Mountains and Lakes
The next part of our trip sees us on the road - leaving the villa, our eyrie for the last fortnight, to explore the Alps. We plan to keep on the move every couple of days, seeing lots of mountains, before finally dropping Sue and Mary off in Strasbourg. It’ll take about a week, but we got routes from the Michelin web site before we went - no problem, right?
First we have to pack the car. Amazingly, the car seems just as full as when we also had David and his luggage in it. He has returned to Perth already, so how can this be? We stuff everything in somehow and set off through the warm morning.
Our destination is Lake Como, one of the many beautiful lakes that dot northern Italy. I have seen so many glorious pictures of it, and am really looking forward to seeing it! The drive is a straightforward, but long one up the autostrada. The highlight is stopping for lunch at an Autogrill that stretches over the road. The downstairs is packed but we head up to the Ristorante. Wow, what a sight! One woman dices fruit in front of us, big juicy chunks, another slices parma ham and melon, another tosses freshly cooked pasta in sauce. Yet another is making risotto in front of us, and another allows you to point to your choice of steak and have it fried in front of you! I try not to think about the equivalent plastic wrapped sandwiches at a British motorway stop as we tuck into the excellent, fresh food.
Finally after a long, long day we arrive. We turn off the autostrada, which has become inexplicably busy at the entrance to Switzerland, and follow the narrow, winding road around the lake to our hotel. It is glorious! The sun is out, the hills around the lake are green and sunlit. We find the hotel and head out for a ferry across the lake. The town opposite ours glows in the sun. Not much in the way of water sports, though. I keep looking out for the windsurfers, as there is a respectable breeze on the lake, but see nothing. Perhaps this area is more for the older tourist than the active ones? Or maybe the active ones head for a different lake?
Our dinner that night is a real treat. We stay at the Albergo Marianna, (recommended), which has lovely rooms with big bathrooms, and unbeknownst to us, a very good restaurant in it. At least I didn’t know, but Fabian it turns out had an inkling! We both order the Lake menu - four courses with a different glass of wine with each course. It starts with a complimentary glass of champagne! I can’t remember the last time I got a complimentary drink at a restaurant. Sue and Mary have smaller versions and we all like the food and wine very much.
The next day is the big one - entering Switzerland and the alps. We’re up and at ‘em, sort of, after a nice breakfast of coffee, cheese, and wait for it, salami! I guess that is the Italian influence on the northern european breakfast of ham and cheese.
We continue to follow the lake out of Italy, and the drive is lovely. The weather has clouded over, and rain drips from the palm fronds that we can practically touch from the car. Yes, the road is narrow. I can’t believe those tour buses! But somehow they make it, we make it, we pass some guys in funny hats and then we are in Switzerland.
Switzerland actually entails some mucking around at first, as we need a sticker to drive on the motorways. To get this we need some money. Having neither we circle the little town of Lugano looking for an ATM. This done, we continue looking for a petrol station. Fortunately it is Sunday morning and nobody else sees fit to be awake, so our unexpected lane changes and dives across driveways don’t bother anyone. Finally stickered up, we head off.
What roads! What a joy! Imagine, if you will, having all of 50 metres to merge with other traffic when entering an Italian autostrada. One gradually gets used to this, hones one’s merging skills, and then one enters Switzerland, a country where normal proportions reign! My god - a full merging lane! No need to rush!
As you can see, we were quite taken with the the roads in Switzerland. And, even with the sticker, they are cheaper than Italy, where you constantly pay tolls to drive on narrow busy roads. And by this time, the mountains were finally starting. We drive along big valleys, with the mountains soaring above us. At one point we cross a pass, fairly low but when we get out for petrol - it’s cold! After two weeks of heat this is a shock.
On the way to Interlaken we pass through the Gotthard tunnel, about 17 kilometres, from memory, and there is a huge queue. It takes us about 45 minutes to actually get to the entrance to the tunnel. The normal tunnel, two lanes each way, has been reduced to one lane each way in a single tunnel. Turns out there was a fire in here a year or two ago, and several people died, so possibly work was still continuing from that time. I’m glad I didn’t know it then.
Finally we reach Interlaken, after a long, long day. This is a surprise because the Michelin guide indicated it would be about four hours. It took us about eight. Hmmm. As we settle into the youth hostel - yes we did, you should see the hotel prices for Switzerland - Fabian and I started to worry about the rest of our itinerary. The next morning Sue and Mary go off for a lake cruise and chateau visit, while Fabian and I, shattered after two days of driving, try to think things through. We open our map, and with dismay look at our next day’s destination - Austria, at least two days drive over the mountains. We had overestimated how far one could go in the mountains - even on the highways, there is just no going fast. Often the highway shrinks to one lane, or there are unexpected delays like yesterday at the tunnel. So a warning about Michelin travel times - they assume you don’t need petrol or loo breaks, and travel in the middle of the night!
Besides, the big thing we came here to see - at 4000 metres, it is a very big thing - is the Jungfrau, one of the biggest mountains in Switzerland and the biggest in this area. There is, apparently, a train you can take almost to the top - about 3500 metres. Unfortunately, right now it is covered by a sea of fog. Fabian decides that dammit, we’re not leaving till we’ve seen the thing. So, we find a hotel for the next few days, and decided to camp out in Interlaken and enjoy ourselves.
Sue and Mary are a bit surprised when they return from their lake day, but I think they understand. They had shopped as if there was no tomorrow, however, which for a while was true!
