At the beginning of April we finished the administrative preparations and said goodbye to our employers and colleagues. At home we lived more and more in boxes. With the active support of family and friends, we moved the boxes into the attic of David’s parents.

We successfully mastered the logistical challenge of always having everything we needed in the right place at the right time. After cleaning the apartment and a nice evening with friends, we brought the vacuum cleaner and sweeping brush to David’s parents by train. Only our bikes and luggage stayed in Zurich. On April 12, we were able to hand over our apartment and started the journey from our doorstep.

The first leg was a great success and led us <5km through Zurich to my sister :)

From the next morning our farewell tour led us to my godmother, David’s family and my family. On Easter Saturday we set off in the southeast direction for real. The tour could not have started much in a more traditional way than with the cattle show in Därstetten at first lunch stop.

From the chilly Gsteig we rode over the Col de Pillon to Aigle. Thanks to a tailwind in the Valais, we made good progress and were able to cross the Simplon Pass on Easter Monday without any truck traffic. After a small detour into Italy, we deserved the ride through the beautiful Centovalli into Ticino with a 1.5km long and 9% steep tunnel.

On the north shore of Lago di Lugano, we left Switzerland and have been experiencing Italy for 4 days, so far mainly the Po plain. Here there are literally hardly any high points from a cycling perspective. The fact that the landscape is flat would favor good progress. However, if the wind blows from the opposite direction, one wishes for hills. The roads are narrow, but cyclists are not uncommon and are therefore overtaken courteously. The 0 to 20cm of space on or next to the white sideline is often in better condition than the driving lane, though you have to share it with run-over rabbits, hedgehogs and beavers… Sometimes there are good bike paths, but they start somewhere and end in the middle of nowhere.

Because much needed rain fell here today, we settled in early at the only campground in Mantova and are writing this blog post. We plan to spend about 3 weeks in Italy until we take the ferry in Bari towards the Balkans.