We got to the airport and picked up the car without any dramas. Frances’ back is still sore so we’ll be taking it a bit easy.
With the aid of the GPS (after we convinced it that we were in Switzerland and not Holland) we headed south to Italy with only one major wrong turn, and a couple of small ones. The drive was interesting as the landscape slowly changed to snow-covered mountains, lakes and picturesque Swiss cottages. I swore that I could hear the sound of music, but it was only the wind humming through the high tension power lines. The scenery was spectacular, but no more than the south island of New Zealand, or parts of Australia. It’s just that it’s different.
We drove through many tunnels, the longest being 17kms long which felt weird after about 10 mins driving through this completely artificial environment.
By late afternoon we arrived at the top of Lago Maggiore and slowly wound our way south along a narrow road until we arrived at a small town called Brissago. Still in Switzerland, but very close to Italy, and everyone speaks Italian. Being a bit late in the day, we picked a small hotel (Hotel Morettina) at random and booked in. The town is perched on a hill on the western side of the lake, the hotel is up the hill a bit, and our room is on the top floor. The hotel is very simple rustic, but, compared to the hotel in Basel, our room is a triumph of usability over design. On top of that it, has a spectacular view over the lake.
The weather was a balmy 26-27C (as opposed to 17C in Basel this morning) so we went for a walk along the lake and stopped at La Gabietta pizza restaurant for dinner. There we were, having a very nice dinner, a glass of wine, and watching the last rays of the sun hitting the other side of the lake. There were some smokers at a nearby table so it wasn’t absolutely perfect.
What was perfect though, was an evening walk after dinner, and after returning to our room, watching the full moon rising over the eastern hills. I believe it’s the same moon that you see, but it looked pretty good here.
With the aid of the GPS (after we convinced it that we were in Switzerland and not Holland) we headed south to Italy with only one major wrong turn, and a couple of small ones. The drive was interesting as the landscape slowly changed to snow-covered mountains, lakes and picturesque Swiss cottages. I swore that I could hear the sound of music, but it was only the wind humming through the high tension power lines. The scenery was spectacular, but no more than the south island of New Zealand, or parts of Australia. It’s just that it’s different.We drove through many tunnels, the longest being 17kms long which felt weird after about 10 mins driving through this completely artificial environment.
By late afternoon we arrived at the top of Lago Maggiore and slowly wound our way south along a narrow road until we arrived at a small town called Brissago. Still in Switzerland, but very close to Italy, and everyone speaks Italian. Being a bit late in the day, we picked a small hotel (Hotel Morettina) at random and booked in. The town is perched on a hill on the western side of the lake, the hotel is up the hill a bit, and our room is on the top floor. The hotel is very simple rustic, but, compared to the hotel in Basel, our room is a triumph of usability over design. On top of that it, has a spectacular view over the lake.
The weather was a balmy 26-27C (as opposed to 17C in Basel this morning) so we went for a walk along the lake and stopped at La Gabietta pizza restaurant for dinner. There we were, having a very nice dinner, a glass of wine, and watching the last rays of the sun hitting the other side of the lake. There were some smokers at a nearby table so it wasn’t absolutely perfect.What was perfect though, was an evening walk after dinner, and after returning to our room, watching the full moon rising over the eastern hills. I believe it’s the same moon that you see, but it looked pretty good here.
