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Badlands National Park, South Dakota 40 Years National Park on 10th of Nov, 2018 / 80 Years National Monument since 29th of Jan 1939! - Badlands National Park, Zuid-Dakota 40 jaar Nationaal Park op 10 november, 2018 / 80 jaar Nationaal Monument sinds 29 januari 1939!

Badlands National Park, with it’s 1,054,324 visitors in 2017 it was the busiest year of the park since 2000, according to a National Park Service release.
It is not the park that you will choose for your first visit to North America if you come from Europe. But worth a visit if you are in the area, the nearest place with a direct flight from Amsterdam is Minneapolis and it is more than 800 km away. The best option, I think, is a flight to Denver via Detroit, then it is still 600 km to the Badlands NP, but you have more options to combine it into a great trip. See my tip at the end of my blog.
Facts Badlands National Park encompasses 244,000 acres and lies in the Southwestern part of  South Dakota in the United States of America…

Catastrophe in Northern Italy - Catastrofe in Noord-Italië 
Photo credit Walter Donega - www.walter.bz

Northern Italy, dominated by the Po Valley, contains the regions: Aosta Valley, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-South Tyrol and Veneto. And it is precisely here that the last few days of natural violence has taken place, that can be seen as a considerable catastrophe.
Every year, the world has it’s natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, mudslides and wildfires, but the natural violence that has gripped the northern part of Italy is unprecedented.
With this short blog I would like to inspire people in Northern Italy, but especially my friends and acquaintances in Trentino-South Tyrol (Italian: Trentino-Alto Adige, German: Trentino-South Tyrol). My last visit to Val Gardena in the Dolomites, South Tyrol was long and that is why I consider this part of Italy as a second home.
Three weeks ago I left my beloved South Tyrol where I visited beautifu…

Once a Sea, these Days a Jaw-Dropping Terras on Top of the Mountain: La Terrazza delle Dolomiti - Eens een Zee, deze Dagen een Adembenemend Terras op de Top van de Berg: Het Terras van de Dolomieten

White like a beach - La Terrazza delle Dolomiti
While in the Dolomites, I found it time to visit a place I’d never been before: La Terrazza delle Dolomiti.  It is one of those places that express the majesty of nature, the immensity of the sky, the size of man. From all over the world, people travel thousands of kilometers to get up here on top of Sass Pordoi, the most incredible natural terrace on the Dolomites. Reachable by the modern cableway that leads from the Pordoi Pass, in 4 minutes of rapid ascent, to 2,950 m. of the summit. 

When standing at the valley station of the cable car, you will face the spectacle of one of the most beautiful rock formations in the Dolomites:  Sass Pordoi, resting on a rounded grassy pedestal almost suspended above a huge mass of rocky debris crumbling over the ye…

Schlern-Rosengarten / Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park stands for Beauty, Unparalleled Nature and Mountains. - Schlern-Rosengarten / Sciliar-Catinaccio Natuurpark staat voor Schoonheid, Ongeëvenaarde Natuur en Bergen. Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park

During this trip I did my best to find some new experiences and with Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park I was able to do so. This beautiful area is a drive between 35-60 minutes depending on where you go and which route you take, but I will be more precise somewhat later in my Blog.
Basic Information: The Schlern-Rosengarten / Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park, South Tyrol’s oldest nature park, was founded in 1974. This 7,291 hectare protected area is located in the western South Tyrol Dolomites. Schlern / Sciliar mountain is an impressive formation which, together with Santner and Euringer columns, counts as one of the major landmarks of South Tyrol. The Rosengarten / Catinaccio massif, with its countless columns, is also renowned beyond the borders of…

The Queen of the Dolomites: The Marmolada - De Koningin van de Dolomieten: De Marmolada 
The Marmolada seen from Sella Joch/Passo Sella
During my visits to Alto Adige / South Tyrol, I’ve never had the time to visit The Queen of the Dolomites: The Marmolada. Not so strange as the Dolomites are huge and there is so many to see. But this time I thought is was time to the queen a visit and at the same time I could see where a part of the movie The Italian Job as filmed. This was at Lake Fedaia at the bottom of the mighty Marmolade.  So I created a short round trip of about 125 km including some beautiful high mountain passes, just bare in mind that short round trips in the Dolomites mostly end-up as a day trip.


The Marmolada with it’s peak, called Punta Penìa has an altitude of 3.343m peak, is high the highest peak of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and, thanks to its unique characteristics, proudly bears the nickname "Queen of the Dolomites"; the Marmolada is located …

Ötztal: The Valley of Activities for Young and Old. - Ötztal: Het Dal van Activiteiten voor Jong en Oud.


The first part of my trip I spent in the beautiful Ötztal, a beautiful valley with many possibilities. In general, most people will enter the valley from the Inntal Authobahn but I, as stubborn as I always am, have done this with a detour via the Kühtaisattel. This is a 2017m high mountain pass in the Stubai Alps in Tyrol and is a connection between Oetz in the Ötztal and Innsbruck in the Oberinntal. The pass height is near Kühtai a well-known winter sports resort, but also popular with mountain bikers and hikers during the summer. Kühtai does have the absolute features of a winter sports resort

Basic information. The Ötztal is a side valley of the Inn Valley and belongs to the district of Imst in the Austrian state of Tyrol. The river Ötz, also called Ötztaler Ache, flows through the valley. The Ötztal runs in north-south direction and the main road, the Ötztalstraße (B 186) of 65 k…

In Memory of Solden, 5 September 2005 - Ter Nagedachtenis van Solden, 5 September 2005

During my visit to the Rettenbach Glacier I was told that today (September 5, 2018) between 12.30-13.30h the elevator would not go.  This in connection with a tragic accident on 5 September 2005, now 13 years ago.  During a transport flight, a helicopter lost a concrete block with a weight of about 750 kilograms.  He tore a gondola from the "Schwarze Schneidbahn". 9 ski lovers lost their lives.  In memory, it is remembered every year by stopping the elevator.
Bij mijn bezoek aan de Rettenbach Gletsjer werd mij meegedeeld, dat vandaag (5 sept 2018) tussen 12.30-13.30u de lift niet zou gaan.  Dit in verband met een tragisch ongeluk op 5 sept 2005, nu 13 jaar geleden.  Tijdens een transportvlucht verloor een helikopter een betonblok met een gewicht van ongeveer 750 kilogram.  Hij scheurde een gondel van de "Schwarze Schneidbahn". Hierbij kwamen 9 skiliefhebbers om het leven.  Ter naged…