Buckle up, it’s going to be a long one.

The past two years we’ve taken two separate back-to-back month+ long trips to Europe in Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec.

Returning from one trip just to get ready for the next proved tiring, so this year we decided we’d combine them into one six-week+ trip instead, and save us some of the inevitable airport/airline chaos.

We monitored airfares for weeks, finally taking the plunge in late April. True to form, five days later UA changed our return flights, reducing our layover in London to an uncomfortable level.

This gave us the opportunity to change flights at no charge, so it was back to the drawing board. We decided to return from Zurich via Washington instead of London, and then upgraded to Business Class on the longish Washington to Denver flight, at a cost of $250 each (we did this last year as well and it was a godsend thanks to a bout of food poisoning). Our mixed cabin flights excluding the upgrade came to $1,856 each.

In mid-August, our return flights changed again, reducing our layover in Denver to an ‘illegal’ 43 minutes. So, we switched to a later flight, increasing our layover to 1:45; knowing we’d be totally hammered at this point, but preferring a longer layover to a potential mad rush if our incoming flight was even the slightest bit late.

Outgoing flights:

COS-DEN - UA (Economy Plus)

DEN-LHR - UA (Premium Plus)

LHR-ZRH - Swiss (Economy)

Return flights:

ZRH-IAD - UA (Premium Plus)

IAD-DEN - UA (Business)

DEN-COS - UA (Economy Plus)

The 45-night itinerary; a mix of places we know well, areas we’ve enjoyed but barely scratched the surface of, and a couple of entirely new spots.

Kloten, Zurich - one night - Zleep Hotel, 127.60 chf

Altdorf, Canton of Uri - five nights - apartment booked through e-domizil - 615 chf (inclusive of 100 chf cash cleaning fee)

Meiringen, Canton of Bern - five nights, apartment booked through Booking.com, 835.75 chf + 40 chf tourist tax paid in cash upon arrival

Zweisimmen, Canton of Bern - five nights, Air BNB, $850.88

Visperterminen, Canton of Valais - seven nights, Air BNB, $1,148.59

Disentis/Mustér, Canton of Graubünden - five nights, Air BNB, $758.44

Chiavenna, Lombardy, Italy - four nights, Air BNB, $462.87 + €8 tourist tax

Porlezza, Lombardy, Italy - five nights, Booking.com, 615 Euro + €20 tourist tax

Domodossola, Piedmont, Italy - seven nights, $794.70 + €15 tourist tax

Zurich - one night, Hyatt Place the Circle, 187 chf

Normally, we’d not spend our first night in Zurich, but we’d chosen a later arrival, planning to take the longer, more scenic bus route to Altdorf via the Klausen Pass the following day.

We prefer apartments for the space, kitchen facilities and access to a washer, as long trips and light packing = laundry. I also tried to find apartments with balconies/patios for afternoon beverages and relaxation.

Map of route:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/zJ7yx2KX8i6eWP8h9

Transport:

Last November we purchased a 365 day Half Fare Card for transport in Switzerland (190 chf each), planning to return in time to use it for a second trip.

In late May we purchased Super Saver Tickets and Saver Day Passes (both at half fare) for our engraved-in-stone travel days.

Saver Day Passes cover unlimited travel on all public transport in Switzerland for a single day.

Super Saver Tickets are point-to-point tickets with fixed dates, times and connections.

We’d not normally book these so far in advance, but they’re dynamically priced, so the sooner the better. Both Saver Day Passes and Super Saver Tickets are non-refundable, so it pays to have travel insurance.

We purchased the following:

Super Saver Tickets from Kloten to Altdorf, via Linthal and Balm; we chose the bus route over the Klausen Pass as we’d not yet seen it from both sides; 33.80 chf each, vs 37.50 chf each for point-to-point (every little bit helps in expensive Switzerland).

Super Saver Tickets from Altdorf to Meiringen, 14.40 chf each, vs 21 chf each, point-to-point.

Super Saver Tickets from Visp to Disentis 14.60 chf each, vs 28.80 chf each point-to-point. Here we opted to purchase a separate bus ticket on the day of travel for 2.20 chf each from our accommodation in Visperterminen, which would enable us to arrive in Visp with plenty of time for lunch before catching our train to Disentis.

Saver Day Passes for our travel day from Disentis to Chiavenna, 39 chf each, vs 43.50 chf each point-to-point.

