There are definitely worse places in the world where you might have to drive slowly. The Swiss Alps are dazzling, even from the Autobahn. There are lakes, and villages clinging precariously to the mountains above them; There are sheer cliff walls and beautiful mini-waterfalls cascading down; There are lush valleys lit in the late morning by the sun just cresting over the peaks. Even during the section where we were routed off the Autobahn onto a smaller road, the re-routing was a blessing in disguise. We got to see an area of Switzerland that we would never see otherwise, and it was beautiful. The route was filled with mountain views and scenes of picturesque rural Switzerland, and we even saw hot air balloons floating above the mountains in the morning light. Then, there are the tunnels. Tunnels in southern Switzerland are almost as common as the open road. The tunnels increase in frequency the further south you go, and at one point, you pass through the one of the longest tunnels (17 km in length!!!) in Europe. 59473054_30a4a17438 This tunnel is called Gotthard Tunnel, and it’s a very interesting construction. It’s only two lanes wide, so one can imagine that an accident inside the tunnel is extremely serious. To help prevent such events, markers are placed inside the tunnel to help indicate safe following distance. I’m not sure it helps much. We still came to a complete stop at least once during the 17 kilometer stretch. Our average speed through the tunnel was about 40 kph. On the upside, there are 3 radio stations broadcast inside the tunnel to help pass time. In most tunnels, radio reception disappears about 100 meters away from either end of the tunnel, so this is nice to have. Of course, the real purpose of the stations is to broadcast emergency information. We listened to the station that was broadcasting authentic-sounding traditional Swiss folk music. We could almost see the dancing men with lederhosen, feather caps and biersteins. I say authentic-sounding, though, because I’m not sure how authentic it really was. One of the songs we heard ended with a rousing chorus of “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain,” although the lyrics were in German. I don’t know. I guess that could be a Swiss song. They do have enough mountains around that she probably has come around at least one of them at one time or another. The other interesting thing about Gotthard Tunnel is that it forms the dividing line between the German-speaking and Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland. It was very strange; as soon as we exited the tunnel, all of the road signs and town names were in Italian. Ausfarht (exit) became Uscita and Willkommen (welcome) became Bienvenito, for example. Even more disconcerting was that the predominant common architecture suddenly switched from German half-timbers to Italian stucco. I am amazed that this part of Switzerland is actually a part of Switzerland. Of course, in the western area of Switzerland, there is also a sizable French-speaking population, so I guess the Swiss have just learned to adjust.

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