missyd
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Here it is! My first summer trip report! Hope you like it!
Click on pics for bigger size.
The holidays in Italy the first two weeks of September 2008 didn't start as planned. My mom felt seriously ill just
a few day before departure to Italy. I hoped for a fast recovery but no in the end she had to stay
in hospital for some 2 weeks in total. Her heart had a slight problem. She is a little bit
overweight and a not cured out flu made her very weak. I didn't want to go alone to Italy
as we had planned to spend together 2 weeks in Italy as always.
But to my surprise she said go alone on holidays without me!
So on a sunny saturday end of August after visiting mom for the last time in hospital I started around 14:00 my 520miles
trip to San Benedetto del Tronto (to see where it is in Italy search for San Benedetto del Tronto on Google Maps) which is
located right in the middle of italy on the coast of adriatic sea. Part of it on normal roads and the rest on freeways.
The first you have to do to reach Italy from Switzerland is to drive across the swiss alps. You can take the freeway with
the 11mile long Gotthard tunnel which I hate. So this time I opted for a route over 3 passes. The 1st is the Julier the
second the Bernina and the last one the passo d'Aprica in italy.
First is the Julier pass which leads to St. Moritz. This pass is open all year round!
I did not take many pics during the travel as I was running late and I wanted to reach the italian freeway before darkness.
^^ This is just on top of the Julier pass. The romans used this pass! There are 2 roman columns nearby.
^^ I already passed St. Moritz. This is the famous Morteratsch glacier. I'm on the road to the Bernina pass.
^^ A few miles farther up the Bernina you see the Piz Lagalp (piz=peak) and its gondola station. Its resort for freeriders.
No chairs and no TBar lifts ... just one big gondola.
^^ Sunset in the mountains is always nice! The electrical line are from the narrow gauge rack railway named
Rhaetian Railway.
^^ The Diavolezza gondola! Its another small resort for freeriders. 1 Gondola and 1 chairlift. On top is
a hotel with a spa at 3000m above seal level!
^^ Diavolezza Gondola .....
^^ Fading light makes photography very difficult. Sadly I can't name the peaks.
^^ Light and clouds ... I'm nearing the italian border.
^^ in the meantime I passed the italian border with no problems (smuggled 2weeks supply of
cigarettes...) on the way to Tirano you may see the Rhaetian Railway running on the streets! Very nice
if you take care not getting in the way of it.
^^ This is the church of Aprica. The village and its ski resort is located on top of the passo d'Aprica.
Little traffic and larger roads leads to very fast driving up and down. And I know this road very good.
Its not the first time I drive here!
After the passo d'Aprica it got dark. The road is large and you can drive well over the max. speedlimit.
Just keep your eyes open for the polizia (police) or the Carabinieri (military police). Fines are hefty!
The next pictures will be at sunrise! 2008 was a very warm year in Italy and at 02:00 in the morning temps
where still in the 80°F!!!! So I drove on the very nicely maintained italian freeways in direction of
San Benedetto del Tronto. There is a toll for the freeways in italy. I drove the whole night with some breaks
for a cup of fine italian coffee and the toilets.
Never got tired and in the end I decided to sleep a couple of hours some 30miles from San Benedetto del Tronto.
I normally park the car near a service station on the freeway and off I go to sleep in my car. But for people
that are afraid of thefts and robberies should sleep in a hotel!!! I am never afraid at night in Italy.
BTW I have done the same travel in one go last year. Just didn't get tired!
Part 2 will be posted soon.
Click on pics for bigger size.
The holidays in Italy the first two weeks of September 2008 didn't start as planned. My mom felt seriously ill just
a few day before departure to Italy. I hoped for a fast recovery but no in the end she had to stay
in hospital for some 2 weeks in total. Her heart had a slight problem. She is a little bit
overweight and a not cured out flu made her very weak. I didn't want to go alone to Italy
as we had planned to spend together 2 weeks in Italy as always.
But to my surprise she said go alone on holidays without me!
So on a sunny saturday end of August after visiting mom for the last time in hospital I started around 14:00 my 520miles
trip to San Benedetto del Tronto (to see where it is in Italy search for San Benedetto del Tronto on Google Maps) which is
located right in the middle of italy on the coast of adriatic sea. Part of it on normal roads and the rest on freeways.
The first you have to do to reach Italy from Switzerland is to drive across the swiss alps. You can take the freeway with
the 11mile long Gotthard tunnel which I hate. So this time I opted for a route over 3 passes. The 1st is the Julier the
second the Bernina and the last one the passo d'Aprica in italy.
First is the Julier pass which leads to St. Moritz. This pass is open all year round!
I did not take many pics during the travel as I was running late and I wanted to reach the italian freeway before darkness.
^^ This is just on top of the Julier pass. The romans used this pass! There are 2 roman columns nearby.
^^ I already passed St. Moritz. This is the famous Morteratsch glacier. I'm on the road to the Bernina pass.
^^ A few miles farther up the Bernina you see the Piz Lagalp (piz=peak) and its gondola station. Its resort for freeriders.
No chairs and no TBar lifts ... just one big gondola.
^^ Sunset in the mountains is always nice! The electrical line are from the narrow gauge rack railway named
Rhaetian Railway.
^^ The Diavolezza gondola! Its another small resort for freeriders. 1 Gondola and 1 chairlift. On top is
a hotel with a spa at 3000m above seal level!
^^ Diavolezza Gondola .....
^^ Fading light makes photography very difficult. Sadly I can't name the peaks.
^^ Light and clouds ... I'm nearing the italian border.
^^ in the meantime I passed the italian border with no problems (smuggled 2weeks supply of
cigarettes...) on the way to Tirano you may see the Rhaetian Railway running on the streets! Very nice
if you take care not getting in the way of it.
^^ This is the church of Aprica. The village and its ski resort is located on top of the passo d'Aprica.
Little traffic and larger roads leads to very fast driving up and down. And I know this road very good.
Its not the first time I drive here!
After the passo d'Aprica it got dark. The road is large and you can drive well over the max. speedlimit.
Just keep your eyes open for the polizia (police) or the Carabinieri (military police). Fines are hefty!
The next pictures will be at sunrise! 2008 was a very warm year in Italy and at 02:00 in the morning temps
where still in the 80°F!!!! So I drove on the very nicely maintained italian freeways in direction of
San Benedetto del Tronto. There is a toll for the freeways in italy. I drove the whole night with some breaks
for a cup of fine italian coffee and the toilets.
Never got tired and in the end I decided to sleep a couple of hours some 30miles from San Benedetto del Tronto.
I normally park the car near a service station on the freeway and off I go to sleep in my car. But for people
that are afraid of thefts and robberies should sleep in a hotel!!! I am never afraid at night in Italy.
BTW I have done the same travel in one go last year. Just didn't get tired!
Part 2 will be posted soon.