Day 2 - Welcome to the Land of Speed

Today I traveled through the Appenzeller Land into the Rhine Valley under bright sunshine, over Vaduz towards San Bernadino, and then down the Splügen Pass to Lake Como.

From there, I headed past Milan towards Turin. I laid my weary head in a golf hotel in Cavaglia, which was a real bargain!

As soon as you cross the border from Switzerland into Italy, the noticeably altered driving style becomes apparent: while in Switzerland everyone strictly adheres to the speed limits due to hefty fines for violations, in Italy it feels like speed limits are interpreted as a guideline to never drive slower than indicated.

And getting overtaken in a tunnel by a Ducati doing an estimated 180 km/h despite the 70 km/h limit is something you get used to.

This flooded field in the second-to-last picture is, by the way, not a carp pond, it's where risotto is grown.

After thoroughly studying the weather forecasts for southern France and northern Spain, a change of plans emerges: to avoid a low-pressure system bringing days of rain, I'm turning the tour around. Tomorrow, I will hit the highway to get to Valencia as quickly as possible, thus reaching drier regions.

Planning is the replacement of chance by error!