We were up by 8 am and on the road by 10. Both MapQuest and "Navi Biatch" (GPS) put us into Lake Como and our B&B in 5.5 hours. Another gorgeous day of sunshine and temps in the mid 30C range. We continued through the twisting, winding, narrow country roads when we came across the breathing view of Mont Blanc. It was a formidable site, this huge, snow covered mountain seemed to appear out of no where. As we approached there was the dreaded "Deviation" sign. Rather than circling the base of the mountain, it appeared we would have to climb part of it. As we made our way up the steep pass we came to realize our 5-6 hour drive would likely be a couple of hours longer due to the detour. Suddenly we came across super highway with a massive 4 lane elevated bridge that appeared to extend for miles through the valley. Navi Biatch seemed to be fine with it even though we told her to avoid toll highways. Out of no where, we were at toll booth and were told we were going through the Mount Blanc Tunnel, not around Mount Blanc but through Mount Blanc. The tunnel was over 20 kilometres long. The price to go through the tunnel was either $40 Euro, $60 Euro or $67 Euro. We could not tell by the way the receipt was broken down but I guess we will know when we get our MasterCard bill. After the shock of the bill and Navi Biatch's screw up we came to realize what a massive undertaking this tunnel must have been, a 20 km freeway through Mount Blanc!
We anticipated the plus sign of the costly mistake would shave some time off our trip...NOT...and that is not all. When we cleared the MB Tunnel, we started entering large tunnels on the Italian side. They too were blasted through some major mountains but not quite as long as MB. By now we are at the 5 hour and no where near Lake Como. The next big surprise was another toll booth on the Italian side, this time un manned and no instructions other than CASH or CREDIT CARD PLEASE!!! Another surprise! We had no idea what this toll would cost so we simply inserted the card and hoped for the best. It appeared this toll was not as costly, maybe $8 Euro but we did not get a receipt so again, we will find out when we get our MC statement.
All right, all this is behind us so lets make tracks. Not so fast folks, this is Europe and nothing really moves fast. We were once again on the country roads, taking us through cow pastures, narrow roads within inches of historic buildings and rock walls, but this is Europe and we love it. More road construction and long traffic lines. This went on for another 2 hours. Now we are at the 7 hour mark and still a long way from our B&B. Now we are starting to get nervous. Is she going to hold our room when we told her we would be there hours ago. Now we are back on a freeway and headed into some major traffic congestion. We soon realized we were in Milan, Italy at the height of rush hour traffic....OH BOY, what can you do.
Long story short, we finally arrived at Lake Como about 8:15 pm. The owner greeted us and showed us to our room. It was far more than we expect and a pleasant end to long and trying day.
We anticipated the plus sign of the costly mistake would shave some time off our trip...NOT...and that is not all. When we cleared the MB Tunnel, we started entering large tunnels on the Italian side. They too were blasted through some major mountains but not quite as long as MB. By now we are at the 5 hour and no where near Lake Como. The next big surprise was another toll booth on the Italian side, this time un manned and no instructions other than CASH or CREDIT CARD PLEASE!!! Another surprise! We had no idea what this toll would cost so we simply inserted the card and hoped for the best. It appeared this toll was not as costly, maybe $8 Euro but we did not get a receipt so again, we will find out when we get our MC statement.
All right, all this is behind us so lets make tracks. Not so fast folks, this is Europe and nothing really moves fast. We were once again on the country roads, taking us through cow pastures, narrow roads within inches of historic buildings and rock walls, but this is Europe and we love it. More road construction and long traffic lines. This went on for another 2 hours. Now we are at the 7 hour mark and still a long way from our B&B. Now we are starting to get nervous. Is she going to hold our room when we told her we would be there hours ago. Now we are back on a freeway and headed into some major traffic congestion. We soon realized we were in Milan, Italy at the height of rush hour traffic....OH BOY, what can you do.
Long story short, we finally arrived at Lake Como about 8:15 pm. The owner greeted us and showed us to our room. It was far more than we expect and a pleasant end to long and trying day.
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