I also wanted to visit a friend in northern Switzerland on this trip. But the drive from Saint-Martin-Vésubie in France to Berg in Switzerland was at least 10 hours – with no traffic.Consequently, I drove from Saint-Martin-Vésubie to Geneva and stayed with Rob and Sandy for an evening – remember them from the trip in 2002? Turns out they were going to be out of town that evening but their son was home so the house was open for the evening.
From Geneva I drove to Berg in northeastern Switzerland to visit an old friend. The drive was somewhat unremarkable as it was overcast and raining most of the time. But fast. Boy do people in Switzerland drive fast…..
After a few days visiting in Switzerland, I drove to Bergamo, Italy to scout routes for a possible bicycle trip. I drove over San Bernadino Pass in Switzerland. There is a tunnel under the mountain, but as I approached the tunnel entrance, I could see the traffic was backed up for miles. Not for me. Besides, I’ve driven over mountain passes before, right?
The weather north of the pass was nice and sunny. The weather on the southern side of the mountain was rainy and overcast.
The next day I drove north of Bergamo to start my route scouting activity. Unfortunately, the traffic and roads in that area of Italy are not conducive to bicycle touring. Oh, well. Here’s an album of my time in Switzerland and the drive to Italy.
The lake pictured below is Obersee Bodensee. I rented a bicycle for day while my friend was working and biked to the lake near Konstanz, Germany.