We enjoyed our stay in Emilia-Romagno but it was time to move south. Today was our longest drive since we have arrived in Italy at 250 kilometers. We had checked the weather for Parma last night and it showed cloudy so we were caught off guard when it started raining steadily around Bologna. But fortunately we were on good roads the whole way, and we passed thru several long tunnels which gave us breaks from the rain.
This is our second time in Tuscany as we visited Florence, Lucca and Sienna during our first trip thru Italy in 2019 and enjoyed them all. This time we are focusing on smaller towns. Our campground is a couple of kilometers outside of what looks like a beautiful town called San Gimignano. We thought about going into town when we first arrived, but just as we settled in the skies opened up and it rained hard for the next couple of hours. Finally around 4pm the clouds blew thru and we had a beautiful blue sky.
San Gimigagno on the next hill over from our campground.
I convinced Ton to go on a short walk after dinner. I didn’t expect her to go far as evening walks are something she usually does for me, not her. But the Tuscan hills worked their magic on her. Before I knew it she had walked nearly to town admiring the vineyards, olive orchards and homes when I reminded her that it was getting late, and she reluctantly turned around.
The view out the front window of François.
While our campground is surrounded by beautiful hills on 3 sides, the fourth side is the town soccer stadium where there has been a series of practices going on for the last several hours. Its a good thing I am a soccer fan, and have found the practices mildly entertaining if a little noisy.
Every trip there is a place that surprises us. We may have vaguely heard of it, or not heard of it at all, but at the end of the day we return to François and realize that we have just experienced something great and unexpected. Parma is one of those places for us.
A beautiful quiet street in Parma.
As is usual when we visit an European city to have google route us from where we are staying to the center of town I put in the cathedral as our destination as it always in the center of the old town. After a short bus ride in a very busy bus we got off at a stop next to the river. It was market day so the walk to the main square was thru bustling streets as people were out looking for bargains. But there are two types of bustling streets, one we like which is when the people who live in the city are out doing daily activities. It is fun to see how life in the city works, and the people of the city go about their lives. Trying not to sound like travel snobs, the other type of bustling we do not like is places full of tour groups being hustled from point to point on three hour tours. We know we are tourists also and from a locals perspective probably just as big a nuisance as the tour groups, but we tend to stay in towns longer, shop in the local groceries as well as eat in the restaurants, and try to see the city we are visiting in more than three hour increments.
The Baptisery of Parma, a very unique Romanesque building.
The first building that began to make Parma a special stop for us was the Baptisery located next to the Cathedral. As large and imposing as the Cathedral is, as soon as we entered the square both of our eyes were drawn to the Baptisery. It is a six sided tower made of pink marble. As the name implies it was built as the place for baptisms to occur. We have seen a couple of other stand alone baptisteries in other cities, but not one as interesting as this one.
Above each door of the Baptisery there were bas reliefs carved in the pink marble.
We both circled the exterior of the Baptistery a couple of times before turning to the main building on the square the Cathedral. From the outside the Cathedral was typical Romanesque architecture. While imposing it was not particularly interesting.
The interior of the Cathedral was a real treat.
But the inside was beautiful. Parma was a center of arts during the middle ages and the art work and frescoes inside were stunning to us. Usually we stay together when we go thru these big religious buildings, but today we tended to be drawn to different pieces of art. We both found different things to focus on, and came away awed by what we saw.
One of the large and beautiful frescoes in the Parma Cathedral.
We were truly impressed by the Cathedral and the Baptistery but that was not the highlight of our day. Our next stop was the Farnesene palace or as it is called now the Pilotta Palace. The Farnesene family ruled the Duchy of Parma for about 200 years. Once again the exterior of the palace while quite large is nothing spectacular visually. But what we found inside was spectacular.
The Farnesene palace in the background with a monument to Italian anti-fascist partisans in the foreground. An interesting note, Parma was liberated from the Germans by a joint force of Italian Partisans, and the Brazilian Expeditionary Force that fought under US command in WWII.
There are three distinct places to visit in the palace, a theater that has been in place since 1618, a library and a museum of art. The primary draw is the theater and it was what motivated us to pay the admission fee to see all three.
This structure is built entirely of wood and set up in a large hall in the palace.
We started in the theater and it is an incredible room. A huge hall in the original palace was converted into a theater by building a large wooden stand inside the building. In addition to the main stand of wooden benches ther are two levels of boxes each with ornate wood carved arches. It is an amazing place. We would love to see a concert here, but had to settle for a video concert being projected on a screen on the stage. But even though the music wasn’t live we were engrossed. When the video ended we left the hall and entered the area backstage.
One of the paintings from the Italian art museum in the Farnese Palace.
When we entered the backstage area we though we would loop around the back and come back out in the theater. But instead, we ended up on a magical two hour tour of Italian art from the 1100’s to modern time.
Church art from the Romanesque period. Early in our tour of Italian art.
The tour included over a thousand beautiful paintings, and in addition to just exposing us to great art, it explained to us the different periods of art, and the prominent artists in the region. It was focused on art in the region around Parma, but included art from other parts of Italy. Even for complete novices like us it was a fascinating trip. We were exposed to hundreds of beautiful pieces of art in a way that both educated us on the differences in style and what caused them to come about.
This was one of Ton and my favorite paintings. The style and form seemed quite modern to us, but this painting is from the 1600’s. It was not popular at the time, but it has aged well.
We have been to quite a few museums in our travels to Europe but this one is my personal favorite. It also helped that there was plenty of time to stand in front of a piece of art and enjoy it without the pressure of large crowds of people.
Head of a Women called La Scapaliata by Leonardo Da Vinci.
We came across a beautiful portrait by DaVinci that we both loved. Unlike the Mona Lisa we had never heard of this piece of art, but it was fascinating. Also, unlike when we tried to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre we had the painting to ourselves for the entire time we admired it. So after admiring the La Scapaliata by ourselves we had a much better understanding of Da Vinci’s genius than we did trying to glimpse the Mona Lisa thru a crowd of tourists all trying to get a selfie with the painting.
A cabinet for priests clothes, paintings were not the only beautiful art on display.
After we finished with the art museum we moved to the library in the palace. It was another fascinating room. The library is about 100 yards long and is lined with old books its entire length.
The beautiful library in the palace.
A large part of the palace was destroyed during WWII by allied bombing. But they were able to preserve a significant portion of the books.
A small selection of the books preserved in the library.
The Pilotta Palace was one of the best museums we have ever visited in Europe. We were truly awed by we had just seen, but we were hungry so lunch was in order. Both places on Tons list were closed and after walking thru the palace and around the streets to the closed restaurants, we were by now really hungry, so as we were walking down the street we saw a Pizza Place and decided that was good. The Pizza while not spectacular did the job.
Another theater in Parma. Parma is a real cultural center for this part of Italy.
