So we drove through five countries today…that makes for a long day.
After breakfast we packed up and with the car loaded we headed toward Stresa. The day is crisp and when I made my first trip to the car with bags someone was scraping ice from their windshield. That made me laugh. But the sun is out and the sky is blue and I’m really feeling blessed because with the perfect weather we get to see ALL the views today. I’m certain we missed lots of great scenery when we drove in to Garmish in the pouring rain.
As we headed out of town we had our destination all loaded in both the car’s GPS and Guy’s phone. Alas, our first hurdle…the road we wanted to take was closed. Several cars were stopped and I rolled down my window and to a young man I said “Entschuldigen Sie bitte (excuse me please) do you speak English” and the young man said “English, yes!” So I proceeded to ask him if the road was really closed and he said “apparently so”, that is what the man in the building next to us told him. But a couple in a car went that way anyway and Guy said let’s follow them. So I pulled around to head back in that direction and before I could pull out they were headed back our way. So Guy was fairly close to a melt down as the next best route around added about 45 more minutes on to our day. Since we weren’t too far from the hotel, we just headed back there so he could talk it out with the staff. The gal at the desk was very helpful and told us we’d indeed have to take a different route, but when we put it in the GPS, it wasn’t terrible, but we’d already lost a half hour at this point and were looking at adding on an addition half hour at least.
I have to say, the way we took today had spectacular views. I’m sure it would have been beautiful in the other direction as well, but we wound through little towns and we were just wowed by the scenery. Traffic wasn’t too bad and we knew it would be an entire day of travel, so we just sat back and took it all in. Mountains of course…the entire day. They went from absolutely crazy fabulous, to just fabulous, then back to crazy fabulous again. At one point we both commented that it almost didn’t look like earth it was so beautiful. But let me just say that we saw mountains in FIVE, yes, FIVE countries today. Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein (yes it is it’s own country …see wiki notes at the bottom of today’s blog), Switzerland and Italy. All today.
Lunch was at Heidiland in Switzerland. I know that sounds funny, but this place was the bomb. This is my first time here, but Guy’s third time. Downstairs it cost $1 to use the bathroom, but there were little tunnels the kids could crawl through for free. Ha! So he was excited to show me this place and talked about the two times he was there with his dad he couldn’t hardly get him to leave. It is basically the best gas stop of all time. And trust me, we love a good AutoGrille. But this place, besides gas, had all kinds of hot food, sandwiches, salads, like a cafeteria, but it also had shops and a grocery store and a little local Swiss-made shop with all kinds of cool stuff. I was going to have a sandwich, but I got one look a the gorgeous grilled vegetables and loaded my plate up (see pics) and clearly my stomach has stretched out during this trip because I ate it all, plus dessert. The day was gorgeous, so we sat outside and soaked up the sun and sucked down the food. Oh my goodness it was so good. From then on in the car I’d just burst out with “HEIDI HO” like I had some kind of Swiss Tourette’s Syndrome.
Once we hit the top of Lake Maggiorie it seemed like the drive was FOREVER, but we eventually made it to our fav destination, the La Palma hotel in Stresa Italy. It’s a bit chilly and damp, but we still went to the top of the hotel for our obligatory shot of Isola Bella, the little island in the middle of the lake near our hotel. It’s whispering “come see me tomorrow” as it has some of the best souvenir shopping in all of Italy (in my opinion). So that will be first on my list of things to do tomorrow, THEN I’ll know what else to shop for after that. Bad thing is I know my way around the town pretty well here, so if Guy needs a nap…well, I’ll just have to grab my purse and hit the shops.
We were pooped from a long day, so we ordered a burger from the bar on the roof of the hotel and sat out in the chilly air eating and reminiscing about how much Guy’s dad loved this place and the good times we’ve had here. I sure does hold a lot of good memories. So after a long but safe drive, we are feeling blessed but headed for showers and bed. Buona Sera from Stresa, Italy.
P.S. what Wiki says about Liechtenstein: Officially the Principality of Liechtenstein, is a German-speaking microstatelocated in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east and north. It is Europe's fourth-smallest country, with an area of just over 160 square kilometres (62 square miles) and a population of 38,749 (in 2019). Divided into 11 municipalities, its capital is Vaduz, and its largest municipality is Schaan. It is also the smallest country to border two countries. Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked country between Switzerland and Austria. An Alpine country, Liechtenstein is mountainous, making it a winter sport destination. Liechtenstein is a member of the United Nations, the European Free Trade Association, and the Council of Europe. Although not a member of the European Union because it was not designed with microstates in mind, it participates in both the Schengen Area and the European Economic Area. It has a customs union and a monetary union with Switzerland. Oh…and the Prince of Liechtenstein is worth $3.5 billion dollars.
No comments:
Post a Comment