After a good night’s sleep, the following day dawns clear. We had planned to spend it with Sue and Mary, but Mary sensibly says, “why don’t you go up your mountain today”? We dither, then realise she is exactly right and we should seize the opportunity. Understand that this is not a light decision - the train to the top costs a fortune and takes about two hours. It’s a once off. A wrong choice, and we would be spending a lot to look at fog. And, Mary and Sue aren’t so interested in coming, so it would be a day apart for no benefit.
However, our luck holds. We zoom up the valley to Lauterbrunnen, a little village just above Interlaken. It is absolutely beautiful. Green meadows, little brown alpine houses, blue sky, clouds, mountains. Fantastic! I can understand why people come here. We fork out our small fortune to the ticket lady and board the train. It does take almost two hours, but the views are fantastic. The last 40 minutes is in a tunnel, with several viewing stops along the way. The first couple are cloudy - sob - but I remain positive. When we finally disembark at the top, we fight through the restaurant and head for the viewing platform.
Wow, what a sight. It is indeed clear, and we can see all the way back to Lauterbrunnen in the valley, and over a massive glacier to the other side. We are giddy and ecstatic, taking more photos than we could ever appreciate, thrilled that it’s been worth it. The mountains are like jagged teeth on either side! You can’t see this in Australia!
We have to go and play in the snow, so we head out. The whole complex is very well designed, as it is almost all - several floors - contained inside the moutain. It only looks like a small building from the outside. We are both impressed by the principles this displays - not wanting to ruin a mountaintop with a big tourist complex, but taking the effort to hide most of it. As a result, the way to the snow is through a long tunnel, and we pop out of what seems like mountain into the blindingly bright snow. People are wandering around, sliding around on plastic disks, or hiking across the glacier, all roped together, and even a small ski run (pretty small).
After a while though, we both start to feel funny. We try to recover in the cafe, with some success. We realise it is the lack of oxygen in the air. We know we won’t develop altitude sickness, as we will only be up here for a couple of hours, but we definitely feel the effects of lack of oxygen. It’s not very nice - I feel queasy mainly. Possibly over a few days it would go away, as I have heard from people who fly into high altitude places - Tibet or La Paz - or possibly it would develop into altitude sickness. Regardless, it is a neat way of limiting people’s time at the top - after about two hours we were quite happy to go down. Within half an hour of starting the descent we feel fine!
In all that was a major thrill, and we had a great day. And it turned out we made the right choice, because the next two are even cloudier and rainier than the first. All four of us go on a train-bus-ferry trip, that takes us over the Grosse Scheidegg pass, about 2000 metres, but can see nothing over 50 metres due to fog. The lady next to us was white-knuckled as the bus lurched over the thin road, but she must have been worked up mostly by imagination.
The ferry trip after lunch is a highlight, however. Mist is a bit more palatable on a lake, and the ferry is a steam paddleship! I had never been on one before and I can say that it is extremely comfortable. There is hardly any noise and the ride is very smooth. No wonder they keep it going. I did see a guy pouring oil onto the engine from an old tin can, though :-)
The next day we sigh and say we really must give the bikes a whirl. They haven’t been touched for over a fortnight. Ok, we’ll cycle to Lauterbrunnen. The valley up there is beautiful, and there is a nominal thing to aim for - the Trummelbach falls, a waterfall, fed by a glacier, that falls in a cavern inside the mountain. Perfect for charging an entrance fee to! We split up from Mary and Sue, who as it turns out also head for the area but at a different pace to us, and start the cycle.
At first it is very pleasant, sort-of sunny. After a few kilometers we realise it is permanently up! It takes a couple of hours to go 15 kilometers, all uphill! It is extremely hard work but also very pretty. We collapse into the first car park we see in Lauterbrunnen and head out for the biggest lunch we can find. Fortunately there are no silly rules about when you can have lunch in Switzerland and we order big plates of sausages and chips at a traditional Swiss hotel. It is fantastic and we feel great. I have new respect for the cyclists in the Tour de France - they go up mountains, we go up valley approaches :-).
We do actually walk along the valley to the falls, but more for the fantastic valley than the falls. I suppose it is possible that Switzerland maintains these areas for tourist purposes, it is so damn photogenic! Hard to believe how beautiful green meadows, waterfalls, and brown houses can be. Plenty of cows so they are still theoretically farming. Now when all those guidebooks say “this area is like Switzerland” I will have some idea what they are on about.
Our final morning is a bittersweet one. We are packing the car in blazing sunshine. It is a clear day, a beautiful day to be in the mountains. Who cares how far we have to drive today? Lets visit Lauterbrunnen again and go up the cable car. We do exactly this and it is brilliant. I didn’t realise but the whole valley, not just the floor of it but the sides as well contains villages and farms, these days small guesthouses for skiers and walkers. You can actually stay at the top of a gondola! We make the trip, all four of us up to Gimmelwald. It is something I will always remember - being above the valley, in the bright sun after days of fog, the green grass, the cluster of houses, and the magnificent mountains. It is magic to see and I wish we could stay longer.
Fortunately for our budget though, we have other commitments. The poor old budget has taken a massive hammering in Switzerland and it is time to retreat to somewhere more affordable. However, I would certainly be prepared to go back for a week’s hiking in summer, despite the unreliable weather. It’s just so impressive!
Our last full day with Sue and Mary is uneventful as we shoot up the autobahn to Strasbourg. We have a night in a comfortable hostel, as we reminisce on the last three weeks and they look forward to another week of travel. Fabian and I have a big destination ahead - Scandinavia - and we are already thinking about it.