The day had turned a bit gray while we were in the theater and seeking out lunch, so we decided to head back to the campground. But as we were riding the bus we noticed a Supercenter market for one of the big Italian grocery chains Esselunga. So the end of our day was spent doing some grocery tourism. Ton was quite happy.
It was supposed to rain heavily today about noon so we were up early to move down the road to Parma. It took less than a hour to arrive at an Aire next to a busy highway. The good news the aire was less than 50 yards from a Lidl. So we got a good shop in before the rain started. This time weather.com was right and right about noon the heavy rain kicked in for the rest of the afternoon. So our day was spent relaxing and watching movies. Tomorrow we will visit the city.
We shifted our base about 50 kilometers today to Modena. Modena is probably most famous these days for being the home of Pavarotti. Ferrari’s headquarters and plant is located about 10 miles from Modena in a small town called Maranello, so there are a lot of things Ferrari in the area also.
Our first view of Modena. A lot more bicycles than Ferrari’s.
Ton had prepared a list of places to visit so we headed to the first one on her list, the indoor market. The market was a nice mix of shops with everything from fruit and vegetable stalls to fish and meat. It was clearly set up to cater primarily to locals and not tourists. This is the kind of market we like.
The market had this nice fountain of a woman shopping right in the middle.
We made a pass thru the market and spotted a couple of items we were interested in, but decided to come back after lunch. The region is known for its Balsamic vinegar and there were a couple of stalls featuring that as well as a particular bread unique to the region that we wanted to buy.
The balsamic vinegar stall, one of the few in the market dedicated to tourists.
Ton had read about a restaurant across from the market so we decided to go there for lunch. Yesterday our giant charcuterie plate had blocked us from trying two local specialties we were interested in. So when we sat down we were very pleased to see they had both Lasagna Verde, and Ragu Tagliatelle on the menu. We ordered one of each as well as a meat dish prepared with Balsalmic Vinegar. With one order we had covered three of the most famous foods in the region. The Ragu was memorable and one of the better pasta dishes we have ordered, but the lasagna was incredible. It had a creaminess in the sauce that we had never experienced before. The pasta is dyed green by adding spinach to it as it is produced, the bechamel sauce used in the lasagna was originally French and gives it the creamy texture. We both agreed it was the best lasagna we have ever had.
It may not look special but this was the best lasagna we have ever had.
We returned to the market after our long and delicious 90 minute lunch, but all of the shops we intended to buy from before lunch had closed down. So we left without our bread and vinegar.
The interior of the Modena Cathedral.
When we first entered the cathedral it was very dark and did not make much of an impression on us. But as our eyes adjusted to the light Ton said this place is beautiful. This is the second church we have seen in northern Italy where there is a wall right behind the alter that divides the church. In this case there are stairs that you can climb to stand on the wall behind the alter and look down on the congregation. This is our first experience seeing this design feature in a cathedral particularly the stairs and balcony above the altar.
This stone carving was one of the many beautiful pieces of art in the cathedral.
The cathedral also has a crypt with the patron saint of the city in it which is open to the public. We have seen a lot of churches and cathedrals in our travels but this one broke the mode a bit in its design and lighting, we enjoyed it.
I don’t know if he owns this bar, but he is the current most famous son of Modena.
Ton also wanted to visit St. Augustine church to look at the ceiling and a sculpture. It took us two attempts to get in. The exterior is not that interesting, in fact I was hard pressed to recognize it as a church when google told me I had arrived, it looked just like any other building in town. We couldn’t find the doors in, because it turns out they were locked until 4pm.
The main square near our postal bank.
We used the time we had to find an ATM to get some cash. We first went to a commercial bank, but they wanted to charge us a 5% transaction fee. I then remembered that the post offices in Europe often offer a banking service and their ATM’s don’t charge transaction fees. A quick search of google showed a postal bank only 200 meters away and our cash problem was solved.
The roof of St. Augustine Church.
We headed back down to St. Augustine and we arrived just as they were opening the doors to the public. While the exterior of the church is nothing special. The interior was very ornate and beautiful. While the cathedral was Romanesque in style, the church was from the Renaissance. These two churches 500 yards apart were a good education for me on the differences between the austerity of Romanesque buildings, and the elaborate features of the Renaissance.
After we finished with the church it was time to head back to the campground. I would like to say that I have mastered Italian bus schedules and the trip back was smooth, but I would be lying. Despite my best efforts we ended up on the wrong bus (I took bus 3, and I should have took bus 3A, I think…) so we ended up walking an unplanned mile to get back to the campground. Ton wasn’t too happy with me.
Well it took a while but Bologna finally won us over. We were up bright and early so that we could take the 9am bus into town. The bus runs from the campground every two hours, and we thought 11 was a little too late to start the day. Also, we were nervous after the strike yesterday and wanted to make sure we had time to find an alternatvie way if the bus didn’t show.
Some of the interesting architecture on the streets of Bologna.
After yesterdays drama with the transit strike we were relieved when the bus rolled up to the stop 10 minutes before nine. The campground is the beginning of the route so we knew we had 10 minutes to wait. 6 of us got on the bus and took out seats. Unfortunately, the drama with busses in Bologna wasn’t over. The busses in most of Europe work on an honor system, no one checks your ticket when you get on the bus, they do periodic sweeps where they get on a bus and check everyone’s ticket, the fine is substantial if you do not produce a ticket. On this trip we have only been checked once. One guy got on the bus with a dog and clearly didn’t have a ticket as you have to time stamp it when you get on. Then he sat down and immediately began to blast crappy techno music from his phone. Everyone was tolerating this behavior until he began to shout at the driver of the bus to get going even though it wasn’t 9am yet. The bus driver told him to shut up and turn his phone down, he then got in a shouting match with the driver until the driver opened the doors of the bus and told him to get off, he continued to shout at the driver and refused to get off. I then noticed the driver pushing a button on a computer panel in front of him, probably indicating he had a problem. 9am came and went and we were in a standoff between this jerk and the bus driver. He finally turned the music off on his phone, just as the bus driver got a radio call from dispatch, but while the driver spoke to dispatch and closed the doors in anticipation of leaving, the jerk got a call on his phone which resulted in him getting in a shouting match at the top of his lungs with whoever was on the other side of the call. This was too much for the driver who again opened the door, shut down the bus, and stood up and told the guy to get off the bus, this prompted another tirade from the jerk. I don’t speak Italian but I got the gist of the next part from the driver which was you don’t have a ticket, the dog doesn’t have a ticket and you are causing a disruption so if you don’t get off the bus I am calling the police. At this point the jerk got off and we began a tense drive into Bologna.
The Little Venice of Bologna. No gondolas here.
