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October 18, 2015October 18, 2015

Brissago – Day 20

We woke to perfect weather and our plan was to head to the see the Matterhorn. It was a 3.5hr drive each way, but it looked amazing in photos and I hoped it lived up to the awesomeness of the ride at the Royal Show of the same name I enjoyed 25 years ago. God I’m old.

The drive there was, umm, interesting to say the least! So many close calls due to the extreme nature of the roads which looked one way at best as we criss-crossed our way through a huge valley and climbed and climbed. Amazing terrain, amazing roads.

After a long time on the road, we reached a town just short of Zermatt, a ski-town at the base of the Matterhorn. Zermatt is car/motorbike free so you have to leave your car and then get a train/van up. Once we reached Zermatt, we met up with Wade & Rhi who have been on the road all year and being good friends of Biddy & John, they’d driven from Spain over the past 2 days to meet up.

Was great to hear their travel stories over lunch and after, we made our way up to Gornergrat, an observation deck 3100m above sea level. Since Zermatt is 1400m, the climb up is steep to say the least so it’s a cog-train much like a roller-coaster. The trip takes about 20 minutes and goes from green, to snow covered trees, to just snow.

The top had a huge observation area of the surrounding area including the super impressive Matterhorn, one of the highest peaks in all of Europe and borders Italy & Switzerland. It’s considered the Mountain of Mountains in the Alps so it was pretty cool to be able to see it up (relatively) close.

The drive back was even more challenging given it was pitch black, but we got home safe & sound and we now had 2 more card players join us in Rhi & Wade. A top night of drinking and cards were had all round!

The clan (Evian bottle in place of Wade)

October 16, 2015October 18, 2015

Brissago – Day 19

After amazing weather the last day or two, today’s was a bit average. Still reasonably warm, but pretty dreary and rainy. Still – heaps on offer to do so we went for a bit of an explore back over the border in Italy. But, not until after a game of golf at a rather prestigous course in Ascona, Switzerland.

It’s rather handy traveling with a golf pro as he can get us onto almost any course. They did ask what course I was a member of, implying I can’t play if I don’t have a club, so “Yes, I’m Mr Rosie, I’m a member at Blackwood and play off 13.” Boom, on the course we go!

Just an awesome course, fairways were perfect and it bordered Lake Maggiore where we had gone on the boat yesterday. It drizzled non-stop, but given we saw 2 people the entire time we were on the course, it was totally worth it. After a few holes, John showed why he toured and 1-putted from bloody everywhere whereas I had a bit of luck at times and had a couple of pars and a birdie somehow.

After a quick shower back at the apartment, the four of us set off for a very old town just on the Italian side of the border called Cannobio. We walked through, had sensational pizza for lunch and bought up some supplies for pre-dinner snacks. Imagine an old windy lane tiny town where cars can’t fit, right on the lake.

For dinner we grabbed some supplies and had some yummy steak back at the apartment, broke out the cards and had a sensational time of eating, drinking and cursing at the card game (and each other).

October 16, 2015October 16, 2015

Brissago – Day 18

Our first full day in Brissago and it was a cracker!

The weather was fantastic, a rather warm 18 degrees or so (a huge increase over what we had been used to recently) and so we headed into Locano, a larger town 15 minutes down the road, also on Lake Maggiore. Very cute town, a good mix of tourist-friendly and a proper working town – heaps of restaurants and shops and so-on.

We decided to hire a boat to go out on the lake. We got what looked like a small ski boat, but with a tiny, tiny engine. But, it fit the 4 of us nicely and we took our picnic supplies we’d purchased earlier and out we went for a couple of hours!

Incredible couple of hours just being on the lake, taking in the surroundings, having some sandwiches and beer/wine… perhaps too much enjoyment that Glen didn’t quite listen closely enough to the instructions given and may or may not have missed the signs of a sandbar and, well, we got beached. I got us into the mess, so I figured I should get us out – so I jumped in the rather chilly but very clear water and pushed us off. Was rather amusing it must be said!

The photos don’t do it justice (I’ve said that a lot this trip) but it was a great experience and a hell of a lot of fun!

That night, we had reservations for a pretty special restaurant up in the hills of Brissago. It came with high recommendations, and a very high altitude. 5km of hairpin turns up the mountain, we were greeted with a spectacular view of the lake and mountains around. We also learnt it’s a Michelin Starred restaurant, so that was a first for all of us!

