Friday, May 19, 2006
03/2006: Saas Fee: 'driving in the snowstorm…is checking time always 3pm?'
One of my worst nightmares this morning as I left Saas Fee. Not only did I have to negotiate driving down a steep narrow winding road with hairpin bends, I had to do it in a snowstorm with almost zero visibility. I was second in a small convoy of cars that slowly and tortuously inched their way down the mountain at about 10 miles per hour - we met the snow plough on its way up just as we reached the bottom. And even though the polite Hertz technical department man assured me - using tones people normally reserve for talking to very small children or the mentally ill - that ALL Swiss rental cars are equipped with winter tyres, I still felt the car slipping about on the snowbound road.
The snowstorm is worse in the valley so I stop off at the Sierre tourist information to check on the state of the horribly intestinal-looking road to Crans Montana. A comely young man tells me that with conditions as they are (it’s been snowing heavily for 3 days) and as it’s the weekend and the traffic will be dreadful in the village, my best bet is to take the funicular to Montana, which takes approximately 12 minutes (instead of an hour’s drive) and leave my car in the car park underneath. I could kiss him – although this has more to do with the fact that he is young and good looking than the quality of his information.
15 minutes later I’m on the funicular - which actually takes 19 minutes but I generously put this down to the weather – Swiss public transport always normally run like clockwork, maybe the drivers get an electric shock from an in-cab cattle prod if they arrive late. I maliciously think of all the Birmingham bus drivers I’d like to give an electric shock to.
Déjà vu again, my room won’t be ready until 3pm.. Dump my luggage and head out into the snow. It snows wetly and relentlessly all day. The tourist info hunk was right about the traffic, it is bumper to bumper and interspersed with snow ploughs and police cars.
One of my worst nightmares this morning as I left Saas Fee. Not only did I have to negotiate driving down a steep narrow winding road with hairpin bends, I had to do it in a snowstorm with almost zero visibility. I was second in a small convoy of cars that slowly and tortuously inched their way down the mountain at about 10 miles per hour - we met the snow plough on its way up just as we reached the bottom. And even though the polite Hertz technical department man assured me - using tones people normally reserve for talking to very small children or the mentally ill - that ALL Swiss rental cars are equipped with winter tyres, I still felt the car slipping about on the snowbound road.
The snowstorm is worse in the valley so I stop off at the Sierre tourist information to check on the state of the horribly intestinal-looking road to Crans Montana. A comely young man tells me that with conditions as they are (it’s been snowing heavily for 3 days) and as it’s the weekend and the traffic will be dreadful in the village, my best bet is to take the funicular to Montana, which takes approximately 12 minutes (instead of an hour’s drive) and leave my car in the car park underneath. I could kiss him – although this has more to do with the fact that he is young and good looking than the quality of his information.
15 minutes later I’m on the funicular - which actually takes 19 minutes but I generously put this down to the weather – Swiss public transport always normally run like clockwork, maybe the drivers get an electric shock from an in-cab cattle prod if they arrive late. I maliciously think of all the Birmingham bus drivers I’d like to give an electric shock to.
Déjà vu again, my room won’t be ready until 3pm.. Dump my luggage and head out into the snow. It snows wetly and relentlessly all day. The tourist info hunk was right about the traffic, it is bumper to bumper and interspersed with snow ploughs and police cars.
# posted by hotelreviewer @ 12:08 pm 
