We decided today not to use the autostrada and it’s numerous tunnels as I’m beginning to feel like a mole occasionally emerging blinking in the sunlight. Instead we headed north to the top of the lake and then east. It wasn’t a swift route, many of the roads have 30kph and 50kph speed limits and a fair few speed cameras. The roads we took went through at least two mountain ranges and on three occasions we climbed on roads that resembled a corkscrew with hairpin bend after hairpin bend, exciting but tiring. We passed through mountain ski resorts that were closed waiting for the snow to arrive.
We left at 9.30 a.m and took a few stops en route but didn’t arrive at Camping Lombardi Sosta on Lake Garda until 5pm. We were weary and will do our utmost not to do a days driving like that again.
After an evening meal we wandered down to Lake Garda and enjoyed the lights shining across the water.
Yesterday we stayed in a Sosta in Verbania, it was only a short distance from the previous nights stopover but the town looked interesting and it had an arboretum/ botanical gardens that were well recommended .
However as we arrived at 11am it began to rain heavily and didn’t stop until 10pm, during the afternoon we donned our waterproofs and took Layla for a long walk and then we went to the supermarket about 30m away to stock up.
This morning it was dry and we headed to Lake Como stopping en route to fill up with LPG, it was a good price!!
A great deal of the journey was on motorways or equivalent,a small section being toll, but we went through numerous tunnels on all the roads, Ive seen more concrete than scenery. However we eventually came out onto a narrow road with a 30 k speed limit that hugged the shoreline and made for some interesting driving as in parts it was only wide enough for one vehicle.
I managed to pull into a small lay-by that was full of cars just long enough to take some photos over the lake.
In the lay-by were two men who were cutting back the growth along a wall, I’m not sure if they had taken the health and safety course.
In the right hand picture he had just pulled his colleague back up over the wall, he had been hanging almost vertical.
We are staying on this campsite near a small town called Dongo, we are parked about 10m from the lake, the pitches are large enough but it can be a squeeze reversing into them. It has superb laundry facilities and for 4 euros you can wash and dry as much as you like and there was an iron and ironing board there for you to use, it goes without saying that Michelle and Alison took advantage of the laundry room.
The site leads right out onto a foot path alongside the lake and there is a narrow shingle beach in places, of course Layla took the opportunity to have a paddle.
We walked a short way alongside the lake before heading inland finding two supermarkets and strangely a bar where we we managed to convey that we wanted a beer and wine.
As I sit here writing this blog at 7.30 pm it has started to rain lightly and thunder is rolling around the mountains with the occasional flash of lightning, tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and warm.
We are staying tonight at Park Camelie in Cannobio after an interesting drive through the mountains and San Bernardino Pass, through many tunnels the longest being 6.6km long. The site is just a few kilometres over the border from Switzerland.
This is what one small section of the road was like.
Small sites for camper vans are called Sostas and tonight’s could hold 20 vans but there are only three of us here, it is in a good position to access the town of Cannobio.
A suspension footbridge from the Sosta over the river into town.
Without prior knowledge, the route we took into town took us through the shopping street, there were plenty of small shops selling specialist foods and there were many free samples outside for passers by to try.
A selection of dried pasta, there were shops selling fresh pasta, ready to cook.Lots of restaurants with reasonably priced meals.Lake Maggiore at the end of the street.Arrived at the lake.I’m not sure why but all around town were brightly coloured fibreglass figures of animals.Just to prove we were in Italy.
We popped into a small supermarket for a few provisions and then stopped and sat outside a bar for a drink, the drinks came with a platter of dry cured ham and a bowl of crisps. We then slowly walked back to the van.
It is five years and two days since we last parked up here! On that occasion it was a Sunday, a local football match was on and the whole car park was rammed, the photo doesn’t show its full extent.
As today was to be our last day in Switzerland we decided to take a slow route to get here travelling on mountain roads and seeing beautiful scenery and pretty villages, it was well worth the effort.
Schloss Vaduz.
One thing I like about Vaduz is the mixture of old and new architecture, the main pedestrianised street is a gallery of modern sculptures.
There are very modern buildings which intrigue me.
The old and the new.Vaduz Cathedral.I’m not sure of the symbolism of having a nan sitting above your door.