Saver Day Passes for our travel day from Domodossola to Zurich, 39 chf each, vs 52.50 chf each, point-to-point.

It takes a bit of work to get the best price on tickets, and to add to the confusion, we had to work between accommodation check-in and check-out times. In some cases, we just did what we could and hoped our accommodation hosts would be flexible on one end or the other. Worst case, we’d have to kill a bit of time here and there or make arrangements to drop off our luggage early.

The exchange rate was a whopping $1.22 when we booked (up from $1.14 last December).

Mandatory reservations for the Palm Express weren’t available until late July, when we booked for Chiavenna to Cima San Marco. The Palm Express only stops at a handful of places, so from Cima San Marco we planned to catch an Italian bus to Porlezza (or walk the 25 minutes if the bus didn’t work out - Italian bus schedules weren’t published at the time of booking the Palm Express).

The Palm Express is a once-daily Swiss postbus that travels from St. Moritz to Lugano. We’d board in Chiavenna and get off in Cima San Marco (26.50 chf each at half fare, exchange rate up to $1.24 at time of booking).

We’d taken the entire 3.5-hour Palm Express journey previously. The route begins in the Upper Engadine, skirts Lakes Sils and Silvaplana, winds along narrow mountain roads over the Maloja Pass, then through the Bregaglia Valley and into Italy.

It then winds through various small villages above Lakes Mezzola and Como, and eventually dips back into Switzerland with views of Lake Lugano. It’s gorgeous.

Note: All train/bus prices given in this report for Switzerland are half fare, including the Super Saver Tickets and the Saver Day Passes purchased before our trip.

A week before departure, we booked point-to-point train tickets from Lugano-Domodossola on SBB (61 chf for both). Our Porlezza apartment owner had offered to give us a ride from Porlezza to the Lugano train station on her way to work in Lugano, yippee, one problem solved!

We’d been trying to get reservations on the Centrovalli Railway between Locarno and Domodossola all summer, but as of Sept 8, they still were not taking reservations. So, we booked tickets, hoping to get reservations at a later date, knowing from experience how important reservations would be, especially during October, height of the fall foliage season. Tickets could also be obtained via the Centrovalli Railway site (Italian) at a slightly lower price, but were not yet available for our dates on their site. So, we took the path of least resistance and booked via SBB (Swiss site, 30.50 chf each).

Second thoughts

In late August, I reviewed our accommodation, and looked into other accommodation in Disentis (due to reviews about noise). There are a lot of apartments in nearby Acletta, but it’s a 20+ minute walk from the Disentis train station and not the central location we were looking for, so we kept our booking and hoped for the best. Note: there is a railway station at Acla da Fontauna, but we preferred to stay in the town of Disentis vs a nearby ‘resort village’.

I also looked into other accommodation in Porlezza, as we’d booked an apartment in a large building overseen by a management company. The owner, who lives in Germany, advised us that the company handled the linens, etc., and did not provide kitchen towels, salt, pepper, coffee pods, dishwasher pods, dish liquid, etc. This, and a few reviews that mentioned noise coming from the bar/restaurant below, convinced me to take another look.

I checked a few more websites and found a possible replacement on Booking.com with great reviews, but no lake view. I contacted the owner to clarify a few details, then booked with her and cancelled the first place. This turned out to be a good decision.

To be continued...

Hooray! I've been waiting for this. And now to finish my last report ...

Mel is back! Let's have fun!

I’m glad I got some photos early, Mel (thanks!), as I have been eagerly awaiting the report.

Thanks for joining me!

The trip begins

Sept 15 & 16 -

When we checked in online, we were assigned middle seats on Swiss, so Bill called from home to change both to aisle seats.

We left our car tucked away at a family member’s house, took our pre-booked Z-Trip ride to the airport, happy to see our departing plane arrive. Once boarded, we sat on the tarmac for 40 minutes as Denver had “flow issues”.

The flight from COS to DEN was bumpy as usual; 25 minutes wheels up to wheels down.

We arrived in Denver with only 20 minutes to deplane and take the train from B gates to A gates, having to wait for a second train as the first one was packed like sardines. We barely fit onto the second train, butt-to-butt, then the doors closed and kept re-opening. The UA app showed the transfer time from gate to gate taking 17 minutes, but we hauled ass and did it in about 10.

