KIENTALERHOF

I have lived in the States for so long now that I am at times surprised by, or reminded of, some West European conveniences. A trip to the Alps for example. I leave my bike in the Basel underground bike parking garage and buy a train ticket to Reichenbach (I literally gasped at the sight of the ticket price) where I took a bus to Kiental. In 2 hours I went from Basel's hauptbahnhof to way up in the Alps! In most countries it would take days of hiking, or at least a car, to get to a place like this. But not here: just a quick hop on bus and train and here I am in beautiful Kiental.

Nicole (from 4328 Latona) has been working and living in this small mountain village for close to a year. She manages and translates bodywork courses and all types of workshops here at the Kientalerhof. It is really great to see Nicole and to get a little taste of her Swiss life.

Through the rain and dark clouds I only get a few rare peeks at the majestic snowy mountains. The many wayfinding signs for hiking (average walking times estimated to the minute!) make my heart jump with organizational happiness but I don't care a bit that the weather is too awful for outdoorsy adventures. It is so very cozy to curl up on the comfortable couch in the warm lounge of Kientalerhof and plan the rest of my trip instead of being in the constant rain!