Travels south of DK

This summer has turned out to be a great one. It started off with a Scandinavian tour with the Husky Band where we saw parts of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Then yesterday, I just returned from an 8 day tour through Germany, Switzerland and Italy! I was fortunate to be allowed to tag along with my friend Martin and his fellow Ducati friend Carsten.

Our trip started off at about 7:30 on the morning of the 11th. We drove from Horsens in Denmark, through Germany where we drove by Hamburg, Hannover and Frankfort. We arrived in Basel, Switzerland around 9:30 that evening. I am sure we could have arrived sooner, but Danes are very good at needing regular stops for coffee and Martin seemed to always be hungry and drive-thrus are not an option, which I don't mind at all. The European freeways are set up with regular rest-stops that usually include gas stations, picnic areas, and restaurants. Every time we stopped, I used the WC, which I hated to do in Germany, because there are attendents standing outside the door with a plate ready to accept your coin in thanks for the use of the toilet. I hated the guilt I felt, but hated even more that I had to pee so often and was pretty much forced to pay. Carsten says it is not required, but anyone with a consience feels they should do it, which I did several times, although it may have only been 10 cents.

Martin drove all the way down to Basel on the autobahn. It was pretty exciting the constant moving in and out of lanes to pass cars and letting cars pass us. There were a couple times that Martin got up to 200 km/hr! The scenery was nice, but nothing really exciting...a lot of trees and fields. As we got further south, there were more hills and on many hills there were old fortifications or castle ruins. When we crossed the border into Switzerland, we had to pay a fee to use their freeways and then a sticker is placed on the windshield, which lasts for a whole year. Then, we drove over the Rhine and worked our way through the streets of Basel into the area called Binningen where Martin and Carsten's friend Mariah (from Seattle) lives. We stayed with her two nights before heading further into Switzerland.

On Friday the 12th, we drove to St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland where we met up with one of Mariah's American friends Cynthia. Here we toured the streets, the churches, the old library, and a couple cafes. We got a good taste of the Swiss architecture and the hilly surrounding landscape. After our visit there in the warm Swiss sun, we decided to drive out to Appenzell, a village surrounded by beautiful hills. We enjoyed a walk around this city and another cup of coffee and then headed back to Basel through the windy roads and then through Zurich. We stopped at a point on the way where we could see the impressive rocky cliffs of Santis at 2503 meters high. Not only was the view impressive, but up in the hills there was the awesome ringing of cowbells on the grassy fields that made such a wonderful orchestra of quiet bells in the breeze! Oh, it was amazing!

The next day we drove further south into Switzerland. We drove thru Luzern and down to Brienz, which is just north of Interlaken. Here we set up camp and went into town to find most everything closed, but we enjoyed immensly the high, high mountains and the blue, blue lake- Brienzersee. The next morning we ate our breakfast of rolls, cheese, and meat and instant coffee made over the camp stove and then headed towards the train to take us up to the top of Rothorn. The guys hiked, but Mariah and I took the train up and enjoyed the steep mountain views and the Swiss houses, that of course reminded me a lot of Leavenworth in Washington. The weather had started out beautiful, but when we got to the top, we could see clouds coming in from the southwest and sure enough, those clouds dumped on us and the wind began to blow. I was fortunate to be able to see the view of the Alps from the top before the clouds covered them up. The poor guys were on the mountain and were soaked and cold when they made it to the top and shivered all the way down on the train.

Mariah headed back to Basel that night and we slept in a semi-wet tent and heard the rain patter down all night long. Fortunately it stopped in the morning and we could see that the high peaks had gotten a dusting of snow during the night. We bought our breakfast at the grocery store and headed over a snowy pass and stopped on the other side to eat breakfast and make our instant coffee. Then, we headed down the freeway and through the San Gottard Tunnel, which is 17 km long. Once on the other side, the change in climate was amazing. It was much warmer and the architecture changed as well! We were now in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.

The original plan for the trip to Italy was to drive down to Bologna to see the Ducati museum, but it is unfortunately closed during the month of August. So, we drove along the north shore of Lake Como and camped the first night in Managgio, a pretty big tourist town right on the lake. Those roads, too, are suicide! There is hardly enough place for two cars and then when you add pedestrians and bicyclists...Oh my goodness. Martin did a fantastic job driving! And the villages are just so beautiful to see. It was terrible, though, when I went into the cafe where we were eating and wanted to use the toilet...because of a draught, the city shuts down the water between 2 and 5 in the afternoon! Oh my goodness! If you have to poop...it's pretty shitty! ;)

The next day we drove further along the lake into Domaso and found a 3 star camp ground with a pool and free showers right on the lake. We set up our tent and I took a better shower than the one I had that morning. We walked into town in the hot weather and found many places closing for the afternoon. The Italians eat really late in the day, which I can understand with all the heat they get!

On Wednesday we headed back up to Switzerland and stopped in Maienfeld on the way back to Basel. Here we got to see the village and the hut where the book Heidi was inspired. It was a great stop and I was so glad the guys let me see it! I bought the book Heidi and finished it yesterday in the car. It was great to have a vivid picture of the places in my mind while I read.

We stayed another night in Basel and then headed into Germany. We stopped in Heidelberg for coffee...got a cup across from Starbucks, and then drove to Koblenz where we camped right where the Mosal and the Rhine river come together. That was a beautiful city and we enjoyed some good Thai food in town. The next morning we were up early and on our way back to Denmark. I was the navigator for a while, but got really confused by the signs, so we ended up going a different way and driving through Bonn and then over to Hamburg, but we made it back in Denmark with some daylight to spare. I had a great time and have gained some really nice memories! I look forward to my next European adventure...hopefully I will make it to France soon!