We made it to our gate with minutes before departure, the gate agent telling us to catch our breath and not panic, i.e., flight delayed. We boarded and were then told there was a mechanical problem which would take a few minutes to resolve. That was soon extended to an hour, and then two.

The pilot advised we could deplane if we wanted, but suggested passengers stay on board as the flight could leave at any minute, and those deplaning would have to take their belongings with them. There were no takers.

The flight finally took off at 7:30 pm, two hours late; smooth until landing. Bill got about 3.5 hours of sleep, me about an hour. The food wasn’t very good, not unexpected, but sometimes UA surprises us (as they did on the return).

Our 2:15 layover in London was eaten up by our delay, so there was no time for the lounge, but at least we didn’t have to change terminals; we went directly to our gate.

Our Swiss flight departed 50 minutes late due to air traffic at Heathrow, but we weren’t fussed as our only time issue at this point was to get to our hotel in Zurich by 6 pm as we’d not held our booking with a credit card (I’d tried, but never got a response to my email).

The 1:10 hour flight to Zurich was pretty bumpy. We were both fried at this point and kept dozing off. I was glad I’d packed some food, as there was no time between flights to get any and I tend to get hangry.

We finally arrived in Zurich just after 3 pm, collected our bags, crossed the street to the bus station, located our bus, and purchased our tickets on the SBB app (2.20 chf each).

Ten minutes later we were getting off at Kloten Bahnhof, where we then walked two minutes to Zleep hotel.

We’ve stayed at several hotels in this area and they’ve always worked out well; prices can vary, so we just book the least expensive when it’s only for a night. This area has several grocery stores, a train station, bus stops, bakeries, etc., all that one needs within easy walking distance.

We tried to use Zleep’s self-check in but could barely focus on the IPAD, so the woman at the desk took pity on us and checked us in. The hotel was as expected, newish, spartan, small rooms, but functional. And the best bit, quiet!

After getting settled, we popped into the nearby Aldi and Coop trying to decide if we wanted a quick ready-made salad or similar for dinner in our hotel, or if we’d rather seek out an Indian restaurant we knew from before.

Indian won.

We picked up a few snacks just in case we woke famished in the middle of the night and then followed my GPS to Darbar, formally Curcuma Indische Kuche, a six-minute walk from the hotel.

Bill had the Murg Karai (29.50 chf), I had the Paneer Masala, I asked for medium, but got Bill’s drive-by spicy, (25.50 chf); we shared an order of rice (4.50 chf) and a garlic naan (5.50 chf). The waiter gifted us with extra rice, and mistakenly brought an extra naan, so left that as well.

Dinner came to 77.50 chf including one beer (5.90 chf) and one glass of wine (6.50 chf). The Swiss franc was now $1.25 to the USD, so an expensive dinner. We usually eat lightly at night, so we were overly full, but it was very good.


Dinner

We discovered the next day that we’d been DCC’d without knowing it; we’d tapped to pay, were never given an option to choose chf or USD, nor given a final receipt, so our meal was $106 USD, a hazard of being sleep deprived.

Back in the hotel, we were in bed by 7:30. I thought I’d put my phone on Do Not Disturb, but it rang at 12:52 waking us up with what turned out to be a healthcare survey - ugh. We both had a bit of trouble going back to sleep after that, especially as we were hot with the fluffy duvets and AC controlled by the hotel. Overwarm accommodation in Europe is a recurring theme for us, regardless of time of year.

To be continued...

Guten tag, Mel, and greetings from New Zealand. I'm looking forward to your report, especially for Valais and Engadine, as we're actively considering a visit.

Kia ora tripplanner - I hope you're enjoying NZ!

Thanks for sharing your holiday with us, Mel. We travel infrequently but for as long as we can reasonably manage - the preparation and, as you know, the journey from Australia is a challenge. Can’t wait to hear about where you go and what you get up to. Appreciate the practical details too.

I live for your trip reports; thank you for sharing your adventures!

Wow, that's high praise Trophywife! Nice to see you here dreamon.

More in a bit.

Sept 17 -

Up before six, but feeling human again, we showered and went out looking for coffee and something to eat, ending up at a nearby bakery, two pastries, two coffees, 18.60 chf.

Bill needed another jolt, so later he went across the street to Aldi and got an espresso from a machine for 1 chf.

Today’s plan was to take the train/bus to Altdorf with a stop for lunch at Klausen Pass, which links the cantons of Glarus and Uri, situated at 1,948 meters.