The river Rhine runs alongside this car park about 50 m away, there are footpaths and cycle tracks on both sides of the river,the international border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein runs down the centre of the river.
Across the river here is a wooden pedestrian / cycle bridge “ Alte Rheinbruke”
Halfway across.Layla enjoying the pebbles and water of the Rhine.
What a difference a day makes, this was Grindelwald terminal today, no sunshine.
Today we drove an interesting journey, we know that some Swiss cheese have holes in them but did you know their mountains do too. Well they are called “tunnels” and boy did we go through a lot today with the longest being 9km long, in Old Homer the headlights were about as good as two candles, thankfully this Homer has good headlights but to be fair most tunnels have good lighting, in one tunnel today the road split and we went off down a different tunnel on our right.
Our destination was just outside the town of Schwyz which had the terminal for a funicular up to a town called Stoos.
The funicular railway from Schwyz is the steepest in the world and provides access to the car free mountain village of Stoos. You are carried up in what resembles large washing machine drums that self level as you travel up.
Interior of cabin, there are four seats to the left.Passing point.Going down.Our motorhomes parked below.
Stoos is a village located above Schwyz at 1,300m and has about 100 permanent residents but there is plenty of accommodation for visitors. It is used mainly as a small ski resort with a cable car connection to Fronalpstock at 1,922m, we didn’t pay to go up there as the cloud level was as low as Stoos.
One of the first things to catch your eye when you emerge from the terminal is a small church on a hillock.
Stoos Kapelle ( chapel.)The exterior is clad in wooden shingles.Entrance doors.lace altar cloth.
I’m not sure if it was the time of the year or because it was a Monday but there wasn’t anything open other than the bar in The Wellness Hotel where we had a drink before the descent.
Good view but not much grass.A quick rest.Many chalets were decorated.
We enjoyed the wander around but I could imagine it having a wonderful feel covered in snow and busy with winter sport enthusiasts.
We drove a short distance from Schwyz to an aire where we are staying tonight, after tea we all went for a walk down to the edge of Lake Lucerne and as we we were looking at the marina it was evident a storm was rapidly approaching us so we beat a hasty retreat and as we got back it began to rain heavily.
Sphinx Terrace 3,571m , you can get to just below the dome.
We had decided before we left the UK that we would splash out on our journey and take the trip of a lifetime by travelling to what is known as “Top of Europe.” The Jungfraujoch.
We pre booked the tickets the night before to avoid any queues when we arrived at the terminal, it was a whopping CHF211 (swiss francs) each for the return fare and CHF30 for Layla. That translates into a total sum of £399 a rather expensive day out however when you experience the feat of engineering to get you to the top then you understand the price.
We travelled up to the first level on the worlds most modern tri cable gondola that whizzes you up in just 15 minutes, giving wonderful views , and takes you past the North Face of the Eiger.
Going up and going down.We had a gondola to ourselves.
At the terminal you transfer immediately to the rack and pinion train that takes you to the terminal almost at the top of the mountain.
In the 1890’s whilst out hiking Swiss industrial magnate Adolf Guyer Zeller came up with an ingenious plan. The “ railway king” wanted to blast a tunnel through the sheer rock of Eiger and Monch and construct a cogwheel railway right to the summit of the Jungfrau. Locals recognised how this would boost regional tourism and backed his plan. Work began in 1898 but sadly Adolf Zeller died of pneumonia in 1899 however his descendants carried on with the work. It was a long hard job tunnelling through the rock and there were deaths amongst the workers however in August 1912 it opened after 16 years of construction costing 16 million francs twice as much as estimated. When you travel on this train it feels like being on the London tube as you travel inside the rock of the mountain although there is a 5 minute stop part way up for you to see the glacier.
When you arrive at the terminal you are directed to walk through another internal tunnel with a variety of exhibits, you also walk through an ice palace created in the 1930’s. It has to be constantly recut as the warmth generated by thousands of visitors means that the labyrinth has to be cooled to minus three degrees, there are ice sculptures but sadly my photos didn’t do them justice.
Eventually you can emerge onto a snowy area where you can have wonderful views of the glacier and the mountains around.
Aletsch Glacier
To reach the level of the observatory Switzerlands fastest lift whizzes you up in just 27 seconds the views from here are amazing and on very clear days you are supposed to be able to see the Vosges in France and Germany’ s Black Forest.
