Destination #11 : Paris

                                                                                                                

                                 
                                           Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

                              View from Montmartre (18th Arrondissement)

Destination #10 : Wisconsin

    The state of Wisconsin is known for two things ; beer and cheese (best when mixed with the Packers). Located in the Great Lakes Region of the Midwest, Wisconsin is bordered to the east by Lake Michigan and is separated from Canada by Lake Superior.  Wisconsin farmlands dominate the dairy industry- ranking at or near the top in production of American milk, butter and cheese, which are heartily enjoyed on an almost daily basis by many Wisconsinites (leading to the "Cheese-Head" moniker).  More than 15,000 lakes, 47 state parks, and 13 forests help to stimulate local tourism (random fact : in 1854 the Republican party was born here).  While Wisconsin is justifiably famous for it's dairy products and the Green Bay Packers, there is in fact more to the state than cow-tipping and the almighty pigskin.  The outdoor adventures (boating/sailing/fishing) off the rocky coasts of Lake Superior and Michigan are popular destinations and resemble the ragged shores of New England more-so than what most people would affiliate with the Midwest. 

Milwaukee is a great place to have a beer with cheese curds (if you feel like stopping your heart, get them deep fried w/ ranch dressing) before you visit the world headquarters of Harley-Davidson.  Green Bay is also an attraction that is not to be missed, people from this area are content with their football, their  beer, and their dairy products.  Most of the tourism revolves around the Packers and for good reason, The Packers have a long storied history and are often times a title contender.  Lambeau Field (penned the Frozen Tundra because it gets really,really cold) tours are also a notable summer time attraction along with visits to the Packer Hall of Fame.  Summers tend to be warm with cool nights whereas the winters are guaranteed to be frigid and snowy, especially around the Great Lakes where conditions can be classified as severe (temp. of -40ºF) or lower are common. 

OshKosh (plywood capitol of the world) perhaps best known for OshKosk B'Gosh is also home to another notable attraction. Here, you can join the thousands of aviation enthusiasts who literary flock to Oshkosh every July for the EAA AirVenture Fly-In to watch a mind-blowing display of almost every imaginable flying machine ranging from home-built/ultralights to war-birds and supersonic jets. 

Wisconsin's main claim to fame may be the fact that it could possibly consumer more alcohol (The university of Wisconsin is consistently ranked as a Top 10 Party School) and has a higher people-to-bar ration than any other state in the country. Wisconsin, where the men are men are so are the women....not that there's anything wrong with that.

Destination #9: Rome, Italy

Rome is the capital of Italy and is the country's largest and most populated municipality, with over 2.7 million residents in less than 500 square miles.  The city of Rome is located on the Tiber River in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula.

                                  The Bridge of Angels

Rome's history spans over 2,500 years.  It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was a major

 politcal and cultural influence in the lands bordering the

Mediterranean Sea for over 400 years.

St. Peter's Square

Rome is the 11th most viewed city in the world, 3rd most in Europe and 1st in Italy.  Its historic centre is homes to monuments and museuams sahc as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum.  Both are amongst the world's 50 most visited tourist destinations (the Vatican Museums receive 4.2 million tourist visits each year and the Colosseum receives 4 million visits).

The Colosseum

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel

The Trevi Fountain

                                    

You Look Like you Need a Vacation...

The Swiss Alps

The Alps contain some of Switzerland's most dramatic landscapes, in a country that is already blessed with spectacular scenery and striking alpine vistas.  Situated at the heart of the Alps, Switzerland shares the mountain range with France, Italy and Austria and provides winter and summer-time enjoyment for skiers, snowboarders, hikers and climbers.  The Jungfra (German for "maiden") is one  of the main summits in the Alps.  Together with Eiger and Monch, form a prodigious wall overlooking the Bernise Oberland and is considered on of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps.  The North Face (of Eiger) towers 1,800 (m) above the valley, since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died while attempting to scale the north face, earning it the ominous nickname Mordwand (Death Wall).

Finsteraarhorn (4,274m) is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps, however, the summit of this peak is far less frequented than those of the nearby Jungfrau and Eiger.  This is mainly due to it's  location in one of the most remote areas in  the Alps, completely surrounded by un-inhabited and inhospitable glacial valleys.

Lyskamm is a mountain in the Pennine Alps which has gained a nasty reputation leading to it's nickname Menschenfresser (man eater).  The mountain has gained this reputation because of it's many cornices (overhanging edge of snow) lying on the ridge and ubiquitous avalanches.  The traverse consists mostly of a narrow, snow-covered ridge, with some scrambling over rocks, in bad snow conditions (or visibility) the ridge can be extremely challenging worsened from the large (sometimes double) cornices.

Europe contains some of the world's largest vertical relief available to mountaineers, including lines that exceed the scale of Himalayan routes. Tödie in particular, can be generally consisdered one of the most difficult lines in the Alps, including an almost 10,000-foot descent.

Destination #8: Switzerland

Switzerland has a highly successful market economy based on international trade and banking. Its standards of living, worker productivity, quality of education, and health care are higher than any other European country.  Switzerland has a worldwide reputation for the high quality of its export manufactures, which include machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments, and diverse high-tech products. Synonymous with international banking, Zurich has a financial and cultural importance that belies its modest size. The largest city in Switzerland, Zurich promotes itself as 'Downtown Switzerland'. The historic center is compact enough to be explored on foot.          

  

Zurich is located on Switzerland's central plain, with the elevation rising towards the south and the Alps. Positioned at the northern tip of the Zürichsee (Lake Zurich), the city's fine lakeside promenades and expensive houses are prominent and can be spotted along both shores.

Zurich's most familiar sights are, without a doubt, the Fraumünster and Grossmünster churches, which solemnly face each other across the River Limmat. The Old Town spans this river, and some of the most interesting lanes and buildings are clustered along its banks. Ultimately However, tourists are primaroly drawn to Switzerland's Alpine climate and landscapes, in particular for skiing and mountaineering.

With it's spectacular scenery a popular trip is along the Glacier Express, while not exactly an express train in the sense of a high-speed train, but rather in that it provides a one-seat ride for a long duration of travel (Fun Fact...it has the distiction of being the slowest express train in the world.

The overall beauty of the scenery, and the world-class facilities offered to travallers by the general extensions of mountain railways, make the northern side of the Swiss Alps, the Bernese Oberland, one of the portions of the Alps most visited by tourists and experienced mountaineers.