While driving in Switzerland, from Liechtenstein to Zürich to be precise, the battery light started flickering suddenly. Not being panicked right away we continued driving towards Uster where a friend of us lives. Here we parked the car somewhere to check where we actually needed to go. When we wanted to move the van she didn’t start. But, like I told you in a previous post, after some pushing her engine started running again.
What to do when your battery light flickers?
Normally you stop but I am actually very happy that we continued driving and by accident stopped on a somewhat empty and not flat road. This way we could easily push her when she didn’t want to start. If we would’ve stopped on the highway right after the light started flickering we probably needed to call the road services. So, what do you do? That depends on you and of course the sound of the engine. Alexine sounded fine, we also know that we often have problems with her regarding electricity cables. That’s why we didn’t panic. It’s good to know your car so you will know what to do.
Then what happens?
The first thing we did was checking what we knew is sometimes the issue with her. Like I said, we had problems in the past. In England we were actually standing still on a very dangerous corner on a hill where people were driving crazy! Luckily a police officer came by and helped us out. He actually towed us to a parking place where we could fix her. The issue? A blown fuse. (I only knew because I called my father, who is my road service from a distance).
So, we first checked the things we knew; all fuses were okay, cables seemed to be fine, battery didn’t make a crazy noise and when the engine was working it sounded fine. So far no idea what the problem could be. We forgot our voltmeter so couldn’t measure the electric circuit.
A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. So it measures voltages of either direct or alternating electric current on a scale usually graduated in volts, millivolts or kilovolts.
When do you go to a garage?
We believe that before going on a trip like this one needs to know the van. So, last summer we followed a course of a week getting to know our van. We checked the engine, set valves, changed bougies, oil & brake fluid. We learned what to look at when things go wrong, how to change a tire and how to change our breaks. We got to know how an engine works and had time to actually work on our van and do these things. So, we learned a lot but of course not enough and you forget things as well. But it’s a start.
What I would always do is check everything you know and rule things out. It’s good to know what it cannot be so the list of what the problem can be becomes smaller and when you go to a garage you can actually tell them what you’ve already figured out, so they don’t have to. Saves a lot of time and money.
However, in some cases, like ours, you end up in a garage anyway. While driving from Zürich to Lucarno we had to go over mountains and through tunnels. Especially in the tunnels the light started flickering. So, there was a problem with our battery but only in tunnels. That means, our solar panels are working, and they are actually charging our battery. Wow! We are driving hybrid now. You think that’s great right? Well, not when your engine is not made for this. Our van is old and she needs to drive on old and bad fossil.
Where do you go when your van has a problem?
Firstly, we went to a garage in Switzerland in a tiny village. They often have more time, are cheaper and sometimes still work with old cars. But this time we had no luck. He sends us to an electric car shop in Lucarno. So, we went there, but he didn’t want to help us. They all told us immediately that the alternator was broken even though they did not measure it. Which to us sound a bit strange so we went to another one, and another one, and another one.
The problem is electric which means you need to go to a garage that has knowledge of the electric system, often you see signs with ‘Bosch Service’. And then you need to find the one that you feel okay with, which is sometimes quite difficult. I often feel garages just want my money and they aren’t waiting for my knowledge on the car.
In Switzerland we didn’t find a garage that could or wanted to help us, which I guess was a good thing. Cause, in Italy we found a garage via a friend. These are always the best ones! A friend of a friend works with cars and he had worked at this garage. Because these are small villages, they of course know each other. We brought the van there, they did some measurements and figured out it indeed was the alternator. Changing the alternator isn’t a cheap fix, neither a quick one. So, the van was standing at the garage for a full day, and in the end even the night. Because we felt we could trust these people we left her there. If we wouldn’t trust them, we wouldn’t leave the van there. You want to see what they are doing on your car, not only because you have to pay for it in the end but also because you learn from what they are doing. If something goes wrong later on you can fix it yourself.
Tip: always take a photo before they start, and during is also nice. I take photos and video’s all the time when people are working on my van.
What is an alternator and how can it cause a problem?
Pfoe I’m really getting into detail here so if you are not into cars and you don’t care about fixing problems like these or even know about them, do continue to scroll. If you are interested do read and if you know more or better do leave a comment below.
So, here we go. I’ll try to keep is as basic and simple as possible. To be honest not so difficult as I only know the basics.
Anyway, your engine has a battery. Without this battery the engine is not doing anything. But a battery needs to be connected to the engine otherwise it doesn’t make sense, right?
