Thursday, Aug 31
Friday, Sep 1
Saturday, Sep 2
Sunday, Sep 3
Monday, Sep 4
Tuesday, Sep 5
Wednesday, Sep 6
Thursday, Sep 7
Friday, Sep 8
Saturday, Sep 9
Sunday, Sep 10
Sunday, Sep 3 - Through the Alps to Italy
We slept until 9:00, ate a light breakfast, then spent an hour in the saltwater pool. We hated to leave, but had to pack up and check out. We went downtown to get groceries for lunch, then drove up the valley a little farther to see a waterfall. Streets in Engelberg are heated geothermally so they don’t have to plow in winter. The monastery bells rang on every ¼ hour, with LOTS of bells ringing at noon. Everyone was cutting tall grass and raking it up for hay.
We set the German navigation system for Sinio, Italy and followed the train down out of the Engelberg valley. Lots of folks parasailing off the cliffs and mountains. Window boxes full of red flowers, Swiss chalets. Hang gliders.
There was a big traffic snarl going into the Gotthard Tunnel, just before entering Italy. The tunnel is only two-lane traffic and is 17 km (10 miles) long. We ate lunch while waiting in traffic. We accidentally bought some really stinky cheese, worse than limburger, I think. We each had one bite and decided the smell of dirty socks was not appetizing! We also snapped a photo of a fake flagman in charge of slowing traffic down in a construction zone.
South of the pass, the signs were in Italian, even though we were still in Switzerland. This was the Ticino area, which makes good wine! We had some white merlot at dinner on Thursday that came from here. Still lots of mountains to go through.
Just north of Lugano, Switzerland, traffic came to a stop again. Apparently it was because there was an air show going on. We found out later that some rubbernecker had an accident while watching airplanes do stunts. We sat and watched a bi-plane and two WWII planes fly in formation, belch smoke, and do aerobatics – in a mountain valley, of all places! German, Russian and American planes, then British and more American. Cliffs right above the airport! It was bizarre. This was probably close to Gornico, Switzerland. In the picture below you can see the stopped traffic on the left and an airplane in the V of the valley. Nuts. They were doing loops and fast passes.
There was no passport check at the border. We found our way south to Sinio. There are no speed limits in places in Italy, so we went about 110 mph!! The Alfa Romeo remained very smooth. The village of Sinio was on top of a hill, and the castle was right across from the old church. The castello was built in 1142, still has original timbers and stone walls. Very lovely.
Went down to dinner – rabbit, quail, snails, pickled vegetables, chicken marinated in spicy vinegar. Dessert was peaches stuffed with chocolate and almonds, with cream and raspberry sauce on the side. Then we had a reading by an Italian poet/author, Renzo Cremona. It was excellent writing and metaphor, at least as far as we could tell from the English translation. We sat with two other American couples and had good conversation and wine. Barbara, Bob, Doreen and Neil. Beautiful evening, a little chilly and breezy. Ate outdoors, reading was outdoors. Beautiful flowers in the courtyard.