We got off at the train station and I went to the front of the bus and thanked the driver before heading into the city. Our first stop was the little Venice. Bologna used to have a series of canals that ran thru the city, most of them have been paved for roads, but one canal remains. We were told to get there early before the tours arrived which was part of the reason for our early start. We found it on a pretty nondescript street. You view the canal thru a window cut in a wall we probably would have missed it except there was a tour taking turns peering thru the window. When we looked thru we almost laughed, the canal was completely dry, talk about a tourist trap.
One of our first sites in Bologna was this market of farmers from a region near here.
We found the main street and just before we got to the main square we saw a series of stalls for an agricultural cooperative near the city. We walked over to see what they were selling and it was a mix of different products the region was famous for. What we didn’t catch until the end was that these farmers were here as part of a campaign to help a bunch of farms that have been subject to two serious floods in the last year. One was about 9 months ago which was described as a 100 year flood, and just as they were recovering from that one, they were flooded out again 2 weeks ago. On our to do list today was to pick up some Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese that this region is famous for. Ton noticed that for a €15 donation you received a nice block of the cheese. When I asked the guy if they took a credit card he apologized but said no. We had a nice conversation with him and he explained about the floods. As the conversation wrapped up he asked if we would mind being interviewed for their website. A couple of minutes later their social media guy showed up and I did a couple of minute interview, though I doubt it made the cut on the final edition. While I was being interviewed Ton talked to a nice gentleman who worked for the Co-op who had visited Portland when he was in high school because Portland is a sister city of Bologna, something neither one of us knew. So now we know why Ton was drawn to Bologna it is our sister city.
The cathedral in Bologna is called the unfinished cathedral, because they ran out of money to do it all in marble, so they completed it in brick.
The cathedral in Bologna is striking because it is unusual. The lower half is done in marble, but the upper half is done in brick. It makes for an interesting exterior that is to me more striking than the standard cathedral.
The interior of the cathedral does not show any economies and is quite beautiful and large.
The interior of the cathedral is as rich in appearance as any we have seen, though it feels a little less ornate than many of the Italian cathedrals. It appears this was an artistic choice, not an economic one. The interior is huge, one of the biggest we have visited, the story is that the Pope demanded that the original plans be scaled down as it was going to be bigger than St. Peters in Rome. In fact I was startled to find they were having a mass at the front of the cathedral while visitors were still allowed to visit the back of the cathedral. It is big enough to allow that to happen as they are usually closed to the public during mass.
This painting of heaven and hell was inspired by Dantes Inferno.
The cathedral has a large fresco depicting Dantes vision of heaven and hell. It is incredibly detailed and quite large and really stands out in the otherwise relatively sparsely decorated cathedral.
There are 68 kilometers, about 40 miles of these Portico covered walkways in the city.
Bologna’s significant architectural feature is the Portico covered walkways of the city. They have the most covered streets in Europe and the Porticoes are now featured as a UNESCO site for the city. They are really nice, and practical as you are separated from vehicle traffic, you are covered from the rain and when it is hot you have a shaded place to walk. We really appreciated them as we navigated the town.
Another Portico complete with a high end restaurant.
The other reason we were looking forward to Bologna was to try the pasta sauce they are world famous for Bolognese Sauce. Every American is familiar with this sauce as it is the most common Italian Pasta Sauce in the US. In Bologna this sauce is referred to as Ragu, which of course is the brand name of one of the biggest producers of Bolognese in the US. They are also famous for a green Lasangne. So we spent the better part of an hour wandering from restaurant to restaurant looking for the perfect one. We had several on the maybe list when we came across the one we wanted to try. Unfortunately, they required reservations.
We came across this window of pasta during our search for the perfect restaurant.
So we decided to head back to the very first one we came across. After doubling back a good distance we had walked enough to allow us a good sized lunch.
The exterior of our restaurant.
By the time we returned the place was packed with customers, but we found a nice table on the inside where we could watch the food being prepared. Simoni is famous for its charcuterie plate so we ordered one intending it to be our appetizer. When the plate arrived we knew that we would not be ordering much more food.
Our charcuterie plate with a basket of bread.
The restaurant was a well oiled machine so in addition to enjoying our excellent plate of meat and cheese we got to watch an efficient kitchen and wait staff at work. Also our table was on the path to the bathroom so the people watching was quite fun. We did order a small bowl of meatballs with Ragu sauce so we did complete our quest. The green lasagne will have to wait for another day.
The trident on this statue of Neptune inspired the logo of the Masserati Corporation.
Our last stop for the day was the university. Bologna University is the oldest continuously operating University in the world dating back to 1088. The campus is located in the center of the city. The university district is full of charming Porticos and imposing buildings. We had hoped to visit the library as it is quite beautiful but it was closed on Sunday.
Part of the Bologna University.
By now the town was really busy. It turns out this weekend is the Saint of the cities weekend so it is a local holiday, so the locals were out in force along with the tourists. It was getting a little too crowded for us so we headed back to the campground on a pleasantly unremarkable bus ride.
The crowds were building as the day went on.
So Bologna won us over after a rough start. I can tell Ton likes a place by the volume of pictures she sends me to consider for the blog. She liked Bologna as I got a large number of pictures after she spent over an hour considering which ones to forward. It had everything we like in a city. Good food, interesting and unique buildings, a very walkable downtown core, and (mostly) good and charming people. On top of that it is the sister city of our hometown, a sister we didn’t know existed until today.
It was raining when we took off to visit Verona. It looked like we may get a couple of dry hours mixed in with scattered showers. The city came under Roman rule in 300 BC and there are still Roman buildings in use today.
The Colosseum on the main square in the city is still used as a concert venue today.
The arena as it called was built in 30 AD and is the third largest in Italy. The facade you see today is the interior structure. Originally there was a taller outer wall around it. There is only a small remnant of the outer wall remaining today. The interior is the best preserved in Italy and hosts concerts and other events on a regular basis.
The remnant of the outer wall that used to go all around the arena.
Our next stop was the Ponte Catelvecchio a 14th century bridge. It is not an elegant bridge but looks powerful and utilitarian. The bridge today is a reconstruction of the original bridge which was destroyed by the Germans at the very end of WWII.
The Castelvecchio Bridge leads into the old palace and is fortified.
The bridge is tied into the palace of the ruler of Verona at the time. It is said to have been built and fortified to allow the rulers to have a back way out of the city in case of rebellion.
The bridge leading into the palace. At the time of its construction the arch in the bridge was the biggest in the world.
As the day wore on the weather slowly began to improve from steady light rain, to mostly cloudy with just a few very light showers. Verona is another beautiful Italian city with nice squares and interesting buildings from many different eras.
Italy is great for many different styles of architecture. The tower is from the 14th century the building in the center next to the tower is Roman.
Despite the bad weather and it being shoulder season the town was pretty crowded with multiple tour groups. Verona is not a particularly famous Italian city but still draws a lot of people.
The market square was particularly crowded despite the weather.
