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Today we said “arrivederci” to Italy and started another exciting chapter in our European Adventures. We headed north alongside Lake Como over the mountains to St Moritz and a little further to our overnight stop at Preda.
Slow driving was the order of the day. Not because we wanted to drive slow just to annoy the impatient Italian drivers for the last time but because the traffic was heavy, the road was narrow and it was one little town after another. Added to all this the scenery was postcard material from the start and that meant stopping often wherever we could.
Como was alive with holiday makers and that made stopping difficult so we just kept on driving. There were times when we deviated from the main road and took zig-zag roads down to little villages along the water front. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time, especially when meeting oncoming traffic. The lake was not very busy except for the occasional ferry or float plane passing by. The sight of little villages high up in the hills on the other side of the lake begs the question, “Why are they there and how do you get to
them?”
Getting to the end of the lake the scenery changed from lakeside villages to high sharp mountain peaks with the last of winter’s snow. Departing Italy was easy, just a friendly wave from the Italian border police. Entering Switzerland we thought we were in for the third degree. The first question was, “Do you have anything to declare?” “No”. “Do you have any souvenirs?” “No”. Then there was a very suspicious look through the car’s rear windows at all the supplies, bags, toaster, etc. “How long will you stay?” “Four days in St Moritz”. “Move on”. Whew!
We had heard about the excitement of driving the Malojapass but we were not prepared for the very sharp hairpin bends that had the car in first gear. Fortunately we followed a truck up the hill and any trucks coming down waited. The view from the top is spectacular with high mountains and fresh green pastures. Families were out helping bring in the fresh hay with large hand rakes as well as machinery.
St Moritz looks every bit a place for the rich and famous. After this trip we might be famous but rich we will not be. We needed to stop
here to buy our tickets for the Glacier Express. What a helpful ticket office attendant. With a show of our passports we managed to get half price tickets because of the type of return trip we were doing. These tickets also included the return trip from Preda to St Moritz. So we were all set for the train trip in the morning.
Preda is a railway station and a hotel on the other side of the Albulapass. So to get to our hotel we needed to drive the very narrow zig-zag road over the 2500 metre pass. The high summer pastures were providing fresh grass to the dairy cows who chewed and moved to the sound of their bells. As we drove over the pass there was a very brief flurry of sleet but it soon cleared although the mountains ahead had an ominous look about them but we had been assured there would be fine weather for at least three days.
The hotel is a marvel sitting all alone in this mountainous valley and it is so quiet, even the trains that pass within 300 metres arrive and leave without a murmur. It is bliss.
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