Sailing to Switzerland

On the 23rd August this year, my son Andrew and I sailed to Switzerland. We had not intended to do so. Our original plan for our holiday was to fly to Milan Malpensa, hire a car and drive to Stresa on Lake Maggiore. The next day, we had intended to drive to Locarno or points North, and then spend the next few days in Austria. But on the day before we were due to leave, I realised that I had lost my driving license. Andrew has not yet passed his driving test, and so car hire became impossible. The flights were already booked, and so we decided to backpack. Two trains from Malpensa got us to Stresa, where we stayed two nights. Then we took a steamer up the Lake to arrive at Locarno quayside in the early afternoon. Three nights in Locarno included a trip to the extraordinary castles of Bellinzona, and a train journey along the valley West of the city to the hilltop village of  Intragna. Another train journey took us back to Italy and the town of Como, where we spent one night before returning home.

Travelling by boat and train meant that I had more time to look at the scenery, and note the sharp change crossing the border. Stresa is a beautifully-preserved resort town, with great hotels lining the lake front. The town centre is full of narrow pedestrian streets leading to a town square full of restaurants. Italian restaurants seem incapable of cooking bad meals, and we ate better in Stresa and later in Como than anywhere in Locarno. The enjoyment of food in Switzerland is of course lessened by the price you have to pay for it. When we arrived in Intragna, we found it almost deserted - the only place open was the small Hotel Stazione. We went through to the back and found we were the only customers in a splendid restaurant with a view down the valley to Locarno. Andrew ate Gnocchi and I ate Risotto ai Funghi. Both were the finest we had ever eaten, and we were not put off our food by the constant sound of gunfire. The waiter explained that this was from the firing range used by the Swiss Army on its summer training.

On reflection, it is not so unusual to arrive in Switzerland by steamer. Many years earlier, our family had travelled across Lake Geneva by ferry from Evian-les-Bains in France to Lausanne. That was a happy time too.