Migrating South

From Luxembourg we travelled through Germany and France to Switzerland for an overnight stop at Lucerne youth hostel. The journey was mostly on toll motorways, in the rain, with a stop at a service station for lunch. The youth hostel wasn’t anything special, but the staff were friendly and helpful. The accessible room we had booked was tiny, certainly no space between the beds for a wheelchair, so we all ended up in a six bed dorm which was much more spacious and cheaper.

A visit to see the Chapel Bridge was high on our wish list and we set off as soon as we had eaten our picnic tea. We took the bus into the city which was straightforward. Lucerne had had some snow and this combined with the Christmas lights made it very pretty. Unfortunately the platform lifts onto the Chapel Bridge were not working but Summer went across while Racheal and I waited by the river. I was last here in 1993, the day before it was virtually destroyed by fire so it was interesting to see how well it had been re-built. A drink in a cosy tavern by the river, chosen purely by the size of its door (as most were very narrow) rounded off the evening nicely.

After a continental breakfast, we were on the road again the next day. We headed through the alps diverting away from the motorway for a change and in search of lunch. After a delicious meal in a tiny restaurant, we drove through the Gotthard tunnel which is 10.5 miles long. Racheal has been enjoying all the tunnels and this was no exception - ten miles of giggles!

This time our destination was just over the border into Italy on the outskirts of Como, where we had booked a basic room above a parade of shops, with just two beds and an en suite shower room, for the night. Secure underground parking, tall enough for our car, with a lift straight up to the room made it easy for us. As we had eaten a meal at lunchtime, a picnic tea was all we needed before piling onto the double bed to watch a dvd together. This was literally a place to sleep as we continued south to Florence.

Another day of driving in the rain, this time on Italian motorways, brought us eventually to our home for the next 5 nights. We had booked an accessible cabin on a campsite on the edge of the city. The rain had paused briefly for our arrival and the temperature was warmer. We quickly made ourselves at home!