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| Sartriana to Chiggiogna - 88 miles |
Joined by an Italian
motorhome during the night (bet he didn't put any money into the
machine!) and awoke to yet another hot sunny morn. Away a little
earlier than usual as we couldn't do a full service and programmed
TomTom to take us to Como.
Big mistake! Very
quickly we were in a very narrow lane going down a steep hill and
could see a turn ahead into another narrow road with an overhang on
the corner. And of course we had two cars behind us and two coming up
at us! Oh !#”$#! The two coming up managed to clear into a couple
of spaces, enough for us to squeeze past and then contemplate turning
around in those spaces. But a nice guy on the corner beckoned us on
and watched out as we carefully negotiated the corner, only to find
the road narrowing even further. He seemed to think we'd be okay and
as it turned out we had at least ¼ inch to spare on each
mirror............
So the satnav got
ignored at the next turn, which was a shame as although we ended up
in the same place we managed to hit heavy traffic in a town centre
which we could have avoided. What are you supposed to do? We decided
to follow the road signs with Bren carefully monitoring on Autoroute
and the rest of the days navigation brought no further headaches.
Choosing to ignore the motorway, of course, meant we travelled
through town and village centres but we prefer it that way and see
much more.
Into Como and to the
Swiss border where we stopped to buy a road toll pass – the Swiss
charge to use all their roads but we couldn't use a normal car one as
we're too big, so we needed the commercial pass. It actually worked
out cheaper though! Then back onto the road heading for Lugano which
we could actually have avoided but are glad we didn't as it is a
lovely town and we managed to do a tour taking in the best parts.
From here on it was ordinary country road but with super scenery as
we headed towards the St Gothard Pass, pausing for lunch at an Aldi
supermarket.
After lunch we began to
realise that on our present timing we would hit the pass late in the
afternoon and also, because it was clouding over, the top would
probably be very misty. Now we could have just jumped onto the
motorway and used the tunnel at no extra cost, but going over the top
was something we wanted to do. Meanwhile we also started looking for
fuel as tomorrow is Sunday; unfortunately the only garages open
were unattended 24hr places and would not take our credit cards. Not
an immediate problem but we didn't succeed before our overnight stop,
spotted from our Campercontact database, a small campsite in the
village of Chiggiogna. Very pleasant, although a tad expensive, and
we settled in, thinking how quiet it was - but it wasn't long before
it rapidly filled with other units until it is now almost full.
With the sky having
clouded over and being at 2300ft amsl, it was now much cooler and
very comfortable at 25º,
much to Jamies' relief, not to mention both Bren and Terry! However we did have a smattering of rain late afternoon and as I write at 10.30 pm there is a pitter patter on the roof.
Where
We Stayed
Campeggia
Gottardo, via Fusnego 23, Chiggiogna N46º28.222'
E8º48.966'
Around
30 unmarked pitches on firm grass with good electrical hookup. Very small
toilet/shower block with waste disposal etc facilities. Rooms also
available. Restaurant & bar. Basic food supplies at reception.
Free fast WiFi
S.Fr36
(£30) per night, 2 persons + electric.
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