Vals, Switzerland

I'm gonna go ahead and post these pictures from Vals, Switzerland, even though I haven't posted my photos from Florence, Bologna, or Maranello yet. As you may or may not know, 6 of us rented a car in Genoa and drove 5 1/2 hours up to see the baths at Vals. Driving in Europe was a blast. It was pretty terrifying at first, though, because the Italians drive like maniacs. You pretty much have to toss out every thing you ever learned about turn signals, right-of-way, speed limits and street signs. Concepts like these don't occur to Italians. Driving in Italy is, in essence, trying to jockey a position to the front of the pack. If you don't, you will get nowhere, or worse. Of course, you have to do this while flying down impossibly narrow twisting lanes, often with scooters flanking you on either side (in the same lane as yourself). It's even more fun when you are driving a stick-shift diesel minivan. Or what the Italians call a minivan - it's probably closer in size to something like a Ford Focus station wagon. Nonetheless, it was an incredibly fun car to drive. Once we got to Switzerland, the roads got a little bit wider (until we got high in the mountains, that is) and the drivers were a lot more sane.

This is the kind of car we rented, an Opel Zafira:



As you can see, it wasn't really that big, but six of us (and our luggage) managed to fit inside.


Yours Truly booking it though an Italian tunnel:


And a photo taken from the back seat:


Here are some photos Will took inside the baths and hotel:



All six of us outside of the baths - from left to right: Meg, Michael, Jenny, Virginia, myself, and Will.


And here are some more photos I took in and around Vals:


My, that's a nice Alp.

Since we couldn't return it until Monday, on Sunday we took the car for another short road trip to Camogli, a port about 35 minutes from Genoa (pictures are forthcoming). And, believe or not, this morning Will and I actually returned the Opel in one piece - not a single scratch (though quite a bit dirtier due to slush and road salt)! We're even thinking about pressing our luck and possibly renting a car again later in the term to take another road trip.