Switzerland & Lichtenstein : Nov. 9

Geneva: Wednesday Nov. 9, 2005

Today was a BAD, BAD, BAD, VERY BAD DAY!!!!!!!!

The morning started with such promise. The view from our terrace was spectacular as the sun was rising over the mountains. Then I heard Brian ask, “Have you seen Brennan’s retainer?” I recalled hearing this last night as I drifted off to sleep. Brennan still hadn’t found it!?! After working back his steps, we realized that during all the confusion with the rental cars yesterday the retainer must have fallen out of his backpack. Brennan was devastated. He had been so responsible with its care so far this trip. Brian was steaming, fuming and blowing a gasket….without actually yelling. You can probably imagine what the tension in the room was like as we were frantically ripping through backpacks and coats, under beds etc in the desperate hope that the retainer might be there rather than Munich.

We didn’t find Brennan’s dental appliance, so Brian decided to call the rental car company just in case it was found in the car. He tried to load up the Vodafone prepaid card that he bought in Munich onto his cell phone. The number code didn’t work. He tried the code a few more times and then gave up and dialed Vodafone for help. Can you believe this? In order for his 25 euro card he bought in Germany to be activated, Brian had to actually physically be in Germany! We were only 100 km over the border in Austria but basically the slip of paper Brian was holding was worthless. Now he couldn’t call the rental car company because his phone had zero time on it. What happened to the European Economic Community????

The kids and I had a subdued breakfast while Brian shuttled all the bags out to the car. It was better that he was far, far away and by himself. He was definitely sending out an “I’m pissed off, don’t come near me” aura. We know the signs.

By the time we actually got on the road we were about 2 hours behind schedule. This added to the tension in the car because Brian doesn’t “do late”. As we left St. Anton, we had to figure out how to get back to the main national highway. Not more than 15 minutes into our journey, Brian threw on the brakes and asked do we have to turn here, NOW? I had been staring down at the maps and wasn’t prepared for decision making. So as I looked up and saw Zurs, I thought that must be the Austrian way of spelling Zurich. So I yelled “yes” and Brian did a hard right. Almost immediately we realized that it was the wrong way but we ended up in construction and a 2 km tunnel on a twisty mountain road. (I noticed the spectacular valley overlook but nobody else did.) It took us awhile to get turned around and now we were even later than before.

Shortly after this mishap, we discovered the entrance to the main freeway. The whole area was under reconstruction and it was extremely difficult driving due to detours, unmarked lanes and absence of signs. Finally we were making great progress down the highway and nearing the exit for Liechtenstein. We thought since we were so close to this tiny country that we would pass through it into Switzerland. Unfortunately it was so insignificant that it wasn’t marked on the road sign! We passed by that exit and then went through a 4 km tunnel and tried the next exit for the same town. We still didn’t see any directions to Liechtenstein and thought maybe the highway was even farther down the road just past the edge of town. At this point, it started to rain and visibility was dwindling rapidly. We were able to see however that we were going north, without any viable exit to Liechtenstein which was south. So we turned around, AGAIN, and headed back through the tunnel and from the west, there were signs to our destination. Yeah we were back in business but the atmosphere in the car was very gloomy, like the weather outside.

We passed into Liechtenstein after a passport check because it wasn’t an EU country. I was hoping for a stamp in my passport but they didn’t do that. As we continued to make our way through the country, the rain continued to pour down on us. What we saw through the rain and fog looked very rural, green and a lot like Austria. As we neared the top of a mountain road, the sun peeked out of the mist and an incredibly gorgeous valley view appeared before us. I screamed “Stop, I want a picture!” and hopped out of the car. After some fumbling in the trunk for my camera, I raced across the road and set up my shot. Nothing happened. I tried again and still the camera didn’t work. Then I realized that the monitor was showing low battery. I quickly switched in my emergency lithium batteries and tried to take the shot. Again nothing happened. By this time, the mist had moved so far into the valley that it wasn’t visible anymore. I didn’t get the picture but more importantly what was wrong with my camera this time? I was beginning to think that I needed a new one. As I got into the car, Brian snorted that I didn’t get the shot because I wasted too much time trying to set up “the perfect picture”. He was still quite grumpy. (Brian did look at my camera later and thought that the contact between the battery and camera wasn’t tight enough. Hopefully his fix-it job will do the trick.)

Leaving Liechtenstein was confusing because there wasn’t any passport check on the west side of the country for entrance or exit. We figured out that we were in Switzerland when we saw their flags flying on people’s homes. At this point we had a decision to make about our route. We could go by highway north and then west to Zurich or through country roads directly west. The first way was longer but probably faster and less scenic. By this point the sun was out and I wanted to take advantage of the good weather and spectacular mountain views with idyllic Swiss villages. Also I thought that I could get us to the Maestrani Swiss Chocolate Factory by this course and save us some time. We didn’t have any extra time to spare because the factory closed at noon for two hours. Well on the map it was definitely shorter but with the great views came curvy, slow roads and tight village lanes to drive. By noon, we recognized that we weren’t going to meet the deadline and Brian wasn’t going to wait two hours for chocolate. On top of all this, because we were rushing, I didn’t stop to take any pictures. Just once I hopped out when Brian pulled into a gas station to buy a highway driving pass for Switzerland. It turned out that we had to be closer to the freeway and the station he stopped at, didn’t sell them. We also couldn’t find an ATM to get some Swiss francs. I didn’t know that Switzerland was not in the EU. I guess I never really checked, I just thought that it was.

So imagine this scene, we are now at the freeway in Switzerland without a valid pass. We didn’t have any Swiss francs, Brennan’s retainer, a phone that worked and a camera that didn’t malfunction. Brian eventually found a gas station; got his pass and we were off to Geneva via Zurich, at least 5 hours of driving away.

About half an hour later, I tentatively mentioned lunch. Oops, big mistake. From the highway, it was impossible to see what was available until we pulled into the rest stop. Our first attempt looked like a grungy gas station and not very appealing. We passed and decided to try a small town instead. The idea was that perhaps we could also find a bank machine. Well after three drive throughs of the small town of Payerne, we gave up. We couldn’t find any street parking in this busy village and we didn’t have any Swiss money to pay for the lots! By now it was 2 o’clock and as we passed lunch options, we had some forlorn kids in the back seat. Back out on the highway and not five minutes had passed when we saw a rest stop with Golden Arches. It was the only stop that had advertised its restaurants. If we had just stayed on the road for another 5 minutes, that whole fiasco in Payerne would have been avoided. I took in the kids and checked out the offerings in all the shops. Unfortunately I had no idea what the value of the Swiss franc was to the dollar or euro, so I didn’t know how expensive everything was. I chose the smallest amount possible on the ATM and headed to McDonalds. Twice in a few weeks was more than I would have wished for, but it was there and we were desperate. (Later I learned the value of the franc and realized that our lunch was extremely costly!!!!) The only bonus of all this was that the server accidentally gave us an extra container of fries.

The rest of the drive getting to Geneva was uneventful in every sense. We didn’t get lost, the weather remained stable and the view from the highway was boring. In hindsight, I am glad that we took that small road out of Liechtenstein because it was the only pretty scenery we saw. The A1 highway cut through a large valley between the Alps and it just wasn’t attractive. The big cities were smoggy and as seen from the highway, just massive factories and block buildings.

The only exciting event happened shortly before the outskirts of Geneva. We didn’t have a hotel booked for the night as we weren’t sure where we would stop for the day. Brian didn’t want to stay in the city, especially as we were entering it near rush hour and in the dark. So he suggested we try a small town before it. We eliminated one choice as we drove by because it was too far from the highway. That left Divonne. As we exited the highway at four o’clock, we were already in the middle of rush hour traffic. Both of us remarked on how early the Swiss finish work. We circled a roundabout and suddenly we were on a straight road with a passport control in front of us. I won’t print what came out of Brian’s mouth! It turned out that Divonne was just over the border and I didn’t see the faint border markings on the map. (Time for new reading glasses!) We did another quick circle on a roundabout and headed back into Switzerland. I don’t know why the guards were there because they didn’t check us either time. I took some ribbing for this goof. At least we were there for so little time, no protester could torch our car.

So now our plan was to head for the outskirts near the airport as surely there would be hotels there. We saw a couple of hotels from the highway and tried to reach them but Geneva was a maze of one way streets and full of cars by this time. Also the airport really wasn’t on the edge of town and we didn’t have a city map that covered this portion in detail. We searched for forty minutes for an entrance into one of those hotels and managed to get ourselves even further away from them. Just as we thought we’d be spending the night in the car, I spotted a small street sign for a hotel. It took another 10 minutes and some fancy maneuvering to get going in that direction but we finally got to it. The hotel wasn’t luxurious but it was clean and very quiet. The rooms reminded me a lot of dormitories at university. The best part was that they cost about $70 US dollars each a night. By this point, we were ready to pay anything!!

Across the street was a large shopping mall and we thought we’d get a light dinner there. (By this time, we figured out how much lunch cost! It was $21 US for a Big Mac, 6 chicken nuggets, a small hamburger, 2 medium fries and 2 medium drinks.) After checking out the restaurant prices, we headed for the grocery store and stocked up there instead. I was astounded at how expensive Switzerland was compared to all the other countries that we had visited.

Surprisingly the things that were cheaper were gameboy games for the kids. They had been looking all over Europe for new ones and hadn’t purchased any yet because of the cost. Brennan bought two “must have” games and Sierra got one. (Thanks to grandmas and grandpas for early Christmas money.) When we got back to the hotel, Brennan suggested that Sierra recheck her game, “The Sims 2”, for its language. She had looked at it in the store and saw English writing on the pictures, so she assumed it was in English. However it wasn’t clear and certain on the back of the box, if the game really was in English. Now Sierra was devastated and Brian was angry. He wanted her to “learn a lesson” and take her chances on the language. I argued that this was ridiculous because she couldn’t play it in French and that we should take it back to the store. Finally in a giant huff, Brian returned to the store because it was purchased on his credit card. We found out later that it took some effort to return the unopened game. As well, the store would not credit his MasterCard and we ended up with more Swiss francs! It was a dreadful end to a lousy day. Thankfully we had not experienced so many misfortunes up to this point of the trip. I think we would we booking a return flight to Calgary if all of our days were like this one.

The main positive outcome of the day was that we were able to contact Brennan’s orthodontist in Calgary. He still had an impression of Brennan’s teeth and could make another retainer. So one is being made and then shipped to my aunt and uncle’s home in Ireland. Thank goodness for their generosity because we have used their place as a drop spot a few times now.

Goodnight to a BAD, BAD, BAD, VERY BAD DAY.( NEXT PAGE )