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Cheese, Chariots and Champions in Switzerland

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Cheese, Chariots and Champions in Switzerland N The Inquirer | SUNDAY, FEB. 5, 2017 |PHILLY.COM|A Swiss surprises TheEastGate marks the main entrancetoRoman Aventicum in Switzerland. MICHAEL MILNE The country offers visitors much beyond the usual attractions, including Roman ruins, Olympic history, and culinary treasures. By Larissa and MichaelMilne with tiered seating. Twothousand years ago, this area FOR THE INQUIRER was Aventicum, the capital of Roman Helvetia, aseg- witzerland intrigued before we even arrived. ment of that vast empire from which modern-daySwit- While researching our trip, we noticedthe zerland takes its name. Today,the amphitheater serves Swiss websites we accessed had adomain exten- as asite for concerts and theatrical performances in the sion of “.ch”. That didn’tmake sense to us; with warmer months. the exception of the dot-com-centric USA, most The area surrounding the town is abit more pristine, Sinternational websitesbear atwo-letter extension indi- where the remains of Roman Aventicum are slowly but cating theircountry of origin. They are typically repre- surely being (literally) unearthed. The scale is massive. sentative of the country name; for example, if you look Historian Bernard Godel drives us to apoint one mile in up aFrench company,itwill likely end in “.fr”. the distance across aflat plain, where the remains of a Why did acountry with neither a“c” nor an “h” in its wall and two squat, crenellated towers stand. name bear that designation? During our visit, we uncov- “This is the East Gate,” he proclaims. “It marks the ered some unique aspects of Switzerland that may not main entrance to Aventicum.” Between here and the have been relatedtothe “ch” designation but that town lay pastures and farmland, punctuatedwith tum- seemed fitting nonetheless. bled marble columns and evidence of archaeological It turnsout the official name of the multilingual coun- digs. Striding through the gate along the remains of the try is Confoederatio Helvetica, Latinfor “Swiss Confeder- Roman road, it’seasy to imagine arriving by chariot — ation.” Besides being apopular typeface, “Helvetica” Visitors can see ahands-on demonstration of the valley’s until the gentle clanging of cowbells brings you back to refers to the Celtic tribe that lived thousands of years traditional cheese production at Le Chalet. present-day Switzerland. ago in what is now Switzerland, even before the Romans Highlights of Aventicum include the baths, where ongo- arrived. As we touredthe regionofVaud,the “ch”start- medieval village with little more than amain street of ing excavationsrevealthe sophisticated systemofdis- ed to make sense in other ways. half-timbered buildings festooned with fluffy scarlet ge- tributing varying degrees of heated water to warm the Chariots: Switzerland is not acountrytypically associ- raniums cascading from the window boxes. floors and fill the bathing pools. Asemicircular theater ated with Roman ruins, yet just 30 miles north of the However,this town boasts something different —at —orperhaps parliament —isnestled amid earthen region’scapital city of Lausanne, an ancient Roman the end of the main street lies what might at first glance works at the edge of town. With its vaulted passageways capital lies tucked amid the cow pastures. At first appear to be alarge oval pit. Upon further examination, still intact,and the stone outlines of the stage delineat- glance, the town of Avenches appears to be asleepy it is the remains of aRoman amphitheater,complete See SWITZERLAND on N5 Rekindling love on thelifts at Breckenridge TENNESSEE | N5 Ashorttrip to theski resortin Colorado,including cozydigs and endless food choices,was justthe pick-me-upfor frazzled parents. By Laylan Connelly ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER nowflakes floating from agray sky tickled my face and sent achill up my S spine. Isnuggled closer to my husband, our Afterthe fires, legs dangling from the lift at Colorado’s Breckenridge Ski Resort, where fresh Gatlinburgisopen snow softly dropped onto tree branches again forbusiness. and formed afluffy,white blanket below as we inched higher and higher up the moun- tain. GADGET “I’m so cold,” Isaid slyly as Ilay my head on his shoulder. GURU | N2 He smiled at the inside joke, aflashback Slipper to asimplertime in our relationship: be- fore kids, beforemarriage, beforeamort- socks worth gage and all the other life stresses that had taking along consumed us of late. Seven years ago, on our third date, we OnceinBreckenridge, it’saneasyshuttle ride to gettothe gondola thatwill takeyou to keep your See BRECKENRIDGE on N4 up to Breckenridge Ski Resort. Breckenridge Ski Resort feet happy. YOUR ALL-INCLUSIVE APPLE VACATION INCLUDES NON-STOP ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE FROM PHILADELPHIA, RESORT ACCOMMODATIONS, ALL MEALS, ALL DRINKS, TRANSFERS AND MORE! 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VIP in resort coupons per room! with Riu Bambu and Riu Naiboa Ask about the Sip, Savor & See Resort" by Apple Vacationers (Very Important Kid) pack for (dinner dining excluded). Dining Experience. in 2016. kids and more. $ * $ * $ * 7 Nts 1299 7 Nts 1349 $ * 7 Nts 1629 7 Nts TUE/THU/FRI, MON/WED, 1399 MON/WED, Feb 27, Feb 23, 28, Mar 2, 9, 14, 17, 24, 30 Mar 29, Apr 3, 19, 24 THU/FRI, Mar 30, 31 Mar 15, 22, 27, 29, Apr 3, 19, 26 H Open Sundays. *Prices per person based on Exclusive Vacation Flight Packages with double occupancy (unless otherwise stated) including round-trip airfare from Philadelphia to Cancun and Punta Cana via Frontier Airlines, or other U.S. certifed air carriers, round-trip airport/hotel transfers, hotel taxes and baggage handling, fuel surcharges, all pre-collected U.S. and foreign taxes and fees including September 11th Security Fee, $10 late booking fee if applicable (for . bookings within 14 days of departure)and the services of an Apple Representative. In some instances, pricing mayspecifcally apply to one of multiple fights on select departure days. $10 Dominican Republic Tourist Card fee payable at resort airport upon arrival-cash only,U.S. dollars. Restrictions/blackout dates mayapply. Visit us at applevacations.com or Call Your Travel Agent! All packages are based on the lowest hotel/air classes available at time of publication, capacity controlled and subject to availability and change without notice. Promotional pricing mayonly be available for alimited time. Some all-inclusive/Unlimited-Luxury/Unlimited-Fun resorts do not include watersports. Baggage fees H Pennsylvania Travel 800-778-7014 Ventresca Travel 215-674-3662 apply for carry-on, 1st and 2nd checked bag based on carrier fown. Please see afull description of baggage fees on www.applevacations.com. Apple Vacations is not Boscov's Travel 800-755-8020 H Colony Travel 800-365-8543 responsible for errors or omissions. Cancellation policies apply.See the Apple Vacations Fair Trade Contract ©2017. CST2036061-40. nad_0971_020517_PHL_cl PHILLY.COM | SUNDAY, FEB. 5, 2017 |THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | N5 Switzerland Continued from N1 ed, it’snot hard to envision atoga-clad senator issuing proclamations. Champions: Despite Helvetia’srelation- ship with the Romans, the city of Lausanne has aconnection to ancient Greece, albeit a more modern variety.Housing the headquar- ters of the International Olympic Committee, it is billed as the “Olympic Capital.” Here in a small park, the eternal Olympic flame burns in asculpted bronze cauldron, keeping the spiritofthe Games alive between global events. The OlympicMuseumprovides astir- ring history of the modern Games, inspir- ing visitors as though theywere once again watching the United States hockey team upset the Soviet Union in 1980. You can even watch avideo of that famous moment. The museum entrance sets the tone for athletic accomplishment: Visitors pass beneath ahigh-jump bar set at the Olympic record of 7’ 10”. Craning up at the bar,itseems impossible that any human could hoist his entire body over it. The story of French sportsman Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympics, is chronicled, along with adisplay of the first five-ringed Olympic flag, stitched to- gether by the Bon Marchedepartment store in Paris. Wall-size screens project Etivaz cheese is produced to strictstandards —coming only from chalets in mountain pastures between altitudes of 3,000 and films of top Olympic moments set to a 6,000 feet, and made with milk produced only between Mayand October. MICHAEL MILNE crescendo of dramatic music. In asepa- rate, hands-on area, visitors can test their reaction, strength,and balanceskills If yougo against those of Olympic champions, bring- The Lake Geneva Region, ing soaring hopes plummeting backto known officially in Switzerland Earth. as the Canton of Vaud, is the Examples of the medals and the torches “province” on the northern from past Summer and Winter Games are shore of Lake Geneva. It is on display.Additionally,sports fans can reachedeasily by flyinginto search for artifacts fromtheir favorite thecity of Geneva, 30 miles to Olympians; included are the torn leotard the southwest. The region’s gymnast Kerri Strug wore in Atlanta when capital city of Lausanne, she vaulted to gold on an injured ankle, perchedright on the lake, the outfits ice dancers Torvill and Dean makes agreat base for touring wore in their Sarajevo performance that the area.
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