Into Switzerland

We left Fuschl on Friday for the longish drive into Switzerland.

On the way, we stopped for a couple of hours in Innsbruck, the big skiing centre.  There was lots of snow on the mountains but nothing in the town.  This has been a recurring theme so far, ie the seasons are getting later and that the snow and real winter weather won’t get to the lower places until next month.

Innsbruck is an attractive town, lots of old buildings in the old town centre, and a big Christmas market.  We were taken first to the Swarovski crystal store (mainly for the free toilets) with some shopping thrown in.  We did the local thing and had a sausage in the market.

After this, we were on our way for the drive to Switzerland.  This took us through plenty of tunnels, some snow at higher levels and a couple of border crossings.  Our trip to Innsbruck took us back into Germany and they have an elaborate setup to X-ray all the semis in case they are carrying immigrants.  Our bus had to go through the checkpoint as well but they waved us through (it’s a Swiss-registered vehicle and apparently that makes a difference).

Late in the day, we arrived at Appenzell, our home for two nights.  Our hotel is opposite the town church whose bells ring the hour, including through the night.