So, we took the 9:55 am train from Kloten to Zurich main station (using our previously purchased Super Saver Ticket), then connected to the train to Linthal, where we had four minutes to change to the bus to Klausen Pass.

We’d seen the pass from the western approach (Altdorf) on a previous trip, but had not seen it from the eastern approach (Glarus). We’d researched staying in one of the small villages on the Glarus side of the pass previously, but had had trouble finding suitable accommodation. We still wanted to see it, even if only from a bus window.

The beautiful day made for a very nice bus ride; we passed through various small villages, all while surrounded by the Uri mountains; lovely views; although both of us had to fight the urge to doze.


Klausen Pass, bus shot

The bus stops for about 1:10 at the Klausen Pass Hotel, where it meets the bus coming from Altdorf. Last time we were up here it was snowing, so the pass looked entirely different in today’s sunshine. Motorcyclists are drawn to mountain passes like moths to flame and they were plentiful today.


Klausen Pass

Klausen Pass Hotel

We verified with the driver that we’d be on the same bus down to Altdorf, left our luggage onboard, and had lunch on the terrace of the hotel’s restaurant, as the interior had been taken over by a large group of old folks on this beautiful September Wednesday.

https://www.hotel-klausenpass.ch/

We’d had some very good Älplermagronen (the Swiss take on mac and cheese with potatoes and fried onions) here a few years ago, so opted to order it again, and it didn’t disappoint (64.60 chf including one beer, one apple cider).


Älplermagronen

The bus left at 2:18; our driver switching with the bus driver who had come up from Altdorf. The descent took us through Unterschächen in the upper Schächental, a beautiful village of some 695 residents and the starting point for various hikes. We’d been here previously and had seriously considered basing in Unterschächen this time, but chose Altdorf instead to be closer to our planned activities.

Some 1:10 and a running commentary from our bus driver that we didn’t understand later, we got off the bus at the Altdorf UR Bahnhof.

We then walked the 10 minutes to our home for the next five nights; a lovely two-bedroom apartment with plenty of space. We briefly met the daughter of the owner who lived next door, and later the owner to whom we paid the 100 chf cash cleaning fee, he asking us about the orange one. In all our trips to Europe we’ve never been asked about politics, but we suspected we’d be getting an earful this time.

After getting settled we walked back to the Bahnhof and picked up a few provisions at Coop Pronto, which would prove to be very handy, and then later we walked further into town to seek out the other grocery options - Migros and a larger Coop, already in sticker shock, thanks to the poor exchange rate on top of the usual high prices in Switzerland. We spent over 100 chf and didn’t have much to show for it in the fridge.


Altdorf neighborhood

Altdorf

September blooms

Dinner was grocery store salads and drinks on the balcony, which overlooked both a street and a cow pasture/barn. We set about planning for the next day.


View from apartment balcony

Today’s temperature was 19c and humid - plenty warm for us, with warmer weather ahead.

To be continued…

We nearly added Altdorf to a trip once, I feel I’m going to regret missing it…



(Anyway, we are on holidays right now, currently staying just 15 minutes from Grindelwald -

no Swiss mountains though, as we are in Tasmania)

Ah, I remember Grindelwald TAS! We were there in 2004 staying in a hotel that felt the need to nail down the lamps.

Aah yes, those tourists from Colorado have quite the reputation!!

Oh Mel, I'm green with envy. You've been travelling in one of my favourite countries - love Switzerland.

Sept 18 -

It was quiet until the morning traffic started. Clear skies, 70 F predicted today.

We’d decided to explore Arnisee, a lake/reservoir that can be reached by cable car from Intschi and Amsteg and is referred to as Uri’s sun terrace.

We walked to the Altdorf UR Bahnhof, took a train to Erstfeld, then connected to Bus 401 to Intschi (3.90 chf each), where we joined the queue for cable car tickets up to Arnisee (16 chf each return, no discount for half fare card).

This was a one-woman operation, she both selling tickets and operating the 8-person cable car.

https://www.andermatt-sedrun-disenti...schiarnisee-26


Intschi-Arnisee cable car

The ride was steeper than expected, the cable car took us from ~652 meters up to ~1360 meters; the Arni plateau quite busy with the older crowd on this beautiful day. In addition to the gorgeous lake, there are picnic areas, restaurants, a mountain hut, and various hiking trails.


