We started this morning off with a breakfast in a lovely, light room with glimpses of the fantastic views out into the valley below Stelvio.  We’re not sure if we arrived a little late (it was only just past 9am) or they had just ran out, but there were no croissants and no bread, until someone brought some buns out.  However, we fed on what we could and I uploaded the blog (WiFi was only available in public areas) whilst Lois went and finished packing.

After checking out, we re-packed the car, much to the amusement and astonishment of some people that were waiting for a bus, right by the hotel… yes… you heard me… bus… a bus that goes up the Stelvio Pass!  After we’d tactically put everything in its place, we set off down the road once more.

The route started off with more amazing alpine pass style roads and then opened out to more sweeping roads, again, with jaw dropping back drops.  With Lois occasionally clenching the nearest grab handle to let me know she’d rather me drop off a few km’s per hour, we made good and smooth progress.  We passed through the Swiss border without a problem and took advantage of the ~40p per litre cheaper fuel prices by topping up straight away.  In Italy the prices varied from 1 EUR 90 to 2 EUR 5 per litre and in Switzerland, even in the mountains, the price was around 1 EUR 40 equivalent in Swiss Francs.  It’s just a shame the MR2’s fuel tank only holds around 8-9 gallons!

We ventured on through great surroundings in Switzerland, carefully winding our way past cyclists and other motorists, where the road conditions permitted.  There was some sort of road race event on, so there were lots of support vehicles and cyclists on the roads, but the motorists drove well around them on the whole.

When we dropped into one small town, we flashed past a group of classic cars and so quickly pulled over to have a quick look.  They included about 30 concourse condition cars with Austin Healeys, Mercedes, a Lancia and even a few MG B’s.

We left the town, but then soon stopped again when we realised there was a stunning river flowing by the side of the road.  We were taking photos and taking in the scenery for a good 15-20 minutes before we set off again.

As we carried on back up and down more mountains, we came upon a beautiful spot sided by two lakes, which we decided would be a good place for lunch!  Out came the, by now perfectly executed, lunch stop kit, including plates, food and drinks.  We spent a leisurely half hour eating lunch and watching the fish play in the fresh water lake and again, taking in the views and Lois dabbling her feet in the icy cold water, before setting off once more.

Shortly after we left the lunch spot, we descended down a great series of bends, but got caught up behind a small van and a motorbike that seemed to have a bad misfire.  We were still making progress at 30-40mph, but I realised that a cyclist was approaching in my rear view mirror.  Several bends later and he was upon us… on his bicycle!  A few more turns and he overtook us, going around us on a hairpin bend, before filing in between us and the motorbike.  We carried on in this humorous procession for the next 5 minutes, with the cyclist easily reaching 50mph in places!  Eventually the road levelled out and horse power won out, but it was quite impressive to witness.

The roads and views carried on and, besides a brief 15 minute stint on the motorway, we were nearing our destination of Quarten, beside Lake Walensee.  We were on the lookout for somewhere to buy some supplies for the evening, and thought we’d found somewhere when we pulled off into a Co-op, but it turned out to just be a Co-op Express with a big home and garden centre around the back.  A fruitless task, except for the fact that there was £500k+ worth of Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing sat in the car park – simply beautiful!  I wonder how many other people realised how special it was?  Further down the road however, we did manage to find a Lidl and an Aldi right next to each other, so stocked up on what we needed for tea – some lovely bread, more cheese, a meat selection for me and some nice chocolate pots for desert.

We got to our hotel, checked in, got all of our stuff into the room and then made our way back down to the lake to have a swim.  We spent a truly relaxing 2-3 hours in and out of the water with a spectacular back drop, with Lois even braving a jump off the end of the jetty.  Once back at the hotel, we set up out on the balcony and enjoyed another gorgeous evening of food, wine and views!

Tomorrow, we head to Mürren, a car-less village in the Lauterbrunnen valley, which should keep our jaws clearly on the ground once more.

Anyway, over to the photos as usual!

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