August 7: I will leave the whole metaphysical / mythological thing for someone with a taller forehead than mine and simply say that I have a thing for mountains. It started when I was in Lausanne many years ago because I would see the French alps on the other side of Lac Leman on my way to school. The view changed every day; one day clear, one day with the tops in the clouds, and at night, little twinkling lights from the homes and villages.
So here I am back in Switzerland watching the mountains. I like the way they change colour and shape as the sun moves across them. I like the way they change the weather. It can be clear and sunny lower down and foggy up top because the passes are always cooler. I like the fact that horizontal and vertical are concepts rather than reality; that place you are standing isn’t flat at all. And of course, the views are sensational.
I’m not sure how many I’ve taken so far, but if I had a dollar for every picture of a village on a far mountain slope, I could pay for my trip. I include a few random shots here as part of my apparently futile attempt at a “weekly” batch of pictures.
This is on the Gerlospass east of Innsbruck, Austria and I’m headed toward the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse.
And this would be the view from there. The Grossglockner was built as a private road in 1935 and remains so to this day. That means that you pay 34 Euro for the privilege of using your gas to go up and over. It really is a fantastic bit of engineering and ultimately, I found it worth doing – but then, I am biased.
On the road between Pieve and Cortina, there is a series of “perched” towns hanging over the rim of the valley. They all have churches, and a certain “artistic” look to them. It was impossible to go more than a few kilometers without spotting another one, so here’s a sample.
There’s a “figure 8” of passes just west of Cortina, and this is from the Falzarego. Despite my best efforts at keeping up a good pace, between stopping for pictures and a picnic lunch, it took the whole day to do them all.
Another look from a pass, this time the Jaufenpass.
Here’s the grand-daddy of them all: Stelvio. This is looking down the south face where the climb takes 35 hairpin turns, all of them numbered. A truly great experience but pretty busy between tour busses, cars, motorcycles and those men in spandex that I wrote about.
And finally, a
gratuitous shot of Lake Como. There IS a mountain in the background. I can see why George Clooney lives here….