Trail options

Arnisee

Lots of options

We walked around the lake, the last ¼ of which was a bergweg, a more rugged trail that went up into the trees above the lake. We made the detour to the Chänzeli (‘little lookout’), situated on an exposed rocky outcrop, where we took in the panoramic views of the Uri Oberland and down into the Maderaner Valley. Here we heard yodeling/singing, so we backtracked to the Gasthaus Alpenblick, where we found a group of older men finishing up their last song on the terrace.


Arnisee

Arnisee

Will hike for wine

Arnisee

Arnisee

We next sought out the trail to Gurtnellen, knowing there was a bus stop at Gurtnellen Wiler. The signs indicated that Gurtnellen Dorf was a 2.5-hour hike from where we were, but we didn’t know how long a walk it was from there to the Gurtnellen Wiler bus stop. Hmmm.

The yodelers/singers appeared to be gathering near the lake, so we wandered over and waited a bit to watch and listen.

We then walked about 30 minutes towards Gurtnellen, then decided to return to the Gasthaus Alpenblick for an alfresco lunch on the terrace, the restaurant full with a group of oldsters (I’m seeing a pattern here).

Bill chose the risotto with mushrooms and cheese, I had the Älplermagronen, less expensive and much better than yesterday’s version (38 chf with a beer and a cider).

We then tried to find the hidden chapel that I’d read about, but alas, it remained hidden. So, we sought out the trail to the Amsteg cable station instead, planning to end our walking day there. We managed to get on the wrong trail, so backtracked and found the correct trail near the Gasthaus Arnisee.



From there we walked to the Amsteg cable station and some 15 minutes beyond it to the Vorder Arni Viewpoint, where we were treated to fantastic views across the Reuss Valley and beyond to Lake Uri. A very peaceful spot; just us, cows, cow poop and the pungent odor of freshly sprayed liquified cow poop. Ah, life in the country.


Walking to Amsteg

Walking to Amsteg

Vorder Arni Viewpoint

House near Vorder Arni Viewpoint

Then we took the four person Amsteg-Arni cable car down (included in return fare).


Amsteg-Arni cable car

Once at the bottom, we asked a passerby where the bus stop was; she directed us to walk under the street via a tunnel, where we located the stop and took Bus 401 back to Erstfeld, where we waited some 40 minutes for the next train to Altdorf (3.60 chf each).

It’d been a beautiful day, but way too warm and humid for us cold weather types; we were both sweating profusely. I wondered how cows cope with the heat wearing all that leather, later sending me down the Google rabbit hole. I felt a bit sorry for the woman who shared the Amsteg-Arni cable car with us.

Once at the Altdorf UR Bahnhof, we picked up dinner provisions at that very handy Coop Pronto; then returned to the apartment to collapse, shower and have dinner on the balcony. It’d been an 8.5-hour day, we’d logged 7.5 miles, it had reached 24c, and was due to get hotter in the coming days.

To be continued…

Always on board for your trip reports - your’re off to a great start!

It looks gorgeous, especially Arnisee.

Thanks everyone, we really enjoyed Arnisee.

Sept 19 -

As mentioned earlier, our apartment was right across the street from a cow pasture and barn. We soon learned that the cows were milked at 6 am and 6 pm, as we could hear the milk machines running. It was also rather pungent, as the barn had a huge fan - presumably providing ventilation - which was pointed towards the street…and our apartment.

We’re used to the agricultural odors of Switzerland, but I wonder if the residents even smell it anymore (on a trip to Iceland I’d also wondered if the sea side residents could smell the fish that just about bowled me over).

We’d decided to check out the Golzernsee today, a small alpine lake in the Maderanertal, accessible via cable car.

So, we took a train from Altdorf to Erstfeld again, and changed to Bus 407. SBB had directed us to Bus 401 with a one-minute change at Amsteg Post, but Bus 407 turned up and indicated Bristen-Golzern Talstation as its final destination, so we got on (5.10 chf each).

Once at the talstation we paid 17 chf each return to take the 8-person gondola up to Golzern (no discount for Half Fare Card) and walked the 25 minutes to Golzernsee via the cute little hamlet of Golzern.


Golzern area trails

Walk to Golzernsee

It was a pretty walk, but exposed, no shade; entirely too hot and humid for those of us from bone dry Colorado.

