Switzerland 8- Cugnasco/the Gottard Tunnel/a speeding ticket/queues to enter Switzerland /if a country had a sex

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I ordered my baguettes and croissants yesterday and picked them up this morning. It had been another cold night. England is fairing no better as bad weather is predicted over the next few days. April should be April Showers and warmish weather. Occaisionally the weather turns as it did in 1979 and we get snow. When I mentioned the cold weather to the young lady who served me she smiled and said something that seemed odd at first. “ We like the cold weather “ “Do you?” said I wondering why. As we get older we prefer a more clement weather. I expected her to tell me they needed cold for a certain crop to perform well. Instead she smiled and told me that because of the cold you need more blankets. I looked rather bemused. “Ah” she said seeing my confusion. “We need it and more blankets to cuddle up . We cuddle closer . We need it for romance “. I could not leave this one undone. “ We like the warmth too” I added . “Red wine, sun on our backs – that is good for romance”. I left her with a knowing smile on her face.



Entering Switzerland we found as always a country without any litter, no rubbish anywhere, pristine clean with roadworks making everything in tip top order. If countries were sexed I thought France would have to be female apart from the German corner which would be male. Italy would be female without a doubt and Switzerland neutral. Switzerland would be an “it “ country neither one nor the other but a bit of both. Orderly in a Germanic way with everything running like clockwork .

The Italian part of Switzerland always strikes me as a touch scruffier. The mountains are still impressive but it seems less clockwork like. We passed through the Gottard Tunnel – queues of cars waiting to come through the other side. As we came out on the other side the mist had fallen and it was impossible to see anything through the driving rain. We arrived at our stop for the night . in the village of Cugnasco. We had stayed up the road a Gudo before this time that site was not in the ACSI book. Reception was yet again closed and the note on the door said to go onto the site park up and come back at 4. The site was fairly small but seemed to have everything you could possibly want. It had scruffy feel. The grass had been worn away but camper van tyres over the months and the ground was rock hard. There were no hedges nor trees to differentiate the pitches . The shower block was excellent. Around the campsite were caravans. The homes of weekenders. What started off as one caravan had grown over the years as an awning was added. A fridge, a table and chairs were brought in and stored . A second awning was added plus a toilet tent. Not the sort of thing you would see on a caravan club site back home but second nature here. A third shed/a third caravan/a third tent. I paid in swiss francs – 27 of them and we decided to visit the restaurant – Restaurant Romantica. I nice name but rather a misnomer as it was not particularly romantic. The menu was in German and Italian and it had a surprisingly large choice of dishes for such a small out of the way place. It was packed to even at this time of the night . We ordered for our main meal gnocci. Glenn chose tomato with his. I chose the Gorganzola cheese. Washed down with a lager beer and an Aperol Spritz. I felt as if I had finally arrived as I drank the orange nectar and followed it up with a Panna Cotta and an espresso.



Beyond Lake Lugano, Lake Como . That was our destination today. We had slept well and woke refreshed . Heading out of Cugnasco Snooper decided to get confused and we ended up on the wrong road. Not on the main autovia but on a back country lane. Glenn swore blind that he thought he had gone through a speed camera. I swore blind that I never heard Snooper warning us nor did I see same said camera. I had seen a warning from her in red about queues as she busted a gut ringing away warning us. We wait and curse the rain and Snoopy for sending us the wrong way. Perhaps a ticket will be waiting for us on our arrival back home. Maybe we will be lucky . We need a touch of luck . Tomorrow we are over te border yet again into Italy and our date with our destiny a boat to Greece is coming ever closer.

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