Last week we drove from Frankfurt to Italy, which meant driving through Switzerland. I'd never been there before, except on a layover, so I was interested to see what flavor of cows Switzerland had. Unfortunately, this large fiberglass cow was the only one I could find.
He was getting ready to play soccer, or football as they say here. He lives in a roadside rest area, called "Services" here and "Rasthof" in Germany and, I presume, in German-speaking Switzerland. This Rasthof in Basel was the nicest of any I've been to. It was more like a busy airport shopping area, with lots of shops where you could buy Swiss goods—anything from chocolate to high-end watches were available. (We bought a t-shirt).
The food court was well-stocked with pasta, salad, fruit drinks, fruit, and a lot of things I was unfamiliar with, including salads that looked like they contained cold cuts. I steered away from those and just had a fruit cup and a big salty pretzel, washed down with a cup of green tea. (I bring my own wherever I go and try to procure hot water, or wasser.)
This lovely bovine wasn't the only fiberglass animal we saw at the Rasthof. We were greeted at the top of the escalator by two giant Lindt chocolate bunnies:
Lindt chocolate bunny, tempting visitors to the Rasthof.
There was also another cow, perhaps this one's mate, but people were eating right next to her and I was embarrassed to take her photo. She was cute, though, as is everything Swiss. (I really wanted one of those cute Tissot watches!)
Switzerland is easy to drive through—luckily we had good weather, though we saw plenty of snow, especially once we got into the Alps. We stopped by a lovely lake, called Sempach, and took photos:
A rower skimming across the unfrozen Lake Sempach.
The Alps, near Luzern.
I bought a European road map in Germany, and followed it while my husband followed the sat nav. That way I knew approximately where we were, though there was a period when I wasn't sure if we'd left Switzerland and entered Italy. All the signs were in Italian, as well as the radio stations, and more and more of the cars had an "I" on their plates, but other clues led me to believe we were still in Switzerland—mainly that we hadn't received a call on our mobiles, telling us we were in Italy and reminding us how much phone calls cost from there.
Then we came to a border crossing. I didn't realize, but Switzerland has not joined the EU. I knew they continued to use Swiss francs, but I didn't realize they were not an EU country. There was no border control to enter Switzerland from Germany, however, only a 30 euro toll.
We were in Switzerland only a few hours—it seemed a steep price to pay, but the roads were excellent. And when you go through the Alps, you really go through them, through many tunnels—one over 10k long. But what I saw of Switzerland was gorgeous. I'd like to go back, maybe when the real cows are outdoors.
