"There is no such thing as bad weather, only longer travel distances to reach the good weather." Taking this motto to heart, madu and I drove for six hours to the Cottian Alps, with the objective of climbing the region's highest and most iconic peak: the Monviso / Monte Viso / "Re di Pietra". The mountain has received quite some...

Last month I published the report of day one of my weekend in Italy, but part two (and arguably the best part!) was still missing. So here we go... My CouchSurfing hosts works at the Ispra Joint Research Centre, a huge European Commission institution which even has its own section of the Italian Alpine Club! This section had...

I wouldn't have my birthday weekend ruined by another rainy forecast for Switzerland. So I just planned a weekend away over on the Italian side of the Alps. CouchSurfer Mayeul hosted me in the village of Cadrezzate, and both on Saturday and Sunday we drove to the other side of Lago Maggiore to go walking. On Saturday we hiked...