Three countries in one day

Doing a bit of catching up this evening (Wednesday) because we've been without wifi for a while.  On Monday morning the rain had reached us at Sirmione so we were pleased that we had planned to do some journeying that day.  We left Lake Garda behind us and drove west via Bergamo, crossing the border into Switzerland at Chiasso, just north of Como.  The motorway took us between the arms of Lake Lugano, with very cloudy views, and then back into Italy again
at Porte Tresa on the western side of the lake.  Camping International turned out not to be the most exciting of campsites and it was very gloomy in the rain.  But we dusted off the brollies and took a look at our surroundings - but not for long! 

Yesterday morning, it was a different story altogether - lovely sunshine and even the campsite looked quite pretty. From the van, we could look over the wall to the lake and the little town of Porte Tresa.  We could watch the traffic queueing at the border control where the river into this section of the lake divides the two countries.  It must be quite frustrating for people going to work one way or the other.  We walked calmly over the bridge and none of the officials took any notice of us even though we'd remembered to carry our passports.  We caught a train on the narrow guage railway that runs between Porte Tresa and Lugano.  At one point it travels onto the main road and diagonally crosses to the other side - there are lights, but no barriers, so it was quite an interesting journey. 
In Lugano, after a quick look in the cathedral - not much to see as the whole interior is being renovated and there were just glass partitions to see the work going on, we walked steeply down to the Piazza della Riforma with it's very expensive shops and continued on beside the lake to Cassarate.  As it was such a clear day, we decided to go on the funicular railway to the top of Monte Bre (925m) to had our picnic and a bit of a walk.  The main path took you up some steps and then down lots more through woods to the village of Bre which was perched overlooking another branch of the lake.  We knew what goes down must come up again and we counted the steps on the way back - 389!!  But there's a cafe near the funicular station, with superb views ....  Back down in Lugano, we whiled away another half hour or so in a park where we briefly used the free city wifi to check our emails and to see if there were any geocaches nearby.  There was, and it was just a few yards away in our park.  Our 'Rough Guide' suggested that we go and see the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli, which although very plain on the outside and now overshaddowed by the new ultra-modern Cultural Centre, was quite amazing inside.  The church was founded in 1490 and in 1529 Bernardo Luini painted a huge fresco of the Passion and Crucifixion on a wall separating the nave from the chancel.  Much smaller, but just as impressive was another of the Last Supper.  As if we hadn't climbed enough steps in one day, we climbed another lot beside this church on the way back to the railway station - another 286!!  Phew.

Bre village

The funicular

View from cafe Monte Bre

Another view from cafe

Driverless funicular!

The fresco

Monte Bre from the steps up to station

After crossing the border again this morning - even in the van nobody took any notice of us - we couldn't leave without driving the mile or so to Caslano and the Alprose 'Schokoland'.  We were expecting a Willy Wonka experience and although we were each given a bread stick dipped into a chocolate fountain on arrival, we seemed to have come on the day all the Oompa-Loompas were on holiday!  We could look down on all the machinery and conveyor belts, but nothing was moving and had to be satisfied with a short video of what goes on.  The shop, however, made up for it all.  There were chocolates of all shapes, sizes and flavours - this is Switzerland - and visitors can eat as much as they like!!  Mind you, there's a limit to how much you feel like sampling at 9.30 in the morning.  But we're bringing home some goodies and for faithful Blog-Followers there will be a free sample - just use the password:  "Schokoland"!

Then we did quite a chunk of driving, all the way north through Switzerland and into France - 3 countries in one day and 194 miles closer to home.  Now at Brunstatt on the outskirts of Mulhouse which we will explore tomorrow.