Mar 18, 2008 Posted by Tiffany

The Defi is gonna be jealous

We’re doing something a bit different for Easter this year. We usually visit Locarno, Switzerland, to get in some climbing. The weather is usually a bit warmer there than here in Germany and we can enjoy our first taste of the summer….but this year a pretty yucky weather front is heading into Europe and apparently it’s going to be rather miserable everywhere. They’re predicting a... read more

Apr 17, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

We finally got in some climbing

As you might have guessed, we’re already home and have been for over a week now. But we didn’t get around to writing anything on Sunday or Monday because we were busy doing some climbing and then driving home. Sunday morning we got up and went to have breakfast and then try once again to find somewhere we could climb. When we approached the parking lot where the Defender was, we came across... read more

Apr 7, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Not the best day for climbing

This morning we were the first ones at Arcegno, a pretty nice area with a couple of routes in our range. Since we haven’t climbing in about a year due to getting the dog, buying the farm and other things that took up our time, we basically have to stick to the easiest routes. Unfortunately, about 30 minutes after we arrived, this spot started to fill up quickly and soon it looked like a highway up... read more

Apr 7, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Off for the first day of climbing

We arrived without incident in Locarno yesterday. We didn’t take Ayla with us when we checked in but we ran into the owners over the course of the afternoon anyway. They didn’t seem too alarmed by her size although she massively dwarfed their 4 kg Chihuahua. After we got settled in, we decided to head up to the climbing areas to check out the situation and scope out the routes. One of them... read more

Apr 6, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Out of the tunnel

We didn’t actually see any accidents or anything but we did slow down quite a bit while in the tunnel. So now we’ll all take a quick break, call the apartment owners to let them know we’re cutting close and take a potty break…and then get on our way. Only about an hour left. read more

Apr 6, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Finally going in

We’re waiting at the lights to go into the Gotthard tunnel…finally! It should be smooth sailing from here. We’ll make another switch on drivers after this since all the stop and go has killed S’s legs…so we’ll make a quick pit stop at the first place we find after the 17 km tunnel is over… read more

Apr 6, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

At the Gotthard tunnel

Well, it’s almost 1 pm and we’re not yet to Locarno. We’ve got 102 km left according to TomTom which should only take us about an hour…but we’re a few km from the start of the tunnel with full traffic jam. The problem is that they regulate the number of cars that go into the tunnel at once with stop lights, only letting a few cars enter at a time. So the traffic can back up... read more

Apr 6, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Just about half way…

So we’re on our way to Locarno and are about half way there. Our navigation system says we have a little less than 3 hours left which would get us there at about 1 pm. With any luck, this will actually turn out to be true and we can perhaps get in a bit of climbing in today or at the very leastscope out the new location we’re considering for tomorrow. We still have to go through the Gothard... read more

Apr 5, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Getting ready to go

We’ve packed up our climbing gear and most of the stuff for the dog. I’ve also started packing my travel and overnight bags but hubby is waiting until we go to bed….which will be very shortly. We’re planning to get up at about 5 am and hope to be on the road by 6. We’ve got about 7 hours of driving ahead of us tomorrow so we’re thankful that the Defender has very... read more

Mar 5, 2007 Posted by Tiffany

Making plans for Easter

Last year we went to Locarno, Switzerland, over the Easter holiday. We spent time in the midst of beautiful scenery and were really able to just relax and enjoy ourselves over the four short days that we were there. Before we left there, we said we wanted to make it a new tradition that we go back to Locarno every year over Easter. But we also found a few other really interesting climbing locations since... read more