Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 11:57:28 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Colorado stole all their mountains from Switzerland!!!!!
Today i went for a drive.
Well, that's been the case every day, but today was
special. I left the hotel headed towards Zermatt
(actually Täsch, as Zermatt is not accessible to cars)
for views of the Matterhorn. Then i changed my mind. I
took the exit for Hwy 11 -- between the towns of
Wassen and Innertkirchen is the most scenic mountain
road i've ever been on.... San Juan Skyway in colorado
might be a close second. No wonder San Juan Skyway is
called "The Switzerland of America".. There is NO road
in this country that's called "The Colorado of
Switzerland".
Anyway, this road was about 40km winding through
mountain passes and next to some glaciers and thin
long waterfalls. The highest point on that road --
Sustenpass (2224 meters) -- is only open from July to
October. So i came at the right month, exactly in
between! :-) i also came on the right day of the right
month, since it was raining lightly all day -- that
meant several thin layers of clouds in between the
mountains.... just beautiful!
Well, after that i thought, "ok i'll go see the
Matterhorn now" ... then i changed my mind again. I
went to Interlaken, roamed around in the town and
completed the drives i had missed last time on the way
to Geneva. Of the two lakes on either side of the town
and the four roads that surround both lakes, i liked
the drive on the north shore of Brienzer See the best.
(See means lake. and while i'm at it, Zentrum means
center (i.e. of the town), and i have no idea what
Zimmer means, but i'll look that up later. i saw a lot
of signs saying Zimmer.) Brienzer See is the lake to
the East of Interlaken.
Anyway, so after Interlaken and the drive around both
lakes, i started thinking what next... "it's probably
too late to go to the Matterhorn..... Hmmmm.... maybe
Basel and into Germany. Maybe Vevey and Montreux."
I went to Vevey and Montreux, completing another
circular route around Southwestern Switzerland. Vevey
is where Charlie Chaplin spent the last 25 years of
his life... it's also the world headquarters of Nestle
Company. And near Montreux is where Lord Byron and
Ernest Hemingway spent some time too... the only time
i spent in either city was to drive through them.
They're not really that pretty... i just wanted to see
more mountains.
Mountains I saw! on the way back to Luzern, the road
goes through the towns of Visp, Brig, Gletsch and
Innertkirchen again -- and the section from Gletsch to
Innertkirchen - about 35km on Hwy 6 -- was almost as
good as this morning's drive on Hwy 11! It was raining
a lot more this time, and the top of the peaks were
covered in clouds. That made for a lot more
interesting drive too, through the clouds!
I never did see the Matterhorn.
So now i'm back in Luzern - on my last night here. On
the way to this internet cafe i drove by the old town
and lakeshore... but it was dark by the time i got
here, so not much to see... (and i dont mean see as in
lake)
Tomorrow is my last full day in this country, at least
until i come back. Hoping it's not raining in Jungfrau
region, but weather.com says it would rain until about
3pm... if that's the case i'm not going there on this
trip. But i will come back here anyway... some day.
Maybe i'll retire here too, just like Chaplin.
Maybe not.
Zimmer means room.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
au revoir,
-me.
Along Hwy 11:
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Thunersee: Lake on the west of Interlaken
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Along Hwy 9:
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Along Hwy 11 again:
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Along Hwy 6:
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Along A8: "The light at the end of the tunnel", and "no light at the end of the tunnel"
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