When we moved to the Netherlands 3 years ago, we didn’t know how long we’d be able to live here and traveling as much as possible was our number one priority. Covid derailed those plans but we did finally get to take an incredible road trip in August. We planned it for over a year, not knowing if we’d really be able to go, but using it as a beacon to give us something to look forward to. Even just a few weeks leading up to the trip we thought we would have to cancel. Delta showed up and absolutely crushed the Netherlands, with our worst numbers ever in July. Teens still weren’t invited to get vaccinated and JW was in school til Mid-July and we felt so helpless as we got report after report of people getting sick. So many kids in JW’s school got sick that the last week of school everyone got sent home to finish the week with home learning.
But then things turned around.
The Dutch government made a push to accelerate the vaccine schedule and JW’s appointments got scheduled. JW was able to get the second dose the first week of August instead of the end of August when it was originally scheduled. We were able to get our QR codes so that we could register for Green Passes for travel in the EU. Our numbers in the Netherlands improved, and the rules in each of the countries we planned to travel laid out criteria of being vaccinated and having QR codes, which we had. The people we booked to stay in our house and care for Brian and Kitty while we were gone got their vaccines and QR codes in time. Somehow, it all came together. So we packed up the rental car and off we went!
I love that a road trip in Europe means you can drive from Amsterdam and be in Germany, Belgium, or France in just a few hours. The road signs are pretty great — you can’t swing a dead cat in Europe without hitting 7 castles. Our first stop was Chateau de Gilly, in Gilly, France. We arrived in time to spend the afternoon at the pool and explore the beautiful grounds and gardens and then had a lovely dinner on the terrace. Next stop was Aix Au Provence where James’s brother and family live. We spent a few days there visiting and exploring the old city. It was so good to see family after so long, and we cooked together, played games, swam and visited. We wished we’d had more time with them. It was SO HOT though I almost died. We took an overnight ferry from the south of France to Sardinia and drove two hours to The Grand Hotel Smeraldo Beach in Baja, which is the north side of the island. The hotel was in a perfect location, on a quiet private cove that was perfect for swimming. The Mediterranean was all different shades of green and blue. It was an easy stroll into town to restaurants and shops. Our town was low key which we loved as compared to the next town over where all the super fancy people stayed. Truly lifestyles of the rich and famous. I saw the yachts and said wow, I’m surprised there are so many cruise ships out and James was like, yeah, those are yachts. They had helicopter pads!dinner alfresco. Sardinia does siesta so you had to get into the rhythm of the day and night. Lantana bloomed all over the island and it reminded me of living in Spain as a kid.We chartered a boat for the afternoon and sailed around to all the coves around the island. The boat captain and his mom have a family business and they were fabulous. He knew all the best swimming spots and she cooked us lunch on the boat which was amazing. She used a bucket to get water from the Mediterranean Sea to cook the pasta. This is Kim. She’s Italian. We spent the mornings at the sea and then we’d get out of the sun for the hottest part of the afternoon. I made it my business to know everything about the other guests at the hotel. “That towel belongs to the guy whose girlfriend is 40 years younger than him. That towel belongs to the bratty teenagers whose parents are fighting.” Still, there was a lady who was more of a busybody than I was. She’d stake out her spot every morning and if someone had already taken it she’d just plop down right in front of them, then she’d strip naked after her swim and put on a dry bathing suit. She didn’t care to sit around in a wet bathing suit and didn’t want to be bothered by anything. Who can blame her? I loved her and she must have sensed it because she winked at me a lot and gave me a little nod of approval whenever she saw me. James and JW went wake boarding and did some other water sports but I mostly just read my book by the sea. For the next leg of the trip we took a ferry to Livorno, Italy and drove to Switzerland, but we stopped in Genoa for lunch to meet up with one of James’s former colleagues, Silvano, and his family who were visiting their family who live in Italy. After a great lunch along the waterfront we were on the road again, and that’s when things got hairy.
I don’t know how we neglected to realized that driving over the Swiss Alps would be the most harrowing experience of our lives, but we looked up and saw all the switchbacks leading into the clouds and I said OMG are we driving up there? And James was like uh….. yes.
This is a Google map of Grimsel Pass, the road that goes over the Alps. I would have taken photos but I was too busy dying of fright. It was switch back after switch back going higher and higher until we were in the clouds with absolutely zero visibility and a 10K drop straight down with cars in both directions and no guardrails. It was insane. What’s crazier is I had this vague memory that I’d been there before and afterwards I asked my mom and she confirmed we drove over it when I was a kid and remembers it being exactly as terrifying and I described it. When we got to the hotel I wasn’t sure if I really did survive or if I was a ghost checking into our already extremely haunted hotel. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Giessbach in Switzerland. James saw it from the train a couple of winters ago when he was snowboarding in Switzerland and thought it would be my style, and he was right! I think this place had to be Wes Anderson’s inspiration for the movie the Grand Budapest Hotel. This is one of the hotel’s original drawings. There’s a funicular and everything. The hotel overlooks Lake Brienz and the famed Giessbach Waterfalls, which are known for their healing energy. The lake was icy and invigorating. The air was so fresh and clean and such a contrast to the heat in France and Sardinia. I think Switzerland is my new summer destination from now on.We hiked all through the mountain trails on the hotel grounds and spent lots of time soaking up the waterfall love.There’s so much ancient life force in the mountains. We felt it!JW especially seemed to feel the connection to the earth, and even took a solo night hike, which made me nervous but it was fine. Meticulously groomed trails lead all the way up the mountain with breathtaking views of the lake and the falls.The vigorous hikes felt so good after lazing around by the sea the previous weekEspecially with tasty beer afterward. I had a really good zero alcohol beer too, and I am still loving how Europe has so many high quality non-alcohol choices everywhere. Switzerland is so beautiful it doesn’t even seem real.The naturesThis was the view from our balconySo was this. We loved watching this boat cross the lake. You could hear the waterfall from our room. We were playing cards in our room one night when a bat flew in this window. I screamed, the bat flew in a circle around James then out the french doors. About 15 minutes later it happened again. We closed the window after that.This red velvet setee in our room suits me right?The hotel was indeed grand, but it didn’t feel overwhelming or intimidating. It’s not as big as it looks, and there are so many personal touches. The staff live on the grounds and made us feel so welcome and comfortable. We loved spending time in the bar listening to the trio of musicians play piano, stand up bass and violin in the evenings before dinner. The hotel was most certainly haunted. I felt like this lady was going to help me solve several murders while I was there.It was a nine hour drive home to Amsterdam from Switzerland, and much less scary as the roads went through tunnels rather than over the cliffs of death. It’s AMAZING that we can drive for 9 hours and be in a totally new land. We were so grateful to Dario and Makarena for taking such good care of Brian and Kitty while we were gone. Brian was in love with Makarena and slept in the hallway after they left waiting for her to come back.
