Country the second: Switzerland

The second country we visited, though we really only drove through it, was Switzerland. We were driving through on our way to Italy from Germany.

We got into a major traffic jam, which we later found out was due to the Gotthard tunnel. After inching forward, sitting for a while, inching forward a little more, we got to the turnoff for the first pass. We decided anything was better than sitting in traffic all day, so we took the turnoff. As we climbed, we could see that the traffic jam went for miles. We then spent several hours crossing three of Switzerland's four passes. This resulted in a very long drive, which only got us 100 km further down the road. But it was a beautiful drive.

The weather was lovely, and we were able to see much of the Swiss countryside. Part way down one pass, we stopped at a restaurant and had lunch. The food was delicious, if a little expensive. One can't fault them: I hate to think what it costs to drive the supplies up every day. Jim had the stone soup. It turns out that this comes from an old story that teaches about neighbourly help.

Ele didn't get nearly enough pictures on this drive.

We finally got back down to the highway we had left earlier in the day, and continued on into Italy. We finally arrived where we are staying quite late in the evening. While we were all quite tired, I certainly think that the scenery was worth it. I hope the others agree.

Rainer