If you have ever read my author profile on Amazon or “about bio” right here on this website you will have read this:

“My early years in continental Europe meant family holidays immersed in the bewitching beauty of Bavaria, the Swiss and Austrian Alps. These locations inspire some settings and even events in my stories.”

The part of the world that most inspired The Kingdom of Valendo setting is the Jungfrau region of Switzerland near Interlaken. Covering an area similar in size to Disneyland, Florida it is a playground stuffed with mountain railways, cable cars, hiking and mountain biking trails, winter ski slopes and some of the worlds most breathtaking scenery. In the late 1970s early 1980s my parents took me here twice, I took my new bride there on our honeymoon in September 1992 and in August this year (2018) we returned with our three train-mad boys to share it with them. For the boys it was the best holiday they had been on except perhaps for Disneyland the year before.

A few shots that inspired the landscape from Tranmure to Dendra Castle in The Kingdom of of Valendo

Grindlewald

Approaching Kleine Scheidegg

From Kleine Scheidegg

View of Jungfrau from Kleine Scheidegg

Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen

The “waterfall like no other” in The General’s Legacy Chapter 5 Diplomacy and Espionage

This one is a video – the only way to do the waterfall justice.

Edit November 11, 2018: In one place in The General’s Legacy I described the waterfall as jetting horizontally out of the rock. This description was inspired by the following photo featuring me on my honeymoon in 1992.

You can find the Jungfrau region right here on Google maps.

There is one key location I have not covered in this post because it was too far away for us to visit with children but my wife and I did visit it years ago on our honeymoon with a 3 hour each way car drive to get there. I’ve found a great video on youtube documenting the making of a real life fantasy castle. Follow this blog or join my email newsletter to get notified when I publish a new blog post about this soon.