Tag: hiking
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Hiking to the Kofel, Oberammergau’s Signature Mountain
Towering over the village of Oberammergau is the Kofel, a Matterhorn-shaped mountain with an elevation of 1,342 meters (4,400 feet). The name Kofel means “cone-shaped mountain” in Celtic, and so hints at the different peoples who once passed through this mountainous part of Germany. The Bavarians we’ve met in this picturesque town are well-versed in the art…
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Hiking to Greece’s Majestic Meteora Monasteries
The monasteries of Meteora, Greece exhibit an impressive blend of natural and human-made beauty. Incredibly, some of these Eastern-Orthodox monasteries have crowned the tops of Meteora’s otherworldly rock formations for more than 700 years. Monks who were trying to escape persecution originally built 24 monasteries in this part of central Greece. Over the centuries, weather…
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Stairway to Heaven: Hiking Through the Batad Rice Terraces in the Philippines
The Ifugao people carved the Batad Rice Terraces out of the Cordillera Mountains more than 2,000 years ago. Often cloaked in a mysterious fog, these magnificent rice paddies are located on the Philippine island of Luzon, about 470 km (290 miles) from Manila. Thanks to their grand scale and their amphitheater-like appearance, the terraces have…
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Snails, Wild Boar & Fairy Tales: Hiking in Heidelberg’s Enchanting Forest
The forested hills cradling Heidelberg’s Old Town have been one of my favorite settings in which to explore and escape for the past decade. Before I met my husband, Shawn, I often made the ascent there independently to ponder life goals or jot hand-written letters to family and friends. Sometimes, I’d take friends or my…
