We knew we were in the Alps, as the best spot we could find for a picnic was in the middle of a ski run.
Mooo
Our destination that day was Lausanne, where we spent 3 nights chez maman d’Andreas. This is the view from the roof of her building where she fed us cheese fondue. She was an amazing host.
The next day we went on a walk around Lausanne. The Swiss are amazingly civilized, they even have special places for dogs to pee.
The next day we went on a drive and came upon the town of Gruyere and their castle.
We also stopped for what was now becoming our typical picnic of bread, cheese, and meat.
The Swiss make wine too, apparently.
After departing Lausanne we wanted to see the high Alps, but the weather was promising to be crappy, so we decided to head south to Italy instead and circle back to Switzerland later. We set our course for Torino, via the Great St Bernard Pass.
On the way we stopped at the ski resort town of Verbier. The roads were getting more and more fun for Eugene and less and less fun for Rochelle.
We’re standing on a ski slope, that during the summer is populated by cows
The cows sound like nothing we expected
What road in the Alps would be complete without a multi-kilometer gallery?
More bread and cheese.
Nearing the top of the pass. That structure is a ventilation shaft for the Great St Bernard Tunnel below.
Real St Bernards. The monks who manned the pass bred these dogs, and there is still a kennel up there.
The driving was fantastic, although I didn’t go very fast…the views were just too amazing.
Statue of St Chinese Tourist
The Italian side of the Great St Bernard Pass.
And the descent that awaited us.
After an uneventful night in Torino, across the street from a Fiat factory, complete with guard dog, we set course for Venice. On the way we decided to drive by Lake Como.
The town of Como has a museum dedicated to their most famous son: Alessandro Volta. How could Dr Ro not stop by a science museum?
A voltaic pile and a leyden jar.
Lake Como
Apparently Bellagio isn’t just a casino in Vegas — it is also a town on the shores of Lake Como.
That evening we arrived at our accomodations right outside of Venice and immediately took the train into town.
Following are way too many shots of Venice, but it was difficult getting it down to even this few. It is the most photogenic place I have ever been to — it is out-of-this-world unique and it’s nearly impossible to take a bad photo. Following are a number of bad photos.
Rochelle’s favorite Venetian photo:
One of the best meals of our trip was in Venice at Osteria 1514
Beer delivery!
The fish market was amazing. I bought a hunk of tuna and ate it right there, using my pocket knife to cut it into edible pieces.
Venice is the origin of the word Ghetto. Jews were compelled to live here in the early 1500s.
There is a thriving Jewish community there to this day.
Venice is a maze of streets, canals, and bridges. The streets rarely go more than 50 meters without curving or zig-zagging, so there are no sight-lines. Streets will often abruptly end at a canal, with no bridge available. It is trivial to get lost, which turned out to be a great thing. Rochelle even remarked on its Burning-Man-like immediacy. If you want to experience something that is in front of you, you better do it now, because you’ll never find it again in the maze of streets.
After 3 amazing days in Venice, we reluctantly hit the road back towards a now-much-sunnier Switzerland. We decided to split up the long drive by spending a night in Innsbruck.
But on the way we had to cross another high Alpine pass — Timmelsjoch.
More super-fun roads, more peaks, and more snow.
The highest paved road in Europe
Innsbruck was a fantastic town, and we regretfully spent less than 24 hours here — a night and a morning.
It was Sunday, and we followed our ears to a courtyard with an Austrian woodwind band playing a free concert. There was, of course, a beer stand in the corner.
Mid-day we left Innsbruck and headed towards our Swiss destination: Interlaken.
On the way, we stopped for another picnic of bread, meat, and cheese.
More Alps, galleries, and waterfalls.
We made a special detour to drive through Liechtenstein. It was Sunday, so everything was super-closed, even moreso than other countries. The whole place seemed abandoned, but that’s also because they seem to have zero interest in tourists. The views were nice though.
The road to Interlaken had many lakes. Cliff. Waterfall. Forest. Lake. Looks like a great place for a dacha.
