Biscuits and unavoidable stops
04/11/2025
No, completely wrong, it's not about breakdowns and other unforeseen reasons to stop. Nor is it about empty tanks or planned supply points on a journey. It's about places where you simply HAVE to stop, because otherwise you don't feel like you've driven through them.
Such places have emerged in my life with classics over the years; they have been imprinted on my map as little flags in my memory.
There are all sorts of reasons why I have to stop. One example: Trubschachen at the very beginning of the Emmental as you drive overland from Lucerne towards Bern. The largest employer in the small village is called "Kambly" and is one of the most important biscuit manufacturers in Switzerland. Driving past here, especially on a normal working day, is simply impossible. Because there is "breakage" here - but not in the sense you might think. Because what is sold in the factory store in plain 500g sacks (see picture) is - from the point of view of enjoyment - anything but "curd". The factory sells not quite flawless baked goods in large containers for little money. But the best thing about it is that there is a container in front of each variety, inviting you to try it. My recommendation: Choco-Lune. As I can't resist temptation, I often end up leaving a certain amount of money behind in the Emmental. No, I don't have any shares there.
Another compulsory stop is Frieda Stern's petrol station in Gurtnellen. The lady, who even Gert Fröbe used to drive up and greet her as "Mrs. Frieda", has been running her business for over 50 years. Unfortunately, the kiosk is now closed - but if you want to buy cigarettes, you can still get some. How long this place, a veritable time capsule, will continue to exist is questionable.
Bridges are also places that I sometimes can't simply drive past or over. One of them is on the way from Kerns to Flüeli-Ranft. The covered, relatively short wooden bridge is quite inconspicuous in a slightly hilly landscape. But if you take the trouble to stop somewhere before or after it and cross it on foot, you will be amazed at how incredibly deep the gorge is that the wooden structure spans: A whopping 100 meters! The "high bridge" is the highest of its kind in Europe.
But don't be fooled: There is a 100-metre-deep gorge between here and over there, so looking down once is a must for me every time.
Speaking of bridges: Let's go back to the Reuss valley. Just before Mrs. Stern's petrol station is the Intschireuss bridge on the old Gotthard Railway mountain line. The double concrete box girder bridge "only" spans the Reuss below at 77 meters above the water, but the municipality had the nerve to install a light grating between the two concrete boxes as a shortcut for the children from the hamlet opposite to the bus stop on Gotthardstrasse. This allows pedestrians to cross the Reuss on the lower level of the railroad bridge, illuminated only from below, through the grating. If you are afraid of heights or have weak nerves, you should avoid the passage.
View through the floor grid of the Intschireuss Bridge, 77 meters above the water
You don't always have to stop. Sometimes there are simply small detours or extra tours off the actual route. When driving over the Simplon Pass from Valais to Italy, I once asked myself how agricultural vehicles actually get to Simplon Dorf when the pass road is classified as a national road and therefore off-limits to slow traffic? The solution was a look at Goolge Maps. However, the solution was not revealed by the road map, but by looking at the aerial photo, where - without being marked as a route - a path was clearly visible. A completely legal road leads along rocks far into a valley floor, under the main road and even crosses the stream in a ford - a little adventure. And this is the route I have always chosen since then, instead of squeezing between the international long-distance traffic thundering over the main roads far above.
I usually drive up here in a classic car, but if need be, a Porsche test car on the old Simplon route would also do - at the top, heavy traffic thunders over the bridge
Why am I even writing this here? Once again, I took the little shortcut that connects the left and right "legs" of Lake Como, just across the Swiss border. From the village of Nesso, a windy, narrow mountain road leads to a plateau that lies between the two arms of the lake. There is a Marian grotto on the way there. Although I am completely non-religious myself, I am always fascinated by rituals and popular beliefs, so this place makes me want to stop here. Well, maybe the short break also helps to bring the adrenaline back down a bit, because the winding road regularly awakens the hooligan in me: accelerate, change gear, brake, downshift, turn in, accelerate... I was there again the other day in an Alfa Romeo Stelvio, unfortunately an automatic - which, by the way, surprised me quite positively, if I'm allowed to write that here at all.
