Misty Mountains

 

Last week you could read about our rainy day in Luzern, and today we're just continuing with rain. We began the day with a good breakfast and a cup of delicious coffee - this, of course, is for Bleubeard and Elizabeth who every Tuesday get into the "drinking habit" with T Tuesday. Since we were in Switzerland we decided that we have to go into a grocery store and stock up on chocolate. Swiss chocolate is just the best. What you see here is just a small portion of the chocolate aisle.

We drove around Vierwaldstättersee while it was raining on and off. The mountains were hiding in the mist and we could only see in our minds what this place would actually look like on a clear day. But a clear day we didn't have.

And into the mountains we went. The Swiss are masters in building high elevation roads, tunnels and concrete protections from avalanches. I always find it quite exciting driving along those roads through the Alps.

We got higher and higher with less and less traffic - but unfortunately not less fog. It stayed with us throughout the day.

We chose to drive via Klausenpass which is a rather narrow mountain pass road with thankfully not much traffic on this misty day.

Halfway up we stopped at this bench that was on top of - nothing. You can see there is a protective fence in front of the bench. Unfortunately we couldn't find out what all the symbols meant - the clock, the hiking boot with flowers in it - but the five-to-twelve seemd like a warning.

On we went, up into the misty mountains. The road became even narrower.

It was just as misty and gray at the pass with the addition of some leftover snow and low temperatures. We walked around a little bit, but pretty soon got back into the car.

On the other side of the mountain the weather hadn't changed. This is Kanton Uri where Wilhelm Tell, the national hero of  Switzerland, came from (if he ever existed). The villages are small and picturesque and often have a monument of Wilhelm Tell with his crossbow (sorry, I didn't take a picture of one).

When it finally stopped raining, we found a place to eat our picnic, something we had bought in the grocery store in the morning. It was a nice location, heavily scented with wood and a view of the rising mist.

Not long after that we left Switzerland and crossed into Liechtenstein.

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a VERY small country, located smack in the middle of the mountains. The language is German, its capital is Vaduz and it's the world's wealthiest country. I can't say that it made any permanent impression on me.

We did find an old castle ruin, Obere Burg Schellenberg where we hiked up to. We had a lovely view from there and also used the opportunity to take a family photo.

I did like this reminder to pick up after your dog!

Only minutes later we crossed into Austria at the smallest border crossing I ever saw.