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Meg VanderLaan and Claudia Schneider have known each other since they were teens and feel as close as sisters, but have met only a few times. Here’s how that works.

VanderLaan, a student studying German in the U.S. and Schneider, studying English in Germany, started writing to each other 43 years ago — with pens, on paper, using the mail — when they were in school. The two were connected through an organization called the International Youth Service, which matched pen pals.

VanderLaan noted that while pen pals came and went with students’ school days, this one became a lasting relationship.

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Schneider always wrote in German — which sent VanderLaan to her German dictionary. VanderLaan always wrote in English, which sent Schneider to her English dictionaries. Even in different languages, the two were able to express their thoughts and feelings. The two girls kept writing as they grew into women, sharing letters and post cards about their lives.

Communication these days is much faster, thanks to email, WhatsApp and other sources but VanderLaan and Schneider have only met in person a few times.

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Still, those in-person meetings are like sisters coming together, VanderLaan said.

The most recent was in early December at Vail’s Sonnenalp Hotel, for a family meal at the Bully Pub.

The Sonnenalp was a good place to meet. The Schneiders, Claudia and her husband, Jochen, operate a guest house in Germany, not far from the home of the original Sonnenalp. The Sonnenalp in Vail seemed like a good place to meet on the couple’s first trip to the U.S.

But this wasn’t the first time VanderLaan and Schneider had met. That goes back to the women’s school days, just a couple of years after they’d begun writing.

VanderLaan spent the weekend with Schneider’s family, and “they treated me like family,” she said. At the time, with no cell phones, a 16-year-old traveling alone in a different country had to rely on good planning and trust.

Arriving at the train station, “I knew right away it was (Schneider),” VanderLaan said.

This latest visit was a great opportunity for VanderLaan to be a tourist in her own country and to show the best things Colorado has to offer to visitors, including Vail Village.

As you’d expect from a place that prides itself on old-world hospitality, Vail’s Sonnenalp gave the Schneiders and VanderLaans a proper welcome.

“It was such a fun meeting,” VanderLaan said of their lunch. The hosts had made up a welcome sign, and owner Johannes Faessler came out for a few moments to greet the party.

Esmarie Faessler said the moment was “totally cute,” adding that the Vail Sonnenalp occasionally has guests who have been to the original hotel.

That doesn’t happen as much these days, she said, but for people to see the Vail property is pretty special, and a big reason why the Vail lodge hews so closely to its Bavarian roots.

“It was great for me to be able to share that hospitality with our guests,” VanderLaan said, adding that the folks at the Sonnenalp are “incredible hosts.”