The hut-to-hut hike on the Alta Via 1 (AV1) is one of eight roughly parallel Alta Via routes through the Dolomites in Northern Italy. This UNESCO World Heritage Site in the the Tyrolean Alps is known for its rugged beauty. The AV1 is generally regarded as being the easiest of the routes, but don’t mistake that …
The Tour of Mont Blanc, a 110-mile hike through the Alps in France, Italy and Switzerland, meanders through villages and is connected by an extensive system of refuges (huts), hostels and inns. Though some carry full backpacking gear for a mountain expedition, many carry daypacks and take advantage of the many shelters. Once the decision …
I had a lot of questions about food choices on the Tour of Mont Blanc for our self-guided hike. It was a relief to not have to plan our usual backpacking menu since I had just done five backpacking trips in one summer but I didn’t know what food choices on the Tour of Mont Blanc …
When planning a tour of Mont Blanc hike, which circles around the Mont Blanc massif, the choices immediately get overwhelming. Once you’re on the trail it becomes even more obvious that, while there may be an official Tour of Mont Blanc (TMB) route, the variations are endless. About the TMB The Tour of Mont Blanc …
The last time I was in Italy I was 14 years old, my mother and I having just been evacuated with the last of the women and children of Western nations from East Pakistan, leaving my father behind. East Pakistan was undergoing a bloody metamorphosis into Bangladesh in a bitter civil war, and we had …
Gazing at the riot of designs and colors my eyes darted around wildly, unable to focus on any one motif. I shuffled around the showroom trying to organize the patterns into a coherent sense, without success. With some relief we were ushered into a workroom to begin our education of Umbrian ceramics, after which I …