Pictures in this post by Michael
We woke to a beautiful breakfast in our hotel. The first of many, I might add. Each hotel included breakfast in the cost of the rooms and we took full advantage of that. We'd come up with a meeting time and all somehow make it to the table. I'll admit that Alan and I seemed to be last each morning.
Since Alan and I were now pros with the tram, we suggested that all five of us take the tram to get the van. Of course, keeping our fingers crossed that it was still there. We set out in the lovely spring day and walked to the tram stop. I think we went one stop along and then disembarked to walk a little. It was beautiful, quiet and peaceful. The trees had all been pruned back over the winter and some of them were budding quite well. I would love to see the streets in early autumn when the trees must be bursting with leaves and foliage.
We walked a few kilometres and then got back onto the tram for the last leg. I'll not keep you in suspense anymore, because our van was exactly where we'd parked it, didn't have a lock on a tire, and there was not a note or a ticket to be seen on the windshield. I can tell you that I let out a huge sigh of relief. I think it was Katie who commented that it would have been a bitch to deal with a towed car in a foreign language - I couldn't agree more.
But we were free!
So we drove back to the hotel, loaded up our luggage, popped the sat-nav into place and entered hotel destination #2 - Lausanne, Switzerland!
The cool thing about not using a real map is that everything is a surprise. Had we used a real map, I would have known that we would be driving through Bern, Switzerland. But, instead, as the terrain changed from flat, brown, and boring to undulating, green, and beautiful, we saw the signposts indicate that the Switzerland capital was only an hour and a bit away. Cool. I've never wanted to go to Bern, but all of a sudden, it seemed like a cool place to drive through.
Over the 7 days of driving (this is day 2 of driving) we were the luckiest tourists ever. Traffic conditions on our side of the road were lovely. Traffic conditions on the other side of the road were sometimes excruciating to even contemplate. We were lucky. However, in Bern, we did get a little traffic congestion. In our touristy way, we decided that was a sign. We should exit and eat so that the traffic could sort itself out. And we did.
I must describe the weather. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and warm, perhaps hot. It was lovely. We had looked at the forecasts and actuals in Europe before leaving and it looked pretty cool and overcast, so the sun and warmth was unexpected and very much appreciated.
My highlight of the day (I have several highlights this day, so expect another), was driving down into Bern and seeing the city centre across the bridge. I was instantly transported into a James Bond movie. I saw a casino; churches; old, beautiful buildings; and a green, leafy canyon going down to a beautiful river.
We parked for free, on the street, in an untimed, completely legal parking spot. UNBELIEVABLE! Then we walked around Bern taking pictures. We got warm and needed beer (can you hear Alan's voice there?) so we found a nice little cafe with outdoor seating and shade (can you hear my voice here?) and had a beautiful lunch.
I could go into how we lost Angela for 30 minutes or so.... She just toddled off to find Ben a book to write in, and we lost her. She wasn't lost. But we looked, and waited, and looked and waited. Eventually we all walked to the corner where the car was and hoped she would eventually find us. And she did. I'm sure throughout the trip we all waited for each other quite a bit, so there's really no complaint here. But we were a little worried this time....
We hopped into the van, still amazed at our free parking, and headed off to Lausanne. This was the part of the drive I was looking forward to the most, because we were about to hit the foothills of the Alps. I love mountains!
The drive was nothing short of phenomenal. The snow-capped peaks finally showed themselves (the foothills are much more deep than those of my Rocky Mountains). I saw the real Matterhorn! We drove and gawked out the windows, at every turn someone would say, "Ooooh! Get a picture of that!" I sure hope some of them turned out (I'm writing without pics - will add them at the end).
The thrill was when we came over a mountain and started to drop to Lake Geneva. Smoke on the Water was blaring from all of our internal radios.
We all came out to Montreux
On the lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn’t have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground
When it all was over
We had to find another place
But Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
We ended up at the Grand Hotel
It was empty cold and bare
But with the rolling truck stones thing just outside
Making our music there
With a few red lights and a few old beds
We make a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know well never forget
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
Our drive into Lausanne was smooth except for the driveway in - it was narrow and you weren't supposed to really drive there. As driver, I might have had a little bit of a hissy fit while I figured out what I needed to do. It all worked in the end. We unloaded and got out into the world. (Picture looking back at Lausanne from a nice park that pushes out into water like a wide jetty. We had drinks at a pub on this street along the shoreline.)
Our hotel accommodation included free metro public transport - how cool is that? So we hopped onto the train that took us down to the literal Lake Geneva shoreline (song still blaring in my head). We walked along through tiny little bugs and took heaps of pictures.
This is the location where "Blue Steel" was born. Rootsey took a picture of Alan (see picture, right) and Alan didn't smile, he just had what Rootsey called, "the look of blue steel." For the rest of the trip, I daresay, for the rest of our lives, we will probably take "blue steel" pictures. It's a modelling pose done by amateurs. As this blog continues, you'll see the good steel, the bad steel, and the ugly steel. What fun!
Dinner in Lausanne was at a restaurant recommended by the hotel clerk. It was almost right across the street and was a nice place. We got the corner booth and proceeded to order anything that didn't have sauerkraut in it. Ange and I had beef fondue - yum!
I don't remember what anyone else had, but I do remember we were all fat and happy at the end. There was a band playing in the basement where the bathrooms were. I listened to a song and wished we could have a bit of a jam, but the band wasn't that great and we were tired, so we didn't stay. We went back to the hotel to have one more drink, to look at the moon, the Alps, and the stars, and then, with a meeting time established for the morning, we went to bed.
Little did I know that the real Alps had not even been seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment