At a small swiss hotel in Bellinzona in the Italian part of Switzerland. We left the ferry and battled the Italian traffic through Ancona and then on the autostrada. Apparently the Italians are all on the road today heading home after the Easter holiday. Constant steady traffic everywhere and then traffic jams as we came through Milan. Our plan was to stay overnight in Mendresio...a smaller town near Lugano..but very few hotels there. Next plan to stay in Lugano...surely it is still off season. The Best Western Bellevue that overlooked the Lake quoted 335 F with breakfast. Has to be one of the most expensive BW 's on the world. We checked out a few backstreet places and decided Lugano was not for us and headed down the road to Bellinzona. Basic hotel, with nice people who put the soccer game on for Jurg while we ate a pasta dinner...still 150F with breakfast. But, all the necessities. So it is good to be back in Switzerland...but...
I forgot to mention in the last blog the scene at the ferry terminal in Patra. (or is it Patras? or Patris?) There was a huge number of young men handing around...all quite dark skinned. Apparently they are from Pakistan, India, Iran etc. All come towards Europe through Turkey and then hang around Greece hoping to get into a truck or get smuggled somehow onto the ferry and get to Italy and the rest of Europe. They had a tent city made with plastic and barrels that we could see from the ferry and they had bent a number of the metal fence posts so that they could squeeze through at will. Security made no effort to stop or even notice them...they just went in and out often over the fence. It seemed so sad...young men, willing to work, hopeless. I just read that food prices and shortages will affect Asia significantly...so I wonder how many more of these young aimless men will be trapped in such hopelessness. Surely this will foment into something terrible in the future unless the world gets involved. Greece has little capacity to cope with anyone outside it's own number of unemployed.
Tomorrow we will drive over the St Gottard Pass and hopefully do the drive over rather than the tunnel through. The snow will decide that. Then home again in Winterthur with more family get togethers and a chance to see friends.
Tonight Barcelona is winning the game against Madrid...all with Italian commentary. A flat screen TV in our basic room. How Swiss!
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