We selected today to visit as the weather forecast was for fine weather which thankfully was the case, the next few days rain is forecast which would have given the trip a different feel.
We travelled back down to the first terminal and Alison and Peter decided to take the Gondola again whereas we opted for another rack and pinion train down the mountain which was much slower but gave a different view.
Cows by the track with huge bells around their necks.Alison and Peter’s “Fluffles” waiting in the car park.
We drove to Interlaken mainly on the equivalent of motorways leaving Germany and driving into Switzerland, we stopped for lunch and a leg stretch in Interlaken.
The river connecting the two lakes.Hang gliders descending into the park.Who doesn’t love a bear.
I idly thought about purchasing a new watch but it is so difficult to decide on which one.
These were at the lower end of the market.
From Interlaken we drove up a valley to Grindelwald where we had pre booked two nights on a campsite as we hope to visit the Jungfraujoch, weather permitting. The site is a little highly piggly, not the most pretty we’ve stayed on, expensive, but the view of the mountains soaring above us makes it worth it., and it’s the only place we can stay near the station to Jungfraujoch.
After a quick top of food and liquid refreshment at a local supermarket we hit the road and had a relatively easy 50 mile drive here. We are staying on a huge car park with a dedicated area for motorhomes opposite the railway station, the Number 2 train seems to go by very regularly but thankfully it’s very quiet.
After lunch we walked in glorious sunshine about 800m into Titersee which consists mainly of tourist shops, restaurants, bars and hotels.
Michelle and I were here with my sister and brother in law, who lived not far away, in January 2009, the lake was frozen and everything was under a foot of snow, very different to today.
Layla taking a paddle.
Many shops were selling food from the region and of course cuckoo clocks, we bought one, well a fridge magnet sized one.
When we’re here last time it was sub zero temperatures and hard to keep warm, we bought and ate hot food from this shop which we ate outdoors as is the custom.
We ate standing under this awning.
Our purchases were minimal but it was interesting to look,
Michelle bought a new sun hat, sadly half an hour later we had a thunder storm and it rained for a while.Alison looking at some Doc Martin looking boots.A self portrait.
On the outside of one of the shops was a clock with some figures above, suddenly a cuckoo figure made a noise and then the figures began to move.
We had originally intended today to visit Riquwihr, Turkheim, Kayserberg and Eguisheim very attractive towns close to Colmar. However after yesterdays tiring day of driving and being tourists we decided to have a relaxing day, there was also the small problem that if we drove off the camping aire, the pitch we had been using could have been taken by someone else.
So the morning was spent on domestic chores, Michelle did the laundry and I filled Homer with water, emptied the waste water etc …
Many sites have their own systems of operation and this one is different, you pay 17 euros to stay but everything else is extra, €2.50 for 4 hours of electricity, a 9 kg wash was €6 euros and to service Homer was €2.50. You had to use your card to obtain jetons, metal discs to feed into the machines.
On our drive into Colmar we drove past a facsimile of the Statue of Liberty on a traffic island and as we walked around the town there were brass signs engraved with an image of the statue of liberty set into the foot paths.
We set Alison a task to find out why, after a while good old Google enlightened us.
Frederick Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty, this was constructed in Paris gifted to America by France and shipped to the USA in sections . He was born in Colmar and maintained a home there all his life, there is an art museum dedicated to him in Colmar. Hence the images.
We left Metz this morning, filled up with fuel and hit the motorway for a 147 mile drive to Colmar. We are staying on a motorhome stopover at Port de Plaisance for 17 euros a night. After lunch we all walked into Colmar arriving first in “ Little Venice.”
We love this type of architecture and people of France are lucky that so much of it has survived and is maintained well.
We walked on from this area to a park with beautiful fountains, they must have made us thirsty as we had to stop for a beer to refresh ourselves.
From here we headed back into the old town heading for the cathedral which of course I dutifully sat outside, the cathedral was surrounded by buildings so it was difficult to take a photo that did it justice.
The streets from here were lined with old buildings and of course for this area as tradition dictates there had to be a Christmas shop.
It looks like Santa is pinching Michelle’s bum.
As we walked back through Little Venice it was late afternoon and feeling somewhat weary we headed back to the van for the evening.
taraabit 