2012.08 switzerland 146b resized 750x500< On our journey down south by car, we took Mia into the mountains to check out the 'Banff' and 'Jasper' of Europe by stopping in Davos, St. Moritz, and Silvaplana (all of which are very wealthy).

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The drive here got interesting, as we pushed Mia up the windy switchback roads of the mountains. She did well as the Audi’s, Mercedes’, Aston Martin’s, Masserati’s, etc. zoomed right past her.

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St. Moritz is described as where the rich of the rich go to enjoy the mountains, with luxurious accommodations and expensive stores. Expectations were high, but we instead realized how lucky we are to have Banff and Jasper. Despite their beauty, I don’t think these mountain resorts come close to what we have on our own doorstep. It is nice to have a reminder now and then to appreciate what you have back home and not to take it for granted. 

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My favorite part of this drive was actually going past St. Moritz… the small towns (like Silvaplana) to follow were even more picturesque, and I could have spent more time there instead. We stumbled upon this massive group of kite surfers and pulled over to watch this crazy site. Hard to capture in a photo, but we were completely surrounded by hundreds of kites:

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Now heading into the southern tip of east Switzerland, it’s like we’ve entered Italy. All the signs are in Italian, the radio stations are all in Italian, people speak only Italian, and everyone even looks Italian! Such a jarring difference from the very German-esque country we’ve seen so far.

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