followed by a winding train ride to Corte, a mountain village. This is a popular starting locale for hikers as many trailheads pass near this town. Following 2 days of hiking a combination of a train and bus ride took us to the Il Rousse, a coastal town on the west side of the island. From here we caught a ferry to Nice. We boarded a plane here after a short night stay in Nice for Geneva Switzerland. The rest of the trip was spent in this beautiful mountainous country.

The initial stop in our fourth country was Geneva. There we met with a former Wake Forest student at the World Health Organization and he did a presentation that captured what this giant institution does through out the world. The rest of the day in Geneva was spent touring the city. We then took a train later that evening along Lake Geneva to Montreux. There we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast for 2 nights. On one day we visited Gruyere and toured a cheese factory. Opportunities were also available to take a tour of Nestle chocolate factory, wine tasting in the vineyards, and Evian water plant. Following our stay in Montreux, we traveled by train, bus, and gondola to the Bernese Oberland region. There we stayed at a hostel in Gimmelwald for 2 nights. We hiked to several of the neighboring towns. After our second

Hiking in Corsica

night there we left most of our belongings behind and started hut-to-hut hiking. For these days, we hiked up to 8 hours over snow passes and stayed in huts along cliffs, next to glaciers, and in meadows. Because of heavy snows late in the spring, some of the trails were considered impassable for novice hikers this early in the season. The group then had to make alternate arrangements to enjoy the scenery through hiking, yet find sufficient lodging and transportation for the group. The first hut was the Rotstockhut. We had a fantastic dinner and a good night’s sleep. We then hiked over to a pass to Griesalp and stayed at a hotel. We then took a bus to Kandersteg and stayed for a night. The next morning we walked from Kandersteg to the Fruden hut, which was positioned on a cliff next to a glacier. This beautiful surrounding was breath-taking (along with the hike up there). Being the only guests in the hut, we enjoyed a wonderful feast for dinner. With the help of a personal guide, we hiked down to Kandersteg and took a gondola Sunnboel. We then set off for Gemmsi Pass and stayed at a hotel at the pass. There we enjoyed an authentic Swiss fondue dinner. The next morning we hiked down from the pass to Leukerbad and found lodging. A hot springs pool was available there for play, along with interesting sites in the town to see. The next morning we boarded a train for

This 30 day trip was exciting in that we became a close group, saw lots of beautiful scenery, ate what may have been tons of chocolate, and were challenged by difficult hikes. We all arrived back to the States safe and sound with the realization that the cultures we visited had diverse attitudes and behaviors with regards to eating and being physically active, especially compared to our typical daily lives.

of gelato. This city had unique opportunities for observing physical activity since no cars were allowed. Getting about in the city required much walking through the narrow streets. The next Italian destination was Florence where we arrived by train from Venice. Students toured this historical city and were awestruck by the art and the statue of David. After just a single night here we boarded a train for the western coast of Italy and to experience the Cinque Terra region. In this area of farming villages we walked along a trail from village to village and enjoyed the scenery and hospitality offered by the town’s people. The first night here was spent in Corniglia where we enjoyed a good, home cooked, prepared by all. The next day, we left the village, walked to the end town of Cinque Terra, took a train back to Corniglia where we picked up most of our luggage we had left. We then took a train to Genoa to wait for a ferry to take us to our third country, Corsica, France. Although only 5 nights were spent in Italy, a diverse culture was observed.

Our third destination, the island of Corsica, was reached after a 5 hour ferry ride,. This mountainous place in the Mediterranean is sparsely populated but provided many different eating and hiking experiences. A night in the coastal town of Bastia was

Participants in this trip consisted of 8 students plus the faculty member’s family for a total of 11 travelers. We left from Charlotte on June 1st and returned to the States on June 30th. During our leave we visited 4 countries, walked over 20,000 steps per day, ate countless servings of gelato and Nutella, rode on trains, planes, gondolas, boats, cars, and busses, and stayed in huts overlooking glaciers and in hotels peering down on city streets.