Speechaway

 

Arrivederci Italy, Guten Tag Switzerland

Our short but superb time in Italy is now over but we are left with many wonderful memories of this country and its friendly people. We left San Casciano in overcast and showery conditions and pointed our car in the north-easterly direction of Venice. Our accommodation at the Novotel (special deal) was comfortable and a treat for Natalie. She liked the idea of staying in a hotel! We stayed in Mestre which is on the mainland and then took the hotel shuttle bus across to Venice each day. In Venice we purchased a twenty four hour ticket for the vaporrato (a bit like our Citycats but not as flash) which took us all around this fascinating city. It was overcast and foggy but it did not rain on the two days we were there so we managed to see quite a lot including St Mark’s church and Piazza, The Bridge of Sighs and the Rialto Bridge, the island of Murano and of course all the little streets and canals.

We left Mestre in the middle of extremely heavy rain which didn’t stop much for the next 48 hours. We had thunder storms on our two nights in Stresa. Despite the rain we absolutely loved Stresa which is on Lake Maggiore, a most picturesque location. We managed a short walk along the lake with our umbrellas and a drive up the mountain behind Stresa which afforded some lovely views until they became obliterated by the clouds and fog. We ventured into the village in the evening in the midst of the inundation and found a fantastic Pizzeria which was warm and dry and served ‘out of this world’ wood-fired pizzas. Bellisimo!

We drove along the lake on our way to Switzerland and soon found ourselves at the border.  We were waved across–no need for passports. The European borders are very open these days! The climb up the mountain to the Simplon Pass gave Natalie her first look at snow and when we stopped for a rest it actually started to snow, as if on cue. Natalie and Dominic threw a couple of snowballs at each other and I don’t think I have ever seen her eyes or her grin so wide!

We are now in the car-free village of Zermatt- only electric or horse-drawn vehicles allowed. We parked our car in a garage in Tasch and were transported here by a specially licensed taxi. I am writing this as I watch the sun set behind the Matterhorn, its last rays glistening on the snow in our front yard. Does that help to cool you down a bit back there in Oz? We are experiencing temperatures of -3 to 5 degrees centigrade. Natalie loves the snow but is finding the numbness in her toes and on her nose a bit disconcerting. She has never experienced anything like this. We have a beautiful apartment in Zermatt which, of course, is centrally heated making it very comfortable. We have to remember how cold it is outside and rug up accordingly. Today we walked around the village and saw the amazing wooden houses in the ‘old’ section (just like in Heidi!) and the graves for the many climbers who died in their attempt to conquer the Matterhorn. We also took a short cable car ride to a place called Furi and then walked back through the forest.

Tomorrow we leave for Interlaken, followed by a day in Lucern and then back to France for two weeks of family time for Dominic and Natalie while Alison heads off to Nepal for two weeks. Stay tuned for the last legs of this adventure!