Verona is most famous as the setting of two of Shakespeare’s plays. Probably his most famous play is Romeo and Juliet which takes place in Verona. While there is no evidence that Shakespeare ever visited Verona the story of a tragic couple caught between feuding families had been a subject of a poem by an Italian that was translated into English. That is probably the basis for the play.
The balcony that is supposed to be the one from the famous scene in Romeo and Juliet.
While the two families in the play had an on going feud for decades in real life there is no evidence that there was a Romeo or a Juliet in the families. However, given the popularity of the play there is now a home referred to as Juliet’s complete with a balcony replicating the famous scene in the play. It was the most crowded place in the city.
Dante lived here near the end of his life after having been exiled from Florence due to his writing.
We tried to stay off the main shopping streets. When we are in a town that is teeming with other tourists we often look for streets going in the same direction but a block or two over. A lot of time these streets are more interesting to us as the stores on these streets tend to cater to local needs and are more interesting.
These are the kind of stores we enjoy.
There was one more bridge on our stop the Ponte Pietra is a Roman bridge built around 100 AD. It is not a spectacular bridge but a typical Roman bridge on a major road. It was also destroyed at the end of WWII but rebuilt after the war using the original materials.
The Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge) with an angry Adige River running under it.
Having put in a good amount of exercise taking in the sites we decided to reward ourselves with a lunch. We went to a restaurant recommended by the campground that served typical local food. Ton asked the waiter for a recommendation and he replied that the region was famous for Donkey Stew and theirs was excellent. Ton made an incredible face that I thought was hilarious but took the waiter off guard as he was being serious. After I laughed at her reaction he starting laughing and said the face you made was incredible, I will not forget it. Ton opted for another local specialty duck pasta. I had a beef stew with excellent polenta as I also could not bring myself to try the Donkey stew. We also discovered a local red wine that we really liked called Bardolino.
At the base of the hill behind the red bus is the remnants of an old Roman theater.
After lunch it was raining again so we decided to head back for the night. But first we stopped in at a local grocery for some bread and a bottle of Bardolino.
Well the rain we took a day off to stay out of showed up in force today. There is a large storm going thru Italy and extending to Slovenia and Croatia so there was nothing to do but suck it up and get going in the rain.
The drive over to Verona of Romeo and Juliet fame was uneventful. We arrived at a brand new if slightly pricey campground. On the way thru town we noticed the Adige River was at the top of its channel so the warnings about flooding seemed to be correct.
Going into town was not in the cards so we hunkered down in François for another lazy day when Ton decided to it would be a good day to wash the sheets. Unfortunately, that was the high light of our day so there are no pictures.
It was supposed to rain heavily today and when we woke up it was. So we decided to stay here one more day and wait out the bad weather. By 10am the rain had stopped and we debated whether we should head on down the road, but the weather app said it was going to rain so we stayed. It did not rain again and by 2pm the sun was out. Now it is supposed to rain heavily tomorrow according to weather.com.
The good news is that we used the down time to draw up a plan for the rest of our trip. We also made another trip to Lidl to get some groceries. As I was looking at the wine display one of the employees handed me a bottle of wine and in English told me it was a steal and he was buying 4 bottles himself. I appreciated the tip, but was a little bothered that without me speaking he looked at me and decided I was a foreigner and not Italian.
After our day of rest yesterday we were both up early and ready to get going into town. Our campground is conveniently located about 100 yards from a tram stop that took us right to the center of town. But our destination for the day was the Citta Alta for Bergamo.
One of the gates to the Citta Alta with a stone passageway from the lower city leading into it.
From the train station we took a bus up the hill towards the Citta Alta or high city. The high city is the old town in Bergamo and as described is built on an imposing hill overlooking the valley all the way to Milan. The lower city is mostly a product of the early 20th century.
Looking down on the lower city from the Citta Alta.
Bergamo is also a university town as we quickly learned as the bus we were on quickly filled with millennials heading to the University on the hill. Some of the buildings we saw are quite old, but they must have other purposes in the past because the university was founded in 1968.
This young man had just received his Doctorate in Business from the University. The recent graduates wear a crown of leaves with a red bow. Apparently the tradition is for the graduates to hand out a red candy to guests so Ton and I got a couple pieces of candy from him for congratulating him.
We did not have a plan for visiting Bergamo so when we got off the bus at the top of the hill we just wandered into the old town. We quickly found the main north-south street which dates back to the Romans and walked the length of it. Italy and France are two countries where you can gain weight just by walking by window displays, and we love just looking in the windows and drooling.
These Foccacia style pizzas were sold by the piece. At lunch this was the place of choice for several high school groups visiting town. I imagine the cookies were also popular.
After walking the length of the town we decided to treat ourselves to a coffee. We chose Bugan Coffee lab as Ton had read about it on line. They had won an award in 2023 as the best coffee roaster in Italy and the Italians take their coffee seriously so that is an accomplishment. The coffee was delicious, and we enjoyed a fun discussion with the barista and a customer about coffee and Italy.
The main square with the old town hall on the left and a building repurposed for the University on the right.
We spent quite a bit of time on the main square as there was quite a lot to see. The old town hall dates back to the 1400’s and the tower contains a large clock and the main bell for the city. In Europe you constantly here bells ringing but Bergamo takes the award. At 10 pm the bell on the town hall is rung 100 times. In the past it was to warn everyone that the gates to the city were closing, now it is just for fun.
Another large and ornate church.
We visited the church next to the cathedral as there was a mass going on in the cathedral. The church was massive and quite impressive itself. But for us what made it fun was the organist was practicing while we were looking around. In addition to looking at the art we spent the whole time trying to locate where they were playing from and never succeeded but we did enjoy the sound of the pipes.
The exterior of the Cathedral.
For the first time on this trip we enjoyed a meal in a restaurant. Northern Italian food is quite different than Southern Italian. Here there are more steaks and chops and often the side dishes are polenta or potatoes. Polenta is related to grits so being a southerner originally I opted for polenta as the side for my veal while Ton went for potatoes with her Beef. We did get local stuffed pasta called casoncelli a local ravioli from Bergamo. Once again Italian cooking did not let us down and we enjoyed ourselves.
This is a local dessert made from polenta. As good as it looked we passed as we were stuffed from our meal.
After lunch we decided to walk down the hill to the new town. The path down was steep and we were both happy with our decision to ride up the hill and then walk down.
The city walls at the top of the hill.
When we got back to our aire for the night we checked the weather forecast hoping it had improved. Unfortunately it had not and we look like we are in for 3 wet days. Since we need to do some planning we extended our stay here and will spend tomorrow which is supposed to be the wettest plotting our route thru Italy for the next 25 days.
Our grand tour of Switzerland is over. We really enjoyed Switzerland the natural beauty of the country is remarkable.
Today we shifted down to a small city near Milan called Bergamo. We arrived with an empty refrigerator and an empty gas tank. While Switzerland is beautiful it is also expensive. So we spent the last couple of days emptying the cupboards of canned goods we have been carrying around for a couple of years.