So, the alternator is a generator whose purpose is to distribute electricity to the car and recharge the battery. All vehicles with a standard internal combustion engine will have an alternator. The alternator is about the size of a coconut and is generally mounted to the front of the engine and has a belt (the V-belt) running around it.
The alternator provides the car with the bulk of its electricity and helps recharge the battery. But to do all of that, the alternator must first turn mechanical energy into electricity. The belt’s movement — the mechanical energy — spins the alternator’s rotor at a high speed within the stator.
Electricity is made as the rotor spins. The magnets surrounding the rotor are deliberately placed so that as they pass over the copper wiring in the stator, a magnetic field is created.
This magnetic field, in turn, produces voltage that is captured by the stator. This power then reaches the voltage regulator, which disperses electricity to the vehicle and manages the amount of voltage the battery receives.
So you can see that many things can cause problems for an alternator.
From one problem into the other
Sometimes a garage thinks they know the problem but then find out it wasn’t actually the problem and something else is causing it. That happens, because like I said before fixing a problem is ruling things out. Also for a garage.
So, when the garage told us it’s the alternator that’s not working we were doubting it. But they are the pro’s in the end. So after a full day of work on the car they didn’t fix the problem. Luckily we could stay at our friends place because sleeping in the van wouldn’t be an option. Normally we wouldn’t leave the van at a garage but like I wrote before, as these were friends of our friend we trusted them.
They changed the alternator for a new one but suddenly her engine worked on 3 not 4 cylinders. What are cylinders? Every engine has cylinders, there are cars with 3 cylinders but normally it’s four, or six, or eight. Our van has four. Working on three cylinders means there is something wrong. The people at the garage didn’t know what was wrong and neither did I. As they speak in Italian it’s quite hard to understand what they are talking about.
But the next day when we woke up, after a not so good night of sleep, we got a call that the car was fixed. Happily we went to the garage to check it out.
In the end it wasn’t the alternator at all, it was a cable that was broken which connects the alternator with the battery. A problem that could’ve been fixed easily. So, the kind garage said that we did not have to pay anything except for the new alternator. Which is very kind actually cause we didn’t have an appointment and it was right before Easter so they were very busy anyway.
All good in the end. Now we have our van back and are able to hit the road again! On our way to the valley of Trebbia!
After one and a half week exploring the Swiss alps with their snowy peaks, magnificent lakes and cute villages it was time to cross into the land of dolce.
Welcome to Italy
Before we crossed the border with Italy we checked the Covid-19 situation in the country. Italy being hit quite hard last year, has learned from the past. But like in every country on the planet people get tired of regulations, lockdowns and keeping their distances. And I think Italians even more. The Italians that I remember are not only very passionate people they are also very social people. Having long lunches together that flow over into diners, standing in long lines to eat the best ice cream of the city and hosting parties like the one and only real Carnival.
Anyway, the regulations were strict; keep your distance, wear a facemask in public places – also outside and do not host parties. To enter the country one needs a negative PCR-test result and an country entry form. However, when you are on transit through Italy – like we are – you do not need those things and are free to roam. Still, we were a bit scared about entering the country from the North. We would enter in Como and these regions are the ones being hit very hard when covid-19 arrived in Europe.
While driving to the border city we decided to take a b-road. Not only is it easier to cross a country, but it’s also often a lot less crowded. And we were right. While we were driving to our border crossing, lots and lots of people were on the highway trying to cross a border. An immense line of trucks, cars and some campers stood there, waiting for their turn. Of course, the screening is a lot more serious at these highway border crossing than it is at the border crossing we were heading to. We already feel we made the right decision.
Just before crossing the border into Italy, we had a small stop and saw the border control stopping some cars. Whereas we had nothing to fear somehow, we did get a little nervous. After eating our lunch, it was our time to cross. Driving up to the crossing I looked around but there was no one to see. No police officer, no border control, no one stopping us. We just drove into Italy like ever before.
From Como to our first park for the night
We wanted to stay in Como for the night, however, the city was so crowded and it was hard to find a good relaxing spot to park the car and stay for the night we decided to move on. A friend of mine invited me to her place, about one hour from Milan. We headed towards her direction and stopped halfway for the night on a small road in a forest.
It was our first night in Italy and we couldn’t have find a better spot, surrounded by nature and hikers passing by greeting us in Italian so we’d be reminded we were in Italy. Actually a group of people passed