Switzerland

Some of the time when we have been traveling we have not been quite on top of our accommodations. Last minute has pretty much been our style. In the case of Switzerland we really didn’t even look at the map too much when we booked Casa Cozen. We knew it was in the general area that we wanted to go but that is about all we knew. It is in a Village called Alvaneau. It is only about 450 km’s from Salzburg but it took us about 10 hours to drive there. We thought we were pretty good for time but didn’t realize that the road would stop! We aren’t really sure what it was called but our van was loaded up on a train and carried through a tunnel through the mountains that was just under 20 km’s long. Another 1st for us. As we found out later it was a more secure way to deal with travel in the Vereina pass. When we finally boarded the train and then got off it was dark. Alvaneau sits at an elevation of 1145 meters and is in the middle of the Swiss Alps. You certainly pass through some resort/ski areas on the way here but Alvaneau is probably as close to an authentic Swiss village as a person may think. We arrived in the black of night on what we were calling the “Fish road but paved”. We are not also quite sure how our excursions always seem to end up dark at the dead end of a mountain road and then having to drive in reverse to find a turn around spot! Our directions were sketchy and had no idea where we were going, and just seemed to be driving on higher and narrower roads. Jackie eventually knocked on a couple of doors and figured out a contact in town that knew where we were going. An unmarked house, which turned out to be great it is just that pretty much impossible to find, especially at night. In the morning we were finally able to see where we were, Peter had a great view of snow caps from his window. Our first night was All Souls day and the local church bells rang for most of the night, we are not really sure what the pattern for the bells followed.(we are about 50 meters from the church). There is lots of pasture in the Alps and so many cows and sheep grazing ( so different from the Rockies ). Rob met a local fellow Dieter Wolf who is a teacher in Alvaneau, he took Peter, Natalie and Rob for a tour of the school. Dieter said he was in the Canadian Rockies last year for a orienteering competition and he noted that difference too in the Rockies. We drove into Davos (which is about 30 minutes from Alvaea) to look around a little bit. Davos is Europes highest town at 1560 meters. The weather has been quite different from Austria it has been clear and warmer ( about 15C today). Peter is back in his shorts and flip flops, some by choice and some by forgetting one of his shoes in Austria. Headline to read: Canadian boy leaves Polish bought shoe by the sheep in Austria…..