Swiss Police tried to Stop Us, but we didn't Know!
An Important Info for Car Travelers. See Pictures Bellow ...
Wake up in Airolo
On Saturday, August 28 we woke up in Airolo. I had all mine and Lira’s warm clothes on me to stop the cold. I was able to delay the actual cold till September 10. Breakfast was included, so we eat along with all the bikers, who arrived here for their festival. That is why all the hotel were completely booked for Saturday night. Hotel Alloggio Girasole doesn’t take credit cards, so I paid for two nights in cash: 68€ and 95 CHF.
[08:46] We took a couple of pictures right from the car. You can probably see a rainbow and a slight traffic in front of the St. Gotthard Tunnel. All roads and tunnels are free, but you need to buy a Vignette (around 40 CHF per year). Our rental car already had it.
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| . 01 Rainbow – View from Airolo |
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| .. 02 Bahnhofplatz, Rapperswil – Cute Train Station |
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| … 03 Rapperswil – Unusual Roof in the yard of a Polish Museum |
First Stop in Seewen – COOP
We drove all the way through the Reuss river valley until Altdorf. We half-heartedly planned to go to Glarus, where we knew about a small Suvorov’s museum. Instead, we continued northwards towards Zurich. We just jumped out of a highway somewhere after Schwyz, and parked underground in a large COOP supermarket garage (10:24). It was raining.
Now, looking at the receipt I realized that we stopped at COOP in Seewen [ze even], and the only known fact about this place is a 1976 murder case, where 5 were killed. This case is considered one of the biggest unsolved crimes in Swiss criminal history. This fact however is unverified and unconfirmed.
After returning to the car we decided to change our direction and go to Jona ( pronounced [iona]), purely because we liked the name. Now we had to take a small road to North-East and cross Zürichsee (lake Zürich) right in the middle.
All New Rapperswil-Jona
We could not find any road signs for Jona. None. It turns out that our 4-year-old map of Switzerland was too old. On January 1, 2007, the municipalities of Rapperswil and Jona merged to form a new political entity- Rapperswil-Jona.
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 House of Music |
[11:35] Finally we found it. As soon as we crossed the bridge across the Zurichsee, we entered Bahnhofplatz in Rapperswil. We quickly found 3 things tourist needs the most: 30 minutes parking, toilet and Tourist Info booth.
This small town is a perfect destination for a day trip. One can find here everything for a day of pleasant discoveries. It took us about an hour for a quick run up and down the sites, marked in the brochure.
[12:38] Parked the car not far from the station. Parking is completely automated. You take a ticket, when entering and pay to a machine before returning to the car.
[13:08] Unusual roof in the yard of Polish museum (see picture).
[13:40] We got tired of salad and spaghetti kind of food. We wanted something spicy and flavorful. We asked at the Tourist booth, and they draw a location of Indian place. While searching Indian place, we found cowboy masquerade on the streets. Entire street blocked off with wagons and dressed people going about their cowboy business. Very convincing.
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| 01 Actual WORDS are changing! This is the main city square – Hauptplatz. I found various pictures of the square with words – REGATTA (09/2008), GIOART (11/2009), ADVENT (12/2009), LITTLE RING (06/2010) | 02 Rapperswil – Hauptplatz – Schlosstreppe Stairs on Hauptplatz leading to the Castel 03 Hintergasse – View from the Castle |
Finally we landed at Asian restaurant right in the station building. I ordered Thai and Lira Thai and Chinese food. Receipt is stamped 14:40, when we paid at Scent of Bamboo – Bahnhofplatz – Rapperswil, Switzerland – 36.50 CHF.
[15:05 – 15:28] Walk around longest wooden bridge on Zurichsee [tsurikh ze-e].
Do not Violate Any Rules on the Road
We took off from Rapperswil in the direction of Russikon (municipality in the district of Pfäffikon). We just liked the name. But halfway there I decided we should start moving closer to the airport and start searching for a place to stay. We got lost, circle around rotary several times and apparently crossed a solid white line somewhere. We took a wrong exit anyway.
So now we are driving on a highway to the next available chance to get a U-turn. In front of us we see a station-wagon with joyful running red letters Bitte Folgen. Lira didn’t remember this word. It looked as if it was a Student Driver or something like that. They are exiting, we are exiting. We made a U-turn and now driving in our merry way back to the rotary.
We see the same car one more time. This time little funny red letters on the back windshield says: Stop! Polizei! It turns out that while we were thinking “How to get to Kloten?”, they were thinking “What the Hell? Why this car is fleeing?”, and in addition you do NOT stop on a highway in Switzerland. You follow them off to a exit into a safe area.
At the end everything cleared out. Instead of calling for a backup for a high-speed chaise, they explained to us how things are done here and we even took some pictures together [16:16 – 16:21].
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| Do not violate ANY rules, while driving in Switzerland. | However, if you do, try to do it on your birthday. |
Landgasthof Breiti in Winkel
We drove in a general direction of Kloten – Zurich airport, but for a best location to price ration we drive a little further and found ourself in a Winkel. We found Landgasthof Breiti. Plenty of parking and spacious rooms.
[17:32 -17:43] Pictures in the room of Landgasthof Breiti – balcony with a view – motorized shutters.
[18:11] Load all the stuff from the car. Next hour we spent in the room – packing.
[19:50 – 20:09] Walk around village of Winkel – quiet and romantic.
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[21:24-21:26] Pictures in a hotel restaurant downstairs – 59.40 CHF
[22:42 – 22:44] Our hotel has free Wi-Fi. I was able the check the flight status for tomorrow on iPhone.
Navigate through the List
- 01 Preparation for the Swiss Trip in August 2010 (2017/07/25)
- 02 August 14-15, 2010: Zurich (2017/07/29)
- 03 August 16-17, 2010: Luzern - Bern - Fribourg (2017/08/02)
- 04 August 18-19, 2010: Fribourg – Montreux (Nabokov) – Geneva (2017/08/06)
- 05 August 20, 2010 - Wake in Switzerland, Eat in France, Sleep in Italy (2017/08/10)
- 06 August 21,2010: It’s a Mountain Time – Rifugio Monzino (2017/08/14)
- 07 August 22, 2010: Genova – Columbus and Paganini (2017/08/18)
- 08 August 23, 2010: Camogli – San Fruttuoso – Portofino and Back (2017/08/22)
- 09 August 24, 2010: From Mediterranean to Lake Como and Bellagio (2017/08/26)
- 10 August 25, 2010: Around Bellagio - Pescallo, Regatola, S. Giovanni (2017/08/30)
- 11 August 26, 2010: Back to Switzerland - Airolo (2017/09/03)
- 12 August 27, 2010: St. Gotthard Pass and Lake Lucendro (2017/09/07)
- 13 August 28, 2010: Seewen - Rapperswil-Jona - Winkel (2017/09/11)
- 14 August 29, 2010: The End - From Zurich to Boston (2017/09/15)