Switzerland

Other than the first couple of days in Amsterdam, we have been blessed with wonderful weather.

There has to be few things in this world more enjoyable than witnessing someone encounter new experiences for the first time. There have been many ’wow’ moments for mum. For the both of us. I could have crashed the car a dozen times over with her ’ahhh, OMG Tarsh look at that, and that over there’ as she thrashes her arms in front of my view of the road. It’s been fantastic.

We are currently in St Moritz in Switzerland and couldn’t ask for more perfect days. They had a half metre dump of snow just days before we arrived and we spent 5 days watching it slowly melt away until it snowed again last night ready for another perfectly sunny day.



Every morning we have made our way around the 5km lake, sometimes twice. And every time we are in awe of its beauty. If people aren’t walking, cycling or jogging around it, they are rowing or sailing on it. Mum complains I take too many photos. I say I haven’t taken enough!!

Mum’s biggest phobia in the world is horses. One morning on our way around the lake, mum froze, reached her stiff right arm in my direction and said ‘horse!’. One had managed to get out of its pen less than 50 metres from the pedestrian path. Before I had a chance, mum reassured herself out loud to say ‘if I don’t show fear, it won’t bother me..’. She was right, I slowly put myself between mum and the beast only to have it looked in our direction then went about its way eating.
Once mum was safely ahead, I took photos. :-)

Tomorrow we are heading to Munich for the Oktoberfest via Liechtenstein. Mum’s idea, not mine. I’m absolutely serious AND she doesn’t’ even drink beer!!! But we are looking forward to the experience of what we are sure will be a crazy ride. Mum has promised to look after me – the beers only come in Steins (1ltre) and I am so out of practice drinking, a few sniffs of the fumes and I think I’ll be half drunk.

We then head back to Switzerland where we will spend a couple of days in Lauterbrunnen exploring the central and West Coast before making our way to France.

Rewinding back to Italy……., after our ‘police encounter’ somewhere between Rome and Naples, we followed the coast down to a cute little town called Pozzuoli. A lovely little town where there were few international tourists. Mum wasn’t keen Naples, for its traffic and rock beaches.



We then went to Pompeii and left as quickly as we had arrived, almost taking a wrong turn and heading to Sorrento. Instead, we spent the night at a well-lit parking bay somewhere off the highway where we witnessed a wild Italian storm at its best. If the fierce thunder and lightning didn’t wake us, the wind rocking the car did. It lasted most of the night and the following day. Looking back we were extremely grateful for the timing of the storm. 2 hours earlier and we would have been in trouble. After spending the afternoon and night fighting the crazy Italian traffic, we managed to get a flat tyre around 10pm exiting the freeway – VERY BUSY FREEWAY! In the dark we unloaded our luggage (after shoving stray items back in our bags first) and searched for the tyre – after finding out how to lower it from under the car, we proceeded to raise the car but found no wheel jack. Seriously – nothing to unlock the nuts! Just as we were contemplating flagging a car down (it was now 10.35) flashing lights pulled up behind us. First we thought it was the local road rescue guys but after a second truck arriving, we realised they were Ambulances. Once we initially pulled off the freeway, we put out the safety triangle to warn oncoming traffic. As chance would have it a passer-by must have alerted the emergency services not knowing if we were ok. Unfortunately none of them spoke English (although 1 was very cute) but after a little sign language and them understanding we had nothing to undo the bolts (and searching the car themselves), the first ambo sent the second ambo away to find one. What awesome guys. They returned about 20 min later with a wheel jack but refused to let us change it, so by the headlights of the car behind, they quickly changed it, reloaded our luggage and sent us on our way with a few enthusiastic waves. We said our thanks with a key-ring Koala. They were chuffed and gave us an escort out with sirens!

The next day we did a little exploring of teeny towns on our way toward the Tuscany region. We arrived at night and parked the car at Lucignano, a place I knew was beautiful. After a couple of Amarula and milk’s we drifted into a deep sleep and woke on sunrise to the stunning views of the magnificent Tuscany region. It was special to be able to share it with mum. So many castles which she really appreciated.



Again after making our way slowly through the windy roads and taking plenty of opportunities to grab a photo, we found our way to Siena where we stayed in luxury - a tent!! It actually was awesome.



The camping grounds were amazing, the staff friendly and beds comfortable. Oh and the restaurant was amazing. Mum found the best lasagne she has ever had. She even had it for lunch again the next day. She still talks about it. We spend time relaxing, catching up on a few emails and changed the tyre.



After Siena and following the advice from a few locals, we visited a brilliant and surprising little town called Monteriggioni (a little village in castle grounds). We chose a restaurant according to its pasta selection and mum found another amazing lasagne. And I had a glass of the best wine I’ve had in years. Yummo!



Mum was super keen to have ‘real’ spaghetti bolognaise in Bologna so following mum’s instructions, she chose to skip Pisa (too touristy), Florence (too big) and Cinque Terra (too much walking) and we headed straight for Bologna. We made it to town in perfect timing for lunch. We found this little restaurant/cafe and ordered. I think mum’s expectations were very high as she was disappointed. I assured her we would find another restaurant (Trattoria) to give it another go. We headed out of town and after deciding where to go next, spending a few hours relaxing and drinking the best coffee in the world (I’m always ruined after visiting Italy) we stumbled across this great busy restaurant operated by and teeming with locals. We had the ‘perfect’ bolognaise as well as impressive tortellini, parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar which all originated from this area. We left very satisfied!!



We enjoyed our time in Italy but we had decided to move straight on to Switzerland – the most anticipated place in the world for mum. Ever since her honeymoon in Tasmania 38 years ago, 2 places she has dreamt of visiting was Switzerland and Scotland (numerous people told her that Tasmania was a combination of the 2 countries). She was itching to get here and she has not been disappointed. And neither have I. I have seen different, more stunning parts of Switzerland I didn’t know existed. The pass from Tirano on the Italian border to St Moritz was quite possible the most beautiful road in the world. Actually it was one of the top 10 roads to drive in the world according to Top Gear and I now know why. We will be experienced 2 other roads they also voted in their top 10 later this week.



The view from our apartment is a stunning unspoilt panorama of the Alps. We also have a large balcony to appreciate it and full sized kitchen where we have been appreciating home cooked meals – it has been so very nice to have a little food in a fridge again. It is also a treat being able to unpack our clothes and not share a bathroom. The little things..

Mum has experienced much of what she had hoped in Switzerland. She has witnessed the alps, seen and touched (and ate) snow, seen a typical Swiss chalet, come close to cows with cow bells and a chair lift. The one thing she has wanted to do which I have been unable to organise yet (I’m working on it) is to hear a local yodel. Uhuh!

Travelling in Europe again, especially the Czech Republic, Netherlands and Italy, has brought back many memories of travelling 3 years ago. It has been great reliving some awesome memories but happier to be experiencing new ones with mum. :-)