Ticino-Switzerland : April 7-8 Simplon Pass, the Centovalli

On Monday morning we began our trip home. We planned to get as far as Chambery, France. The second day of our drive home, the day began very rainy. We thought we'd have to take the autoroute home the entire way because of bad weather, but it began to clear and we changed direction to head through the Valais Valley and through the Simplon Pass. There, we found sunshine and a spectacular ride back to Ticino! Our story....

Chambery. Arriving about 4:30, we were able to have time to visit the old center of the city. Here, we really found some interesting, very old buildings!

Chambery. This is a medieval street. Really nothing seemed to be renovated, but has been kept like it used to be - including the old, stinky smells!

Chambery. One of the inner courtyards that HAD been renovated. Many of the old buildings had either a square tower or a rounded tower. In this picture, in the corner, the tower is rounded. We saw that these contained spiral staircases of stone. The buildings were surprisingly tall, and I doubt any of the historic buildings have elevators. We peaked inside one very old tower. I saw mailboxes for the apartments, and the dark, spiral staircase with the stone so very worn away after hundreds of years. I don't think I would want to climb up those uneven stairs every day!

Chambery. There were also these very narrow passageways. The architecture was fascinating to see.

Chambery. The same cool passageway looking the other direction.

A very old inner courtyard. Notice the unusual "bulge" coming out of the apartment in the upper center of the picture.

Chambery. There were several pedestrian shopping streets in the old center of Chambery. This is one of those main streets.

On the north side of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman)

Although it was raining, we could see the Alps on the other side of the lake. They are often hidden by haze and fog. I knew the clouds were beginning to lift. There are also many vineyards on the north side of the lake (because along the slope they face south).

A typical view while driving in Switzerland. This pictures was taken near Vevey, on the east side of Lake Geneva.

Once we arrived at the end of the "L" shaped Valais Valley, we began the drive up the mountain towards the Simplon pass. It's always amazing to see villages so high up in the mountains. This picture is taken from the town of Rosswald. Look across the valley on the right. You can see a road high up leading to villages. You can also see the bottom of the valley.

A panoramic from Rosswald, on the way up the Simplon Pass

From Rosswald again. A zoom in on the town across the valley. It is probably Eggerberg.

There were numerous places to pull off to get a view while driving up to the Simplon Pass. I am always amazed to see roads that seem in the middle of nowhere. Across this valley, you can see a road cutting through the forest. I don't have a picture, but to the right and further back and higher, I could see a road cutting through snow. When we began the drive up, there was a big, slow, orange truck in front of us. We pulled off for a while to get away from the truck. While looking at this view, I said to Rick "Look! On the road on that mountain - it's the orange truck!" I guess this was the road we were following - all the way up through the snow!

There were also a number of tunnels and in one of them, only one lane could go through at a time. Each direction of traffic took turns. The tunnel was in full construction - all while traffic was moving through it! Yikes!

Another stop for a view, and to show you our little Smart car!

We are almost at the top! Here we are stopped waiting our turn during more construction. From this point we see the summit of the pass - the yellowish building in the middle.

We are at the top of the Simplon Pass. There were groups of mountain homes all throughout the ride up and down. It always amazes me. We were fortunate the roads were dry and clear.

Just a little snow left on the Simplon Pass (which, by the way, is called Sempione in Italian).

A panoramic of Rick at the top.

These next pictures are of our ride down the south side of the pass.

On the way down from the pass is the Swiss/Italian border. We then headed to Domodossola, Italy, where we then headed in the direction of the Italian Val Vigezzo, which when it passes the Italian/Swiss border, is called the Centovalli. One of the last towns in Italy before the border is Re. We are really deep in a narrow valley, and then all of a sudden there is this HUGE cathedral!

The entire road through these valleys is extremely narrow and winding, slow, edge hugging, and scary. So amazing that this cathedral could have been built here!

Views of the Swiss Centovalli (which then leads to Locarno, Switzerland, on Lake Maggiore). The road is too narrow for bus service, but there is a narrow gauge train that serves all the Swiss and Italian towns between Locarno and Domodossola. A highly recommended trip!

The Centovalli. At one point, we were stopped while work was being done up ahead and around the curve. It was only one lane again (although the normal road was as wide as one American road lane!) While we were waiting, Rick and I heard a VERY loud rumbling which echoed throughout the valley. We looked at each other wondering "What was that??!!" We thought it could have been an avalanche happening way up which echoed? It was scary because it seemed it could have caused rock falls. Well, if it's our time, it's our time! When we began driving again, around the corner I saw men working right below the road - I'm not sure, but seeing what looked like freshly cut rock, I think we just experienced, up close, a dynamite blast!

This panoramic gives you an idea how high up the road is. And again, I'm always amazed by towns way up in the mountains. You can see the winding roads.

We are taking this picture from the road. You can imagine how high up we are along the cliffs on our side of the mountains. (A white knuckle ride!) On the other side is the town of Palagnedra. See those little houses just under the snowcapped mountains?

Zooming in on Palagnedra.

Another panoramic of the Centovalli. Look to the far right. You see our road along the edge of the mountain.

We have arrived in Locarno! A beautiful sunset! We stopped at one of our favorite pizza restaurants Il Torchio, which is right along the lake, with great outdoor seating - which we took advantage of! The secret at Il Torchio.... usually these thin pizzas are for one person, and usually a little too big for us (and taking home leftovers is frowned upon). It's not on the menu, but you can ask for an individual small pizza. 12.50 francs instead of 19 francs and the size is just perfect!