We had a bottle of prosecco (similar to champagne but Italian) outside first to take advantage of the view, then moved into begin our taste extravaganza. We all had an entree risotto (possibly the best pasta meal I’ve ever eaten) and then we each ordered a main and had a bit of each other’s. We had: local deer stew, a chilli & pesto pasta, beef fillet and pumpkin ravioli. Each were unbelievable. We topped it off with 4 desserts and basked in the best food coma we’ve experienced.

So that was a pretty special day and one that won’t be forgotten any time soon!

October 14, 2015

Brissago, Switzerland – Day 17

We may or may not have left a lot of time to get to the airport given it was an international flight, but we made it just in time and again seated in premium economy, we were off to Milan! Bit sad to say goodbye to Norway as it had provided heaps of great times and memories, but looking forward to some warmer weather and seeing our friends. The male flight attendant was an old guy and hilarious – made the 2.5hr flight whizz by.

In Milan, we picked up our hire car – a convertible (Peugot 308) given it was going to be nice weather and off we went for about 1.5hrs to Brissago – just over the Swiss border. Now, I’ve driven in Romania where it’s crazy, so I wasn’t too concerned about the Italians and their driving, but still – I was surprised by how bloody fast they go!

On the motorway, the speed limit was 110km/h. After being flown by time and time again, I decided to up my speed to 120 – still they went by super fast. Up to 130 – same thing. I sat on 140km/h for a bit and still had the occasional driver go past (a couple of cars still flew by – have to be doing 180 or more) but ended up dropping back to 130km/h as that seemed the best mix of not going too fast but not creating potential issues by being too slow and in the way.

Once off the motorway, we went down the mountains to follow a rather tight road around Lake Maggiorre which is the lake we’re staying next to. The lake is huuuuuge and various small towns are well set up for holiday makers and so-on. On the other side of the road are enormous mountains where somehow, locals have built houses into. This makes for extreeeemely narrow roads and when you combine tight turns, buses and oncoming traffic, it gets quite hairy!

It was reasonably straight forward though – we found where Biddy & John were staying and were warmly welcomed with a delicious bottle of champagne and a great catch-up over some cheese and deli meats we brought with us. Was great to see them and the house we’re staying in is amazing! On the highside of the road on the top floor of an apartment building, we have an incredible view of the lake right to the other side, the mountains and everything in between. Very lucky!

So last night we ventured down to lake’s edge and found a cool restaurant for dinner. The owner was a top bloke and made us feel very welcome. We ate delicious pasta, one of which was wild boar that he had hunted himself from the forests, then a couple of shared delicious desserts whilst enjoying a couple of bottles of local red wine. Many laughs, many stories told – just a great night and very, very happy to be here!

Another view of Lake Maggiore from our apartment

Very Swiss/Italian – the lift tskes the owners to their house on the water’s edge

October 14, 2015

Alta/Oslo, Norway – Day 16

Our day started with a 7:20am flight to Oslo which was pretty easy and uneventful. This was our 2nd night in Oslo so we knew how to get in to the city and what to expect.

Hate to say it, but Oslo is, well a bit bland. At least it is initially… you really have to search out the good stuff. We couldn’t check into our hotel so we left our suitcases and went for a walk around. Had a coffee, people-watched and grabbed a light lunch at another spot. We were tired from our red eye flight, so this may be unfair, but the city lacks oomph. There’s no vibrant feel to it, the architecture is uninspiring and with almost no cars allowed in the CBD, there’s heaps of roads which kind of do nothing except break up the shops and so-on too much and it’s almost too open.

We went back to our hotel after lunch to see if we could get an early check-in, but no good, so Glen went off to a bar to watch the Formula 1 as Soph stayed at the hotel and had a wine and read a book.

At night, we found a few good spots to try via Yelp and off we went into different parts of the city. The bar we hunted down was super cool – really well set up in an old factory of some sort and had a great selection of drinks. After a couple there, it was time for dinner so we found the pizza bar we’d read about and it was as good as the reviews said. Not overly Norwegian, but it was time for a change of cuisine.

A reasonably early night and the end to a bit of a rest day where not much happened, but still nice to see and do new stuff. Tomorrow – we’re off to Milan, then Brissago in Switzerland and catch up with friends Biddy & John!