From Switzerland to Italy and back! In this part of the world you start getting used to switching languages three times per day! I'm not quite sure what language I was speaking with the locals in the end on this gorgeous travel day but I now call it "Frengermtalianglish"! Somehow the locals end up understanding me! It might be the Italian sign-language I was using that helped!
Leaving the mighty Matterhorn behind I headed north to "car-friendly" Tasch where I re-acquainted myself with my vehicle after three days. Had to remind myself to stay on the right hand side of the road at one point! The journey back down the valley and onto the highway is a pretty one but it's not long again before the slow and steady climb begins again. The many switchbacks along the road up to the Simplon Pass lead to the south-eastern gateway into Repubblica Italia! A beautiful mountain road and I had the good fortune of some spectacular weather on the way up to the pass (or maybe I just had my new whizz-bang Nikon set to "make the sun and clouds look sort-of-special"-mode!)
 |
|
Throughout most of the alpine regions of Switzerland (well,thats about 80% of the country anyway!), Austria and France there are amazing tunnels for those that wish to avoid these mountainous roads and save some travel time. Given their geography the Swiss and Austrians have become experts at tunnel building and to drive through some of their tunnels that can be up to almost 18km in length you get an idea of the incredible civil engineering capabilities they have! There is even a new "train"-tunnel (ie you load your car onto a train at one end and drive off it at the other) that is around 57km in length in Switz! But amazing as they are, for me the true way to experience the beauty of this part of the world is to go "up-and-over"!!
After descending from the 2005m Simplon pass it takes around 45mins to cross the border into Italy. (I have a feeling the Swiss road-builders might have topped up the bitumen a bit to crack the 2000m mark!) It's a slow yet stunning drive down through a tight ravine before finally arriving above the shores of Italy's biggest lake, Maggiore. Fed by the waters created by snow-melt, the limestone-rich mountains give the lakes in this part of Europe an incredible green colour that at times almost seems unreal.
 |
| Isola Bella from Stresa |
 |
| Isola dei Pescatore |
Borromean Islands
The big thing to see on Maggiore are the two Borromean Islands just off the pretty,yet exclusive lakeside village of Stresa. The smaller, Isola dei Pescatore being a small fishing village and the larger, Isola Bella being the home of an ornate Italianate mansion built in the 1600's that has played host to the likes of Napoleon and "not tonight"-Josephine as well as ("not tonight Charles"?!) Princess Di. Palazzo Borrommeo is a truly magnificent building with incredibly fine interior details including a large "faux"-grotto created in the lower rooms however it's for its amazing formal gardens that it is most famed.
 |
| Local Italian deli on Isola Pescatore |
 |
| Isola Bella (mansion side) |
 |
| Palazzo Borrommeo |
 |
| Isola Bella giardino (gardens) |
Difficult to drag oneself away from Isola Bella (and especially the limone gelati I had there!) but Switzerland was once again calling and so 2 hours later (or 1.5 if my GPS hadn't failed me at a VERY crucial moment at an autostrada fork! Funny how we come to rely 100% on technology at times rather than gut instinct! Am getting lazy on European roads these days!) I arrived in the Swiss lake-resort of Lugano!
 |
| Monte San Salvatore and Lugano South |
Now if any city in Switzerland can claim to be the Swiss version of the "French Riviera" then this must surely be it! A deep dark green lake surrounded by endless mountains, boardwalks, funicular rides, ritzy hotels and restaurants, casinos and more Ferrari's, Porsches and Mercedes than a yodelling leder-hosen wearing Swiss mountain farmer could poke his alpine horn at! ("And-your-old-lady-tooooooooo"! There's a story behind that which I shall leave until I touch on French history!!)
 |
| Monte Bre and Lugano "centro" |
 |
| Had to wait almost 10 minutes for a decent pose from this "local"! |
Monte San Salvatore
 |
| Halfway point |
So there are two options when it comes to getting an aerial view of Lugano and its lake (not including helicopters that is!) Monte Bre at the northern end of town and San Salvatore at the southern end. Both have funiculars that are over 100 years old and the one at San Salv celebrates 121 years this year. ( I was telling two elderly English ladies in the old carriage on the way up that it's STILL the original cable from 1890 that drags it up to 882m and not to worry as it only breaks once per year so their odds are pretty good! As they turned pale I told them I was only joking and that the original Swiss cable was now in a museum and was far too expensive and reliable so they now use a cheap one from a western province of China they bought on Swiss eBay. How to win friends and influence people!)
 |
| No trick photography or filters,thats its colour! |
 |
| "THAT" cable! |
 |
| The "autostrada" south to Milano |
At the top of Monte San Salvatore is an old church, you guessed it - Chiesa San Salvatore. A cute church which I don't think gets much of a congregation early on Sunday mornings but as far as views go I don't know many churches that out-do this one!
So, a gorgeous part of the world but next time, more on Lake Lugano and the BIG name amongst the three lakes in this "series" - Como!!
Arrivederci, ce videamo dopo e a la prossima and CIAO!
Leaving the mighty Matterhorn behind I headed north to "car-friendly" Tasch where I re-acquainted myself with my vehicle after three days. Had to remind myself to stay on the right hand side of the road at one point! The journey back down the valley and onto the highway is a pretty one but it's not long again before the slow and steady climb begins again. The many switchbacks along the road up to the Simplon Pass lead to the south-eastern gateway into Repubblica Italia! A beautiful mountain road and I had the good fortune of some spectacular weather on the way up to the pass (or maybe I just had my new whizz-bang Nikon set to "make the sun and clouds look sort-of-special"-mode!) 
Throughout most of the alpine regions of Switzerland (well,thats about 80% of the country anyway!), Austria and France there are amazing tunnels for those that wish to avoid these mountainous roads and save some travel time. Given their geography the Swiss and Austrians have become experts at tunnel building and to drive through some of their tunnels that can be up to almost 18km in length you get an idea of the incredible civil engineering capabilities they have! There is even a new "train"-tunnel (ie you load your car onto a train at one end and drive off it at the other) that is around 57km in length in Switz! But amazing as they are, for me the true way to experience the beauty of this part of the world is to go "up-and-over"!! 
After descending from the 2005m Simplon pass it takes around 45mins to cross the border into Italy. (I have a feeling the Swiss road-builders might have topped up the bitumen a bit to crack the 2000m mark!) It's a slow yet stunning drive down through a tight ravine before finally arriving above the shores of Italy's biggest lake, Maggiore. Fed by the waters created by snow-melt, the limestone-rich mountains give the lakes in this part of Europe an incredible green colour that at times almost seems unreal.
Monte San Salvatore
No comments:
Post a Comment