European Get-Away: Day 24 & 25 - Nov. 6-7 - Traversing Austria, Switzerland and into Italy

We decided not to drive south through Austria and Italy, but instead go right across to Salzburg, Innsbruck and into Switzerland, then through Milano and Genoa into France. Possibly a tad longer, but better roads, better scenery, and more time in the areas we love.

It was a hectic morning trying to get out before 9 AM when we knew we would get a parking ticket (36 EU) if the car was in front of the apartment beyond that time. Despite being up at 6 am, we barely made it. I threw some garment bags over our balcony to Ron, and it made such a loud noise that people were peering out their windows. We may not be invited back! Ron had to take the bottles to the recycling place under the viaduct, and by the time he got back I had brought a few more things downstairs. He still had to make one more trip up (he is worn out), and I waited with the car, re-arranging bags. A police officer soon approached, noticed we didn't have the proper tag on the window, and asked me a question, which I didn't understand. But I responded in my best German that my husband was bringing luggage and we would be driving out immediately. He nodded, and went on his way.

Ron got back to the car, and we drove through the city, past the Naschmarkt, past Schonbrunn and onto the Autobahn toward Salzurg.

We stopped for lunch at the Landgasthof Karner in Frasdorf, another favorite spot in Bavaria. The hotel/restaurant is over 500-years old, and is very charming. Ron had pork medallions and I tried Asian noodles with smoked duck, but did not care for it.

We drove down through Innsbruck, passing many places that held a lot of memories.

We spent the night in St. Anton am Arlberg (in the Tyrolean Alps) at the Sonnbichl, a pleasant hotel outside the town. Not a lot of things were open yet - the season seems to begin December 4. The hotel did have an elevator, BUT about 16 exterior steps to reach the building. The bed was very comfortable - which we appreciated after a long day on the road.

The included breakfast was plentiful with the usual cheeses, meats, rolls, breads, yogurt, cereals, and eggs of your choice. I loved the BIG cup of tea!

St. Anton

View from our room

In the breakfast room

Now that's a cup of tea!

Check-out time was a rather unreasonable 10:30 AM, but we said we were going into town, and requested 11 AM, which was no problem. There was a lot of snow on the ground, and blue skies. The first time I'd been in St. Anton was about 30-years ago when I was a lot braver than today. I traveled around Europe alone via train and bus for about six weeks. I still can't figure out how I managed to cart my luggage! I was looking for the Hotel Post, and knew it had been near the train station. But we came to a big, modern train station, and realized it was new. I saw a building that looked like an old train station right near the Post. We later asked the lady at our hotel (who spoke beautiful "American"-sounding English), and she told us the train station had been moved in 2001 for the Alpine World Ski Championship. The interesting thing was that the former train station is now a private house where the owners of the Post Hotel live. St. Anton is considered one of the top ski resorts in Europe not only for skiing, but for apres-ski entertainment.

We stopped at a big SPAR right in the middle of St. Anton and stocked up on "beverages" for France and more chocolates.

We reluctantly left St. Anton and continued west through the Arlberg tunnel, 15.5 KM in length (about 9 1/2 miles) which cost an additional toll of about $12 on top of the "vignette". As we arrived in Switzerland we stopped for gas and were amazed to see ice for sale. This is the first time in all the years we've been coming to Europe that we have seen this. It is generally very hard to find ice here - we always travel with our own ice trays! Ron couldn't get the lid open, and two people came out and struggled to open it. It probably hasn't been used since summer.

Ron with $5 bag of ice (and no ice chest)

The GPS routed us down through Liechtenstein and into the Graubuden, our favorite part of Switzerland. We stopped in Bad Ragaz, a beautiful spa town that we love, as we suddenly realized we needed a "vingette" for Switzerland. Unfortunately, they are sold for an entire year and cost about $43. From there we passed through Chur, the departure point for the little train to Arosa, one of our most special places in the world. It seemed odd to be that close and not stop, but realized we didn't have proper winter clothing or boots. The Swiss Alps in that area are awe-inspiring.

The autobahn soon became a two-lane road wth many tunnels, and we passed through the San Bernardino tunnel (about 4-miles long). I read something amusing about the tunnel. Shortly after it opened in 1967, flocks of migratory birds discovered it as a shortcut. Sometimes the tunnel is briefly closed to traffic so the birds won't be injured. South of the tunnel, there was no longer snow on the ground. We drove through a lot of fog. The autobahn resumed shortly, and we were soon in the Ticino, the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland. Along with the signs changing from German to Italian, there was also a noticeable change in the architecture - a more Mediterranean feel. We exited at Lugano (the capital of Ticino) and drove along the beautiful Lago Lugano into Italy. Instead of seeing coniferous trees like spruce, pine and fir, we were seeing olive trees, palms, cypress, and plane trees. The scenery presented an entirely different type of beauty. We passed a truck on the roadside, selling oranges.

There was a lot of traffic on the narrow two-lane road at the tip of the lake, and we can't imagine what it would be like in high season.

We came to Lake Como at Menaggio and turned south passing many amazing villas above the lake. Most of the places we passed were already closed for the season. We came to the town of Argregno, where we were supposed to have stayed last week (but changed due to a mix-up), and in the middle of town was a hotel right on the lake that was open. We decided to stop in to take pictures and have a drink. Ron inquired about rooms, and decided this would be the perfect place to stay. And it was! It was a 3* superior hotel, and every bit as nice as most of the 4* we have stayed in. The location and view couldn't be surpassed. The room was large and comfortable with wood floors, a big walk-in shower, and a small balcony. And free internet and parking.

Lake Como from Villa Belvedere

Our dinner table overlooking Lake Como

At 7 PM we went down to dinner, and ordered the lake perch for two served on rissotto. It was a fabulous meal, and I was very happy to have something other than German/Austrian cuisine! Ron began with a large bowl of minestra (a vegetable soup - we learned it is only called minestrone if it has noodles in it).