland in the middle of two fun, crazy, party towns was wonderful.

On this part of our trip we stayed in a mountain hostel in Gimmelwald.

The clean fresh air, cold rushing glacial springs and mountains as far as you could see inspired a feeling of wellness like no other.

The highlight of this part of the trip was a hike up to Schilthorn, 3000 feet in the air. It was a difficult hike - and that is an enormous understatement. From the time we left the hostel the hike took us 10 hours. That's a lot of climbing. Imagine a stairmaster for 10 hours. BUT, then imagine your reward from the stairmaster was to sit beside a glacial lake overlooking miles of gorgeous mountain range. Another break in a mountain top farm with the strange swiss cows and some delicious cheese and bread. And tonnes of adventure. Near the top we were climbing on ice and snow, holding on to whatever we could grasp. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea...but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

When I returned from my trip, this one day of altitude climbing had made an incredible impression on my cardiovascular system. I hopped on the treadmill at the gym when I got home and was amazed at my post-vacation health.

Moral of the story? If you have the chance to incorporate adventure and activity into your travel, do it! It's refreshing and fun and you'll come back feeling like a million bucks, not like you just sat around on a beach and ate your way through the week. And Switzerland, not a bad place to start!