Our first stop when we got to Bergamo was a Lidl where we spent an hour filling a shopping basket. After we settled in to the aire here we decided to take the rest of the day off.
Part of the fun of these travels is finding a city we have never heard of and having it wow us. Today we “found” Bellinzona and it has turned into our favorite town in Switzerland.
The old town of Bellinzona.
It is impertinent to say we found Bellinzona as there has been a town here since neolithic times, and forts here since the Romans. The city is located where three different mountain passes in the Alps converge, so control of the area around the town has always been important.
Our train ride to Bellinzona began with us in the children car of the Lugano to Zurich cross country train.
It’s funny how little things contribute to a town really wowing us. It began with the Ticino Pass. While Switzerland is the most expensive place we have ever traveled in the world we have been impressed with being allowed free access to the city public transit system. The Canton of Ticino takes it one step further and allows you access to all rail and bus systems in the entire Canton. So from our campground in Lugano we have been able to go anywhere within about a 100 kilometer radius. As Ton put it Swiss efficiency with Italian charm. Today when we got to the train station in Lugano Google told us to get on a train that was clearly a cross country train with its final destination in Zurich. I wasn’t sure it was eligible for our Ticino pass so I asked a conductor if it was ok, and he said sure as long as you get off in Bellinzona. So we got to enjoy a very nice, fast and smooth Swiss train for the 18 minutes it took to get from Lugano to Bellinzona.
The main square in Bellinzona.
Bellinzona is not a big town with a population of about 45,000, but it had a very nice main street to walk from the train station to the main square of town. It was very quiet today as the Swiss shut down all of the stores and even many of the restaurants on Sunday. But the street looked prosperous and the architecture of the buildings seemed to us to be a little more interesting than other cities. It may be the Italian influence, or it may have been something intangible.
The High School Concert Band performing in the atrium of the town hall.
A lot of the times in smaller cities I put the town hall in to google to get us to the center of the town. Today as we approached the town hall we could here live music. When we arrived we found a local high school band giving a concert in the beautiful three story atrium of the town hall. We arrived near the end of the concert but we were able to enjoy the last 20 minutes or so. They were quite good.
Part of the walls of the fortifications for the old town.
The main attraction that draws tourism to the city are the old fortifications built in the 1400’s by Milan. They are a UNESCO site. This area was fought over many times in the 1400’s as the Swiss tried to take it from Milan.
A tower dominating the old town.
The Milanese built an extensive series of walls connecting three main castles surrounding the city to try to deny the Swiss from gaining access to the valley that leads to Milan.
Walking along one of the sections of the city walls.
We have seen a lot of castles and fortifications in our travels in Europe. But I found the castle and the walls of Bellinzona to be some of the most interesting. Once the borders were settled between Milan (later Italy) and Switzerland around 1500 Bellinzona became a bit of a back water. So it is possible that these fortifications are largely unchanged since then which makes them seem timeless. Also the way the walls and fortifications incorporate the natural granite bluffs and hills is really picturesque.
Looking up at the main fortification above the town.
After climbing up and down the hill to the main fortification and climbing stairs within the towers we stopped and had a very nice lunch of peanut and butter and jelly for me, and an Ovaltine spread sandwich for Ton. Ton has discovered an Ovaltine spread in Switzerland that she really loves.
Another view of the town from our lunch spot.
After lunch we decided to head back to the campground in Lugano. Once again we enjoyed our high speed train ride of 18 minutes to Lugano. We had expected the campground to be pretty empty when we returned as it is Sunday, but it is still quite full with young families enjoying the early days of fall.
Today was a brilliant sunny day so we headed to the place we were most excited about visiting. Morcote is a small village on the lake that is supposed to be the most beautiful in the area.
The town center in Morcote.
Our Tichino pass gives access to all public transport in the Canton. We took advantage of it today to get to Morcote. The trip involved 2 trains and a bus, and took about an hour and a half including waits at the transfers.
Part of our transit experience today, the little train to the top of the hill in Lugano.
The bus dropped us at the Piazza Grande in Morcote. We got a giggle when we saw the Grand Plaza as it was about 50 by 50 feet. Grand can be in the eye of the beholder.
Everything shares this road, pedestrians, bicycles, cars and full size city busses, and the traffic is in both directions for the vehicles. Patience is a virtue.
Our first stop was the church in town because the views were supposed to be spectacular. You got to the top by climbing a series of narrow staircases between buildings. It was only a few hundred yards to the church, but you gained about 400 feet in elevation so it was a good workout to get there.
One of the passages between buildings on the way to the church.
The climb was strenuous but the views from the church were worth it. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the views from the church for a few minutes before heading into the church itself.
The view from the church. There were several palm trees in the town. The local tourist authority likes to refer to Lake Lugano as the “Riviera” of Switzerland.
The interior of the church was nice. There were several older frescoes very similar in style to the ones we saw in Lugano yesterday.
The interior of the church in Morcote.
We took a different route down which was labeled a road, but was just a slightly more gentle trail, with less steps. On the way down we came upon a beautiful building with a great view of the lake, we were speculating about the building when we saw a sign that it was the elementary school for the town. The kids that go there probably don’t realize that they have to be attending one of the most beautiful schools in the world.
The elementary school in Morcote, not bad at all.
The trail entered an arch that passed under the elementary school. The arch led to a grotto like room that had a small chapel with a painting depicting purgatory. It was interesting art, but the location under the town elementary school had us perplexed a bit.
Purgatory under the elementary school.
When we got to the bottom we headed to a botanical garden in the town. After several false starts we eventually located the entrance to the gardens. The gardens worked themselves up the same hill the church was on so we got to re-climb the hill as we worked our way thru the plants. The gardens were very nice, but not spectacular.
This was the “Roman Fountain” in the gardens,.
After scaling the steep hill above Morcote twice we decided to head back to Lugano on the bus. When we arrived in Lugano we had to jump off the bus a couple of stops early as a race had just finished up along the main street of town.
The sun was out in force today in Lugano.
What a difference a day makes, the sun was out, and so were the people of Lugano. It is Saturday today and the race had just ended so the downtown was full of people. Ton had read about a little hole in the wall wine bar on a side street, so we headed there with a thought of purchasing a glass of wine, when we got there the “hole in the wall” Ton had read about was a giant cafe with about 30 tables so we passed once again on eating out.
The cathedral in Lugano on the way to the train.
This time we were able to find the little train which saved us another 300 foot elevation climb. On the way back to the campground we again did a little tourism grocery shopping.
Sunset from the beach at our campground.
While we were gone the campground had filled to near capacity. We went for a walk at sunset and were struck by how few non-Swiss are staying here. Besides our French plate, we saw a single German plate, and all of the rest were Swiss from all over the country. My guess is that all of the foreigners looking for an overnight stop drive the extra 1/2 hour to Italy to avoid Swiss prices.
