September 16, 1993
To Verbania
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The weather broke in our favor today. Partly cloudy in the morning, it steadily improved all day long, and by afternoon it was mild, clear, lovely. Our clothing, which we had hung out to dry at every possible spot in the room last night, was still somewhat damp this morning. We decided to skip breakfast except for a few snacks and coast down to Domodossola to do our laundry while we ate. The ride there was fast, mostly downhill, largely effortless. Its most memorable feature was a fast cruise through a 2,248 meter long tunnel - it seemed to continue on forever, even at 30k.
Nearing Domodossola, we enter another region of distinctive culture. The older houses are stone, and look almost like piled flagstone tiles. Here and there, ears of corn hang in braids drying in the sun. South of Domodossola especially, grape arbors are everywhere. It has been amazing to see how quickly the traditional/regional appearances have changed on this trip.
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We spent about four hours in Domodossola, waiting for our laundry. There are few self-service laundromats here - only serviced laundries. We were directed to one a few hundred yards from the information center, only to be turned away there for reasons we did not understand and directed to a different one still - only a half block from the information center where we had started! This place took in our laundry, but with some confusion. We returned after two hours, only to find that they had washed but not dried it. We were sent away for a few more hours while the dried it. We watched them begin to do this before we left - by stringing it up near the ceiling, about fifteen feet up Apparently even commercial laundries do not use dryers.
During our four hour stay we had coffee and snacks; wrote and mailed postcards; converted travelers checks; and called home to our friend Lynn to let her know that we were alive and over the Alps. For 33,000 lira we had perhaps and eight minute conversation and got caught up on the state of our friends.
Finally, about 3 in the afternoon, we left Domodossola for Verbania, 40k away. The first half of the ride was spectacular - on a narrow back road through a series of colorful villages, with a dramatic alpine background rising sharply above. There was more traffic in the last half as we approached and entered the lake district, but it was pretty and enjoyable, fast riding the entire way. The final 10k were on the shore of Lake Maggiore, along estates, luxury hotels, marinas, palm trees and lush vegetation.
We were directed by the information center in Verbania to a great hotel on the waterfront. It is a beautiful old villa, surrounded by a lush garden. Our room has a window with a view of the lake. For 76,000 lira we have a lovely room with shower and breakfast in a beautiful resort setting. Our good fortune is shared here by two other American bike tourists, who amazingly enough pedal up exactly when we do. These two men, from Colorado and California, started in Geneva and crossed the Alps over Locomagno Pass, experiencing the same miserable conditions on their descent yesterday as we had. Rachael later confided to me her satisfaction that we had crossed over a higher elevation than they had.
For dinner, we walked the kilometer back to the heart of town and stopped in at a fairly inexpensive, not too satisfying restaurant. Rachael had lasagna, and I had a dark green fish-filled ravioli. The mediocre meal was the only blemish on another fine day.
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 908 km (564 miles)
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Another significant change over the intervening three decades.
2 years ago
It’s simpler in so many ways now, but I’m really glad that our first overseas tours were in that era and that I took the time to write down our experiences.
2 years ago