Switzerland, The Alps and Chocolate

So we have to be up bright and early today cuz we're going to drive right through the Alps and into Switzerland so we are up showered, dressed and down to breakfast by 7am. Still pretty jet lagged but one advantage of being up early is that we're going to beet the greedy Germans who are staying in our hotel for breakfast. There is a bus load of them staying and each day we have been down for breakfast so far they have scarfed most of the buffet food. We get downstairs and those damd German's are leaving on an early bus tour so they have already all eaten and the buffet is still bare at 7am. we loaded the car and plug in the cordinates for Brig Switzerland into our GPS and off we go.

it's a really sunny day and it's already about 19deg out . we have to take the autostrada due west and after about 30 min of traveling we hit the toll booth and have to pay $8 to carry on along the freeway - this journey could get expensive !

the terrain starts to get very hilly and we start heading through tunnel after tunnel and some of the tunnels are well over 2km long - we start entering the alps and pretty soon we are at the Swiss border we pull up to a border guard and he looks in and just waves us on and doesnt want to see the passports and asks us no questions - oh well we are now in Switzerland !

 The road now is really narrow and very windey and the scenery quickly becomes very spectacular. the road winds through valleys with the jagged snow capped alps towering thousands of feel above us. we pass waterfalls and beautiful little swiss villages - the houses now are completely different to the Italian houses. everything suddenly is all wood construction and very swiss chalet looking. We are traveling through the simplon pass which is an ancient road originally used by Napeleon Bonepart when he brought his armies to invade Italy.

 At the top of the simplon pass we see a gigantic stone eagel carved out of a huge rock. we are above the snowline now and when we stopped to take pictures it is freezing cold outside. The stone eagle signafies the highest point of the pass and we  started heading downhill into the swiss valley below and the ancient town of Brig.

 We spent several hours exploring the cobbled streets of Brig looking in the stores which are VERY expensive and checking out the ancient architecture. The nice thing about switzerland is that all the locals speak good english as this is tought in every swiss school.

Its really sunny and hot down in the valley and a thermomiter tells us it's 27deg. We go into the old town square and find a quaint restaurant for lunch.

We look at the menu and glen asked the waiter what a local speciality would be the weighter tells glen his best choice would be horse. I cough and look at glen and say to the waiter you mean HORSE right? 

Glens Delicious Lunch mmmm

The waiter say yes and he says it's dead and can't run away. of course glen is excited to try this local dish and orders a 10 oz horse steak with vegetables..Rhonda orders a Strogonoff with rice. you can see in the picture the size of glens horse meat (pardon the pun) and he tastes it and says it's delicious. We wash the food down with a couple of weiss bier. As we said earlier it's really expensive in Swisserland and this lunch just cost us over 100$ and the restaurant we are in is by no means the most expensive in the town square.

 After lunch we walk the narrow streets up to the ancient town castle. The castle overlooks the whole town and from the top of the castle walls we can see a 360 degree view of the alps wowzer ! we explore the 900 year old castle and wander through ancient doorways and arches and cellars and dungeons. Castle explored we head back to our car and start on the drive back to Italy.

We travel along the Simplon Pass road again and experience the spectacular views which look quite different as we travel in the return direction. An hour later we are back in Italy and we stop just on the Italian side of the border for a bathroom stop and a glass of wine. The border post is located in an old mountain village and we sit outside a small bar on the sidewalk about 20 meters from the border post.



It is quite amusing sat in the mountains with a glass of wine so close to border guards watching them search cars as they pass through. An hour and a half later we are back in Legnano and we shower and head out for supper. We eat at a fabulous Italian restaurant in the City centre. The owner is very chaty and during our meal he brings us 2 glasses of red wine that he tells us his father makes from scratch. He even tells us his dad crushes the grapes by stomping them with his bare feet. A little off put by this information we reluctantly try the wine and wow - it is deliciously fruity with a hint of toenail !! Then its back to the hotel for a few hours sleep as we are up at 4.45am for our flight to the UK.