It rained heavily last night. François is made of a high density plastic so when it rains hard it is quite loud. As I am typing this there is a thunderstorm passing buy and we can no longer here the stereo for the pounding of rain on the roof. But it is not bad for sleeping as it has a kind of white noise effect.
Lugano is also located on a large alpine lake.
We were up early as the weather forecast was no rain in the morning and thunderstorms after 2pm. We didn’t want to get caught out in a thunderstorm so we were heading into town before 10am.
The train station is on top of the town next to the cathedral. It is a good climb up to the train station.
On the walk to the train station we passed all of the big grocery chains so I new our return to the campground would be delayed by grocery tourism. The train began by climbing up a pretty big hill than ran along a ridge into town. I expected it to drop down into the city, but instead the train station is on the highest point of the town.
Walking down towards the city from the train station.
As we were leaving the station Ton said to me “going down is the easy part. I responded maybe there is a bus back up. A lady passing us heard the conversation and pointed at a funicular on tracks next to us and said “Make sure you take the little train back, it is important.” We thanked her for her advice.
These giant sausages made in Milan reminded us we had entered the Italian part of Switzerland.
Swiss cities are universally clean and orderly, and feel solidly middle class. They are not the kind of cities that wow you with there architecture or atmosphere, but the kind of places that feel like they would be very comfortable to live in.
The main square of town.
The cities don’t need to be spectacular because mother nature takes care of the spectacular with lakes and mountains and giant skies that haven’t ceased to impress us. We were drawn to the lake again to walk the waterfront and admire the views across the lake.
If you look carefully you will see a male bird trying to impress a female bird with his “wingspan.”
We wandered the town for a couple of hours and enjoyed ourselves. Tons fascination with Swiss McDonald’s led us to head there to try to get a Toblerone McFlurry, but unfortunately they are seasonal and not available today.
No McFlurry, but we did come across this giant box of chocolate for only 14 Francs. Probably the best buy we have seen in Switzerland. We passed.
We did peak into the first catholic church we have seen in Switzerland. It had a lot of old frescoes that we enjoyed and an interesting design that included a wall that split the congregation of the church in half, with an immense fresco on it.
This large fresco is from around 1500.
It was getting time to head back to beat the thunderstorms. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the funicular back up the hill to the train station so we had to climb back up the hill to the train.
This funicular is out of business so we ended up climbing the hill.
As expected we did a little grocery tourism on the way back to the campground. I was surprised when we returned to the campground as we had wandered thru Lugano much more than we thought, to the tune of about 7 miles according to my fitbit.
It rained all night so our decision to head south towards Italy was confirmed. Today was going to be our longest drive in Switzerland so I checked the weather before we left. The local forecast in Interlaken was grim with heavy rain forecast and flood warnings, but while it was raining at our destination it was supposed to be lighter.
The office/owners home for our campground in Interlaken. When we departed the rain was light.
Our route planning has not been the best for Switzerland, so we began the day by doubling back on the route we took yesterday towards Lucerne. Ton was a little concerned about rain as we had about 50 kilometers of mountain driving to do.
Part of the route today. Really beautiful but twisty.
Fortunately the heavy rain that was predicted held off all of the way to Lucerne. The drive was no more treacherous than yesterday and we again enjoyed the views in the mountains, and while the roads were twisty and steep they were not particularly scary.
A nice windshield shot.
After we passed thru Lucerne and got on the freeway heading towards Lugano Greta said the next turn was 150 kilometers so I thought we were over the worst as we had no more mountain roads on the trip, just freeway. We have passed thru several long tunnels in Switzerland, one was 5 kilometers (3ish miles), and another 9 (5.5ish), but on this trip we hit our longest tunnel ever.
Inside the Gotthard tunnel
Near the town of Gotthard the road narrowed to one lane and we entered the Gotthard tunnel. This tunnel is 17 kilometers long (11ish miles). We were in the middle of a long line of traffic so I just stuck to the rear of the car in front of us. The most interesting thing is the air temperature in the tunnel was over 80 degrees when the temperature outside was around 60. When we entered the tunnel we had the heater going in the car, by the time we exited we were thinking about AC.
Fog coming down the mountain.
As we exited the tunnel we were entering the Italian speaking part of Switzerland. The weather here was supposed to be light rain. It was pouring and there was heavy fog for awhile. So the weather was opposite of what was forecast.
A little sun on the “heavy rain” side of the mountain.
We arrived at the campground and a very helpful and friendly person checked us in. She explained our options for visits around town, but ended it by saying “but today you should just stay in your motorhome as it is pretty miserable outside.” We followed her advise and spent the afternoon taking care of some correspondence and watching movies.
We wanted to visit Interlaken before heading south towards Italy. It is a very popular destination for Swiss to vacation at, in most of the cities we have visited it was very easy to decide where to stay as there was only one campground. In Interlaken there were six to pick from. I picked one that looked promising punched into Greta Garmin and we were off bright and early.
A windshield shot on our drive today. Ton’s views were fantastic today, mine were of taillights and switchbacks.
The roads in Switzerland have been almost boring. They are fast and easy to drive with speed limits between 80 kph and 100 kph. Today for the first time we had to take on some mountain roads. Our trip was only 78 kilometers but it took about 2 hours. It wasn’t tough driving as the roads are wide, but for the first time we were going over some of the mountains instead of thru them. While it slowed us down the scenery was stunning.
Another windshield shot from our drive today.
We had left pretty early so we arrived at Interlaken before 11am. When we pulled into the campground we saw why this place is so popular with the Swiss.
Our view today from François. I messed up the shot by moving too soon.
Based on our first impression we would certainly have booked at least two days to explore the area, but when we checked in the owner of the campground confirmed what we knew driving over. After today it is supposed to rain hard for the next three days.
Cows with individual bells, green fields and mountains, a postcard from Switzerland.
After a quick lunch we were off to the bus stop to head to town. As we were walking we noticed the sky was full of Para-Gliders. At one point we counted 16 in the air at one time. Our wait for the bus was quite entertaining as the field across from the bus stop was one of the landing areas for the Para-Gliders.
We got to enjoy the landings while we waited for the bus.
Interlaken is on a peninsula of land that is in between two major alpine lakes. The Aarl river cuts thru the town and joins the two lakes so it is a pretty scenic place for a town. The only industry seems to be tourism and the town was full of hotels ranging from youth hostels to hotels catering to the rich and famous.
The town itself is cute, but very touristy in a good way.
We followed the river down to one of the two lakes. As we walked along the river we passed a cruise boat going out on an excursion. It was a typical cruise boat but for some reason it had a person dressed up in a mascot outfit like you see at baseball or football games on board.
The cruise boat going buy on its way to Lake Brienzersee.
The walk from the town was about a kilometer and a half, but as we got further from downtown fewer and fewer people were on the path. It looks like most people in town see the lake by boat.
