Switzerland 7- Altdorf, William Tell country, we are off to Greece and a day of travelling brings a basketful of learning

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A day of travelling brings a basket ful of learning . A Vietnamese proverb which is very true. The temperature overnight was much more balmy than the night we spent in Hertfordshire. We slept well with the only real noise coming from some guys at 5am on their mobile phones. Woke up late due to the driver forgetting to set his watch for European time and my battery packing up at an inopportune moment. We thought it was 6 but found out quickly it was exactly one hour later. Breakfast was eaten quickly. We hit the road. The sat nav took us through the city and we wondered why she did that when there seemed a quicker way along the river. Day 3 on the road and we headed down the peage to the long and straight road heading for the Vosges mountains and Haut Konigsberg where we stopped for a break. The landscape had changed again from the foothills of the Vosges to the Ballons themselves. The agricultural landscape changed from yellow oilseed rape to grape vines and hop vines. Then flash, bang , whallop – what a picture . The gatso flashed at us. We were yet again doing less than the legal limit for a vehicle weighing in at less than 3500 kg. We think it was again thinking we were a lorry which is limited to 80kph in a 100 area. Hopefully like last time in Bordeaux the gendarme will check the footage and put it in the bin.



The plan was to head for Surzee in Switzerland a campsite on one of its many lakes. We arrived a little too early and decided to continue on for a few miles more. We were heading for William Tell country. Funny how things like this take you back years to childhood. We both started to sing Come away, Come away with William Tell . The theme to a programme we both watched as children. William Tell of Switzerland who was a little bit like our own Robin Hood. Instead of the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham we have Lamburger Geisler as the nasty man. The years were stripped away as we reminisced. We got to the dogana (the customs) were the police funnelled us into slow single lanes before letting us in to Italy. They look so menacing with their guns. Very different from our own relatively unarmed police back home. Through we came to Luzern with his high rise buildings, its industry and its tunnels. You can tell a prosperous country as you drive through. Unlike France, Italy and Spain there are no unfinished factories or partially built housing. No litter. Clean as a new pin. Now the empty houses in France and Italy always make us think that the locals do not want to live in them nor do them up. We Brits on the other hand love a DIY project and thrive on doing up old houses.

The weather was still grey and gloomy with the clouds hugging the mountains like a necklace. It did however brighten up and the sun shone by the time we headed into Altdorf. A typical Swiss village/town with mountains all round. Most with snow on the tops. Snow that will not melt completely until July 1^st. Bucolic brown cows with cowbells round their necks. Lush green grass some of it already cut for silage. The fields yellow with dandelions. We were greeted on the campsite by the meister who spoke little English and gabbled to me in German . Guten tag it was and then hand gestures. One camping car , one nacht. He directed us to the grassy plots. There were not many of them and the one he chose was up against the hedge next to the road and the railway line. The trains ran until late in the evening but we soon got used to them. There was a little hard standing and he pointed to it before pointing to the sky and gesticulating rain falling. British weather he said . We picked up 2 francs for the shower from him as we had not bothered to get any Swiss money. They take oooooorows as they call them in Switzerland. There was no WiFi on site, the showers were wonderfully clean, there was a snack bar which sold bratwurst and pommes but this was closed . He also ran a bar which filled up at night with the local old age pensioners in their identical blue flower embroidered shirts. Next morning the same old age pensioners had forsaken their beers of the night before and were now in there drinking coffee.

We watched the tiny red cable car as it climbed the nearby mountain. This is one area that Glenn and I always fail to agree on. I love heights. I love cable cars. He hates both. We fell into conversation with an English couple names not exchanged sadly who were travelling in their caravan with their dog. He had run his own company. He had sold it and become surplus to requirements. She had continued working for a further year. He had become fed up of cleaning, gardening and plodding about and they had decided to take off for Ancona and Greece. We chatted about their previous holidays. They had broken down here and had to leave their caravan and make their own way home the previous year. They rang their son for a weather forecast. The weather forecast otherwise known as the work of fiction says rain so we wait and see what tomorrow brings. It turned out that the wife hated heights and suffered from vertigo. Like Glenn she would not go up the cable car. He on the other loved them and I suggested that we had found a perfect marriage . His wife could stay with my husband whilst we did the Egg Barn. I dont think it was actually called that but that is what it became christened. We never did swop partners for the ride to the top. Ah well it was a fascinating thing to watch as it wended it way up the mountain to the top and beyond.

The saying proved true as we found out a little about Greece from our new found friends. Tomorrow will bring in yet another basketful of learning. We pondered this over a very quaffable bottle of white German wine and a box of pringles. I love travelling.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Switzerland
We just spent two weeks in Switzerland so this was a nice memory.

[JenGog]

Switzerland
Loved your blogs when you were there. My watch battery failed two days ago and I felt useless without the time. Managed to find a jewellers in Grado this morning and feel 100% better knowing what time it is :)