A poster from TA (Stormbird) had mentioned how much she enjoyed this lake, but we weren’t as captivated by it as we had been with Arnisee (as can be seen by my lack of photos!)

As soon as we reached the lake, we headed to the shady side, eventually stumbling across a rugged downhill trail to Bristen via Berggasthaus Legni. We hiked it for a bit and considered going all the way, but 1) we weren’t sure where in Bristen it ended, 2) we’d purchased return cable car tickets, 3) we had concerns about the timing of the return buses from Bristen (12:57, 2:57, 4:57, 5:47), and 4) we had concerns about the lunch break for the gondola operator from 12-12:45.

So, we decided to return the way we’d come, stopping enroute at Berggasthaus Edelweiss for a cold beer for Bill and a lovely scoop of blood orange sorbet topped with Aperol for me (13.50 chf), and then walked back to the talstation and took the gondola down.


Berggasthaus Edelweiss

Berggasthaus Edelweiss

Note:

The Half Fare Card wasn’t valid on this gondola, but we could have used the Uri Ticket, which can be purchased at half fare. The Uri ticket provides free train/bus transport on specific lines, and discounts on specific cable cars (15%). However, it’s a day ticket, and while a good deal for those using a lot of transport on a given day, it’s not a deal for those of us who can’t seem to accomplish more than one activity a day.

In our case, the Uri Ticket would have been 18 chf each at half fare, plus 14.45 chf each for the gondola (15% discount) = 32.45 chf each (train/bus free with Uri Ticket). Instead, we paid 10.20 chf each (at half fare) for train/bus and 17 chf each for the cable car = 27.20 chf each. Swiss transport costs are nothing if not confusing.

https://www.swissactivities.com/en-c...ss/uri-ticket/

We could have also walked from Golzernsee to the Chilcherberge gondola station and taken it down instead, but we’d been told the 2.5-hour hike from the lake to the Chilcherberge talstation was “strenuous and scary”, and it was just too bloody hot to even consider.

We met a Swiss woman onboard the gondola and asked her if she knew how difficult the hike to Berggasthaus Legni was, her response “not too steep” (famous last words). She questioned why we hadn’t walked it from above (because we’re dumb tourists and hadn’t planned accordingly) and pointed us in the right direction.


Area map

Back on the ground, we set out on the 40-minute walk to the Berghaus for lunch, the path interesting, well graded, rather steep, and although shaded, still hot.


Walking to Berggasthaus Legni

Walking to Berggasthaus Legni

Approaching Berggasthaus Legni

Berggasthaus Legni is nestled amongst several large rocks at 1,020 meters; it’s a beautiful setting.

We had a rather unusual lunch here; Bill chose the Hauswurstli with alp cheese, surprised that his 17 chf meal consisted of only one sausage and two slices of cheese. Hmmm.


Cake doesn't solve any problems, but an apple doesn't either

Bill's lunch

My potato salad was good, but seemed expensive for what it was - even by Swiss standards. Still hungry, we shared a slice of nusstorte, soon wishing we’d ordered a slice each (47 chf including Möhl Saft vom Fass ciders (“juice from the barrel”). Try as we might, the word Möhl just doesn’t roll off our tongues, resulting in many confused looks.


My lunch

Nusstorte

Service was so slow that we knew there was no way we were going to make the 2:57 bus, so we just hung about awhile enjoying our surroundings.


Berggasthaus Legni loo

Berggasthaus Legni

We eventually walked the 40 minutes back to Bristen, stopping for another cold drink at the self-service café next to the bus stop while we waited for our return bus.


Return walk to Bristen

Onboard, the driver announced that the bus would go straight back to the Erstfeld Bahnhof instead of stopping enroute (one must usually change from this bus to a second bus at Amsteg Post, then on to the train station, which explained this morning’s confusion). Good news (5.10 chf each).

The drive via the narrow, winding road from Amsteg to Bristen and return was worth the journey alone.

It’d been a hot, sticky nine-hour day (80F, 58% humidity); we’d logged about six miles.

I never thought I’d be washing sun shirts and bras in the sink with dish soap, but that’s what I did, as we had no access to a washing machine. The heat was zapping our energy and making us stink.

The shower floor in the apartment was like a skating rink. We’ve run into this before, so we take great care in Swiss showers.

We’d been keeping an eye on the exchange rate, which had gone up from $1.24 to 1.27 since we arrived.

To be continued…