Lake Brienzersee.
By the time we got to the lake there were only about 6 people actually at the lake front. So we found a bench and sat down and enjoyed the view for a while. We decided to wimp out and I consulted Google maps and found a bus stop nearby to get us back to the town center.
The Aarl River going thru town.
We wandered the town for another half hour trying to find a couple of souvenirs but struck out. We had one chore to accomplish which was to swing by the local RV dealer to pick up some tabs for our chemical toilet. With that accomplished we headed back to the campground.
Some more para-gliders as we were walking home.
We took a different route back to the campground which had us on a trail thru some farms. We saw another flock of para-gliders and since Ton enjoys cows we admired the very healthy and content looking Swiss cows in the fields.
While we are starting to see some fall foliage there are still flowers around too.
Our original plan was to take a short break and then walk to the other lake. But once we got back to François we got comfortable and since the view was so good from our campsite we decided we would just relax and enjoy the view.
With a view like this from the campground who needs to walk.
We planned our day around the weather forecast. The forecast has been changing frequently and sometimes dramatically over the last few days. But when we woke up it said that it was going to be good in the morning and raining by 4 pm. So we were off for town pretty early.
The bus dropped us off across from the wooden bridge so it was our first stop of the day.
We started the day at the wooden bridge that is one of Lucernes’ tourist highlights. When we went by on Sunday it was teeming with people so we passed on walking across it. Today was much quieter so we enjoyed crossing it. In addition to the pretty exterior there are paintings from the history of Lucerne in the cross beams of the roof. Many of these paintings were destroyed in the fire in 1994, but some were saved and luckily when the bridge was shortened in the late 1800’s some one had the foresight to put the paintings that were removed in storage so those were used to replace some of the missing ones.
The paintings in the ceiling of the bridge are an interesting touch to this historic bridge.
Ton had done some research on the town and one of the articles she read talked about the Lombard street (the famous winding street in San Francisco) of Lucerne so we headed up there next. It was a nice walk thru a pleasant neighborhood but while the street was steep and there was one sweeping curve it was not Lombard street.
On the walk to “Lombard Street” we came across another wooden bridge. The white building on the hill is a hotel. I checked and we could get a room for €487 tomorrow night. They were sold out tonight.
After our climb up to “Lombard Street” we headed over to another street that was supposed to have good wall paintings. Again the walk over was very pleasant thru nice neighborhoods. We really enjoyed ourselves. When we got to the neighborhood there was a row of very tastefully painted houses and one large mural on one wall. I was a little disappointed, but Ton really enjoyed the street and took several photos. So once again I learned something about perspective.
Ton really enjoyed this street with the nicely painted homes.
Our primary stop for the day is a place we would not have found without unlimited access to the bus system that comes with our tourist tax. Ton read that if you ride bus 10 to the last stop you get out at a beautiful park with stunning views of the city and lake.
Our view on getting off bus 10.
So we were off to the train station to pick up bus 10. After a 10 minute ride up hill on narrow streets we arrived at the last stop on a dead end road. When we got off we were impressed. Behind us was a typical city street lined with houses. In front of us was green grass stretching off for a couple of miles. In the distance we could hear cow bells from a herd of cows on the hill a half mile away. It was quite a contrast.
The view from our stop.
There were a series of hiking trails radiating from the bus stop. Switzerland has an extensive hiking trail system with well marked trails signposted at key intersections in the trail. If we were a bit younger we might take on more of them. We opted for a short walk down one of the trails until we got to a point where we had an overlook of the city, lake and mountains. There was a bench there and we just sat and enjoyed the view.
The riverfront of Lucerne from the wooden bridge.
It looked like rain was coming so we decided to head back to town. We hopped off the bus in the new town and had another discussion about eating a lunch out, but once again decided today was not the day. With the clouds threatening we decided to head back to the campground.
Sunset with Mt. Pilatus out in its glory.
By the time we got back to the campground the sun was out and any thought of rain was over. So after a late lunch and some time on the phone with home we walked back to the lake to enjoy sunset. It was the nicest sunset we have seen here.
It was supposed to be a rainy day today. When we woke up we looked outside and decided it would be a good day to take care of stuff, so we added a day to our reservation and headed off to stock up on groceries as our first chore.
This is the front of the machine that bored some of the tunnels we drove thru to get here.
On the way to the grocery we passed by the Swiss Transportation museum. It is a very large museum full of interesting looking trains, gondolas, and road building equipment.
When we arrived at the Migro grocery store Ton really struggled to find anything that she could bring herself to buy because of the cost. She walked thru the Migro a couple of times and after two trips we had one package of schnitzel and a box of pizzas, and no fresh vegetables which is why we came . Luckily right next to the Migro was another grocery store that we had not heard of but turned out to be a discount grocery. Ton was much happier and we ended up with enough food to get us to Italy including fresh vegetables.
The rest of the day was spent washing our clothes, and doing some light cleaning. These days are necessary and also give us a rest day. Our primary entertainment was to watch our neighbors come and go which is always good fun in a RV park.
Earlier in the trip I was complaining about having to pay €48 for an annual vignette for Switzerland. I felt like there should have been a shorter term vignette available. But after spending a few days transiting the excellent highways here I have changed my tune and now feel €48 is a good deal. Our travels in Switzerland have not been the most efficient. If you look at a map you will see what I mean, but a combination of a small country and good roads has made our spur of the moment routing acceptable.
Looking across Lake Lucerne at Mt. Pilatus this is the reason we crossed half of Switzerland to another lake town.
Our destination today was Lucerne which is about 200 kilometers from Lusanne nearly across Switzerland. The drive involved doubling back by Berne and going almost to Zurich before heading south to Lucerne. But the roads are really good in Switzerland and surprisingly flat given the mountains because of all of the tunnels and elevated stretches of roads.
The clock tower on the Rathouse (town-hall), we are back in the German speaking part of Switzerland.
After we settled in at the campground we took the advice of the check in person and walked the lake front trail to the town. It is a nice walk, and as the weather is good a lot of the citizens of Lucerne were out there with us.
The view from our walk to town.
As we were passing by a really posh hotel we saw a couple of sculptures that caught our eye. We had a running joke in Lusanne about the ugly sculptures throughout the city, but these were very interesting and really appealed to us.
The 3/4 view is the most traditional look for the statue.
The statues from 50 feet away or so looked like normal stone or metal figures. But as you got closer they changed look.
From the side you can see the multiple metal plates that make up the statue.
As you get close to the system you see that it is not a single block of metal but hundreds of thin pieces of metal arranged to give form to the statue.
From directly in front you get the illusion of transparency, almost like a holograph.
This was one of the most interesting pieces of art we have seen in a while. We looked at the biography of the artist and his name is Juliene Voss-Andreae who is originally from Hamburg Germany but now resides in Portland Oregon. We have never seen any of his art or heard of him in Portland. We are glad we traveled to Lucerne to find a really interesting artist from our hometown!
The old wooden bridge in Lucerne.
One of the advantages that Swiss cities have over most of Europe as they missed all of the major wars for the last two hundred years so a lot of buildings have survived in their original form. Lucerne has an old wooden bridge that survived intact. Unfortunately it caught fire in 1993 and about 60% of it burned down, but they were able to rebuild it pretty quickly. We were going to walk across it but it was teeming so we decided to leave it for tomorrow.
This monument is to Swiss guards who died heroically trying to save King Louis XVI of Versailles fame.
Our final stop for the day was the Lions Monument. The Swiss have not been involved in any major wars since the 1600’s, but apparently they had a reputation as fighters in the 1700’s and Swiss mercenaries were in high demand. The Pope still has his Swiss guard in the Vatican. Louis XVI of Versailles fame also had a personal guard of Swiss mercenaries. When the mob came to seize him the Swiss guard fought to the last man to defend him. Unfortunately for Louis they were overpowered and the rest is history. The Lions monument commemorates their bravery and loyalty.
One of the main churches in Lucerne.
As we were walking to the bus stop to head back to the camp we came across a nice church that was on Tons list. We swung in for some photos, but our plan is to head back into town either tomorrow or the day after depending on whose weather app is right. Ton uses one weather app for forecasts and I use a different one. They usually agree, but for tomorrow they completely disagree, Tons says it is going to be mostly cloudy with some sun, mine says there is a 98% chance of rain all day. We will find out who is right in the morning.
We decided to return to the Olympic Museum to tour the museum itself. Our friend Tracey spoke highly of it and said that our free transit pass also got us a discount to the museum. So after a lazy start to the day while we waited for the temperature to warm up a bit we were off to the museum.
Jesse Owens jersey and shoes at the top, Pawina Thongsuks weight lifting clothes from her gold medal for Thailand.
When we arrived at the museum we did get a discount for our pass, but the guy selling tickets asked how old we were, and it turned out we got a bigger discount for being old, so we accepted it. The museum was very well done with a nice mix of audiovisual displays and artifacts from all of the Olympic games.
Ton enjoyed the display of all of the mascots from the Olympics that have had mascots, this one is Sam from the 1984 Los Angeles games.
We both enjoyed the displays that talked about the original Greek games, and the story of the founding of the modern Olympics in the 1890’s. The games have certainly come a long way as a spectacle.
The Escaliers du Marche.
Ton wanted to check out three other places in the city center, so after the Olympic Museum we headed to the metro and took a quick ride to the center. After visiting the town yesterday I began to suspect that what we thought was a very unimpressive cathedral was actually a very large church. It turns out I was right and the actual Cathedral was much more impressive. We liked the interior arches in this church, and a couple of the stain glass windows were interesting.
We liked the form of the arches and the ceiling of the Cathedral.
Lausanne is also famous for a covered stair case that runs from the main city to the Cathedral. As an extremely hilly town in a mountainous environment the covered staircase comes in handy when the roads are slick with snow and ice. It was located right next to the cathedral and ran for a couple of hundred meters.
Tons hot chocolate today.
Our third stop was at a coffee shop that served a typical Lausanne hot chocolate. Ton likes to try hot chocolate so I was using google to get us to the coffee shop. Google finally told us were at the coffee shop, but there was no coffee shop in sight. I tried resetting the search but got the same answer. I then noticed that the Escaliers kind of went down in a shaft next to us, so I went down the stairs and sure enough we had been standing on top of the shop. The chocolate was good, and I enjoyed my local wine.
The clock on one of the streets had a display of figures that performed at 3 pm.
As we were heading back to the campground we came across a crowd on one of the main streets looking up at a building. The crowd even included 4 firefighters who had stopped their truck to get a view. Many European cities have clocks that tell the story of some important event using figurines, these go off at certain times of the day. In this case it seemed to be a battle won by the town as it included a line of soldiers followed by some dancers in fancy dress. We laughed and said it was not as famous as the one in Prague (considered one of the most over rated tourist attractions in Europe), but at least as good, maybe better.
It’s no secret that Ton and I love a good wine region. Next to Lausanne is a Swiss wine region that has an extensive series of trails that allow for hiking thru the vineyards. So once we got going in the morning we were off to check out the Lavaux wine region.
The wine doesn’t have to be great when it is produced in scenery like this.
Wine has been grown in the region since the Romans, but the hills that the Lavaux wine area are on now first started producing grapes for wine in the 11th century. The vineyards are now protected from development by law and have been designated a UNESCO site
One of the wineries in the Lavaux.
The primary wine produced is called Chasselas and is a white wine. They also produce some Gamay and Pinot Noir wine.
Grapes used to produce Chasselas wine on the vine.
As part of the UNESCO designation there is an extensive network of trails that run for many miles thru the region. These trails are really well marked and developed. It is possible to go on hikes up to 15 miles thru the vineyards. We weren’t that ambitious and I found a nice 2 mile hike that started at a small train station at the top of the hill and ended at another train station next to Lake Geneva.
The view from near the start of the hike looking down at Lake Geneva 600 feet below.
The hike was really beautiful and quiet. We almost had the trails to ourselves. Ton was immersed in taking pictures and I got to spend my time quietly taking in the immensity of the views across Lake Geneva towards the French Alps. I was also intrigued with some of the equipment they used to tend the vines on these really steep hills.
The center of Lausanne.
We finished up our hike/stroll (2 miles probably is pushing the term hike) around 1:30 and since the train was going to the center of Lausanne we decided to get off and give the old town a look.
The McDonald’s 1955 burger, whoever the marketer for McDonald’s is in Europe earned his pay by convincing us we had to have one.
As we have been driving in Switzerland we keep seeing advertisements for a limited time 1955 burger at McDonald’s. At first when we saw the signs we were wondering what the 1955 was referring to, was it the price (don’t laugh we are in Switzerland), the year 1955, but if it is the year 1955 what is the significance of that year to McDonald’s, or was it something else entirely. Each time we saw the advertisement the speculation would be rekindled. Finally Ton couldn’t resist and googled the meaning of the 1955 burger and it turns out it is a special burger only released periodically in Europe and parts of Asia. She also read me the ingredients that made it unique and “special”. So today as we were leaving the train station there was a McDonald’s and Ton proposed we split a 1955 burger, Ton usually won’t even consider eating fast food so I was surprised. So my congratulations to the marketing firm for McDonald’s in Switzerland because you lured in a customer who would not have considered eating in a McDonald’s before being caught up in the web of your advertisement. By the way the burger was pretty good.
A giant Swiss flag over the street in front of the town hall.
We walked around downtown a little aimlessly for about 45 minutes, it is nice but not particularly memorable except for the steepness of the roads. Having taken in enough to satisfy our curiosity we decided to head back to François for the evening.
