Our latest travel adventure has now officially begun, as of yesterday. We set off for Switzerland yesterday morning, stopping to drop off a reluctant Arran and an excited Noyzi. Poor Arran would prefer to stay with us all the time, but Noyzi is all about hanging out with other dogs and being in the company of his beloved Natascha, who works at the Hunde Pension.
We got to our hotel at about 5:00pm. Bill very kindly brought our portable GPS with us, instead of using the car’s built in GPS. I hate the car’s GPS, because it interrupts me when I’m talking and mutes my music. Also, the portable GPS can give live traffic updates, while the car’s built in GPS doesn’t, because Bill has yet to get a SIM card for the car. The Volvo is capable of providing Internet access, but we just haven’t gotten around to it. But God forbid we go anywhere without using the GPS… On the rare occasions when I drive, I don’t usually use the GPS.
It was cold and rainy when we arrived, so there wasn’t a lot of beautiful scenery to behold. My guess is that this town is kind of manufactured for skiing. I’m sure there’s a history here, but from where we sit, it just looks like a ritzy ski village for wealthy people. Still, there’s snow here, which is different.
We had a quiet evening, because actually getting to the town was an ordeal. There’s a tunnel that only allows a few cars to go at a time, which causes backups. Since the tunnel is just minutes away from the hotel, it was a bit of a pain. Once we got through it, we had to climb a mountain, which had lots of switchbacks. All the snow and rocky scenery reminded me of something out of a sci-fi movie. But as soon as we got to the top of the mountain, there was our hotel. Bill hadn’t been able to find it on the GPS, since it’s a new place, but honestly, if you drive into Andermatt, you can’t miss it. It’s plain as day.
After checking in, we had a beer at the bar, and then decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. If it hadn’t been rainy outside, I think we would have done better to look for a local restaurant, but I didn’t feel like getting a sweater. After dinner, we watched British TV and went to bed. Bill woke up at about 2:00am to pee, and somehow tripped one of the new fangled motion detector lights in the bathroom. The light came on, and flooded through the window by the shower, which lit up the room, and woke me up.
Why are so many newer hotels putting in windows in the shower? I mean, yes, you get the benefit of daylight in the bathroom, but if someone has to get up early, or needs the toilet in the night, the whole room is going to wake up. Ah well, this is a very nice hotel, and a less expensive option than the hotel I found for $900 a night. It IS Switzerland, you know… This place was only $250 a night. 😉
Anyway, we’re going to pack up after breakfast and head to Torrechiara, outside of Parma. That’s where I expect the real fun will begin. Or, at least the real eating… Good thing I brought fat pants. Not that I own any skinny pants. I don’t think we’ll see any snow in Torrechiara.
The one strange thing I did see yesterday, besides the Swiss rest stop that reminded me of a ski lodge and charged 1 euro to pee in (or the equivalent in Francs), was this… We were at a rest stop near Karlsruhe, having a schnitzel break. As we were getting ready to get back on the road, I noticed an older gent on a bike. He had a full beard and long hair, and he wore a bright orange safety vest, but no helmet. He stopped at the trash cans, and that was when I noticed the surgical face mask hanging under his chin.
He then started digging through the trash. Bill commented that he was probably scavenging for bottles. That’s not so strange. I used to do that when I was a very little kid in Northern Virginia. But then, this dude shocked me as I watched him hold the bottles up to eye level, look inside, and DRINK the contents! Then, he nonchalantly put the empties in a bag. I guess he’ll be turning them in for euros.
The whole thing struck me as kind of absurd, though. He was wearing an orange vest… maybe to make him look “official” and safety conscious, like so many Germans are. He also wore a mask, though under his chin. These were clearly “safety measures”. And then he DRANK strange liquids from someone else’s bottles. I was just grateful that at least he didn’t take a piss in front of me, which is what more commonly happens to me at German rest stops.
Well, we’ll see what strange happenings and funny things we’ll experience today. I won’t promise to write every day, but these short jots will help when I write up the whole trip when we get home!