A photo of Wildhaus Pass in Switzerland. Credit: Fred.
The Wildhaus Pass is a mountain valley in Eastern Switzerland, travelling through the Alps from West to East, where it opens onto a wide valley that forms the border between Switzerland, Austria and Lichtenstein.
The Pass has a few towns, including its namesake Wildhaus (The Wild House), this website's namesake Alt Sankt Johann (Old Saint Johan) and the misleadingly named Unterwasser (Underwater).
The major local event is the birth of the reformist preacher Huldrych Zwingli - you can still visit the wooden house where he grew up today. Zwingli was a contemporary of Martin Luther and similarly advocated for a more personal relationship with God based on the written word of the gospels, rather than Catholic tradition. His beliefs spread like wildfire throughout Switzerland, leading a position of temporary political power in Zurich. In the interest of full disclosure, none of the 'interesting' parts of his life occured in Wildhaus.
In 2015, I was lucky enough to spend a month living in a chalet rented on AirBnB (back when it was standard for renters to offer 30-50% discounts on bookings of a month or more). Although I had to work Monday-Friday and it was a 30 minute walk uphill to get to the town's little supermarket, I fell in love with the majesty of the Alps. On Saturdays and Sundays I'd wake up, fill a backpack with a salami, some soft cheese and flatbread, before exiting the house and surveying the two rows of mountains the valley cut through. I'd select a peak on vibes alone and head off in that direction, not stopping until I reached the top.
It's simply idllyic.