OtR: Zermatt to Orta … Domodossola

Today was moving day … and the Matterhorn came out for all of one minute this morning. Just to bid us goodbye.

The cool morning temperature made for a bracing walk to the Zermatt Bahnhof. With everything going smoothly, we were on the 9:35a shuttle down to Täsch. The train was not at all crowded at that hour … only two others in the train carriage with us.

At the Täsch Terminal, we found our car and loaded up. The barrier once again recognized the license plate and we were soon on our way to northern Italy. With blue skies overhead, we enjoyed a scenic drive to Visp … and onward to Brig.

The plan was to drive the Simplon Pass to cross into Italy. But because we were using the back roads, the GPS kept re-routing us to the Simplon Tunnel car train. Eventually, we gave in and complied with the GPS directions … we’ll just have to drive the pass on the way back to Switzerland.

When we arrived at the train station, we were surprised to see no cars queued up. The mystery was solved a few minutes later when we got our turn at the ticket kiosk. Due to technical issues, they were not sure if the train was going to make the run.

Just as we were debating switching plans again, the manager came up to say the issue had been resolved and the train was a go. Good. We bought tickets for the next train, followed the instructions of the handler, and drove onto the train … exactly as we did for the Kandersteg to Goppenstein car train just a few days ago.

This train ride was different from the previous one. For one thing, it was a longer ride … 20 minutes from Brig, Switzerland to Iselle, Italy. Second, there were no views at all … the entire 12.4-mile (20 km) ride was inside the Simplon Tunnel, cut through the Alps in 1906 at an elevation below the pass. For most of the 20th century, this tunnel was the longest in the world.

*** The current record holder is a train tunnel in Japan that is 13. miles (22.2 km) long.

Since the train shaved quite a bit of time off of our drive, we decided to stop in Domodossola, a city in Italy’s Piedmont Region … at the foot of the Italian Alps. The city’s history dates back to 12 BCE when the Romans conquered the region. It is, however, better known for declaring itself a free partisan republic in September 1944 … thus participating in the WWII uprising against the Germans … even if the rebellion didn’t last long.

Finding street parking, we walked the short distance to Piazza Mercado. On the way, we stopped to take a peek inside the parish church dedicated to Saints Gervasio and Protasio … well preserved frescoes on the underside of the arch at the entrance.

We then strolled the streets and the piazza. There were more people than I expected to see here. Turns out that Domodossola is a popular place from which to visit Sacro Monte Calvario … a pilgrimage site that is on the UNESCO Humanity Heritage List.

With our tummies grumbling that it was lunch time, Mui found a highly rated pizzeria — Alibi by Urban … on a back street … away from the crowds. We felt that it was too hot to sit outdoors, so we sat inside … and had it all to ourselves. We ordered a prosciutto pizza and a salad to share. Good food.

We skipped dessert at Alibi in order to get a sweet treat from a highly rated gelateria. Yummy! And then back on the road to Orta … an uneventful drive from Domodossola.Baca selengkapnya