When I first came up with the plan to see the world alphabetically, I already had a trip planned … and it was to Switzerland. Well, that just wasn’t going to fit the “A” kick-off for my plan. Then it hit me, the Alps is a great “A.” So … A is for Alps. There’s a little village in Switzerland on the train line between Bern and Milan, Italy, named Kandersteg. It’s really a very unassuming little village, but quintessentially Swiss. It’s got half-timbered houses that line the main street that runs through town. It’s got a charming looking little inn on the edge of town that has a little garden out in front with herbs it sends to the makers of Ricola cough drops. It has farms with big Alpine cows wearing big bells around their necks that graze in the Alpine fields in the summer and then come down into the village in the winter and spend the snowy cold season in barns. I know all of this because I have been to Kandersteg about a dozen times. I’ve skied there. I’ve hiked there. I’ve just hung out for a couple of days and decompressed from the stress of the world there. It was the perfect place to kick off my plan because I was broke and I knew I could accomplish the “A” trip on a shoestring budget. If you’re looking for a great place to spend a couple of days in Europe, Kandersteg is my secret hideaway (well, not so secret anymore). That was a dozen years ago and I still go back every few years – whenever I can. It’s just about one of the most perfect places I know.
© The World A to Z, LLC 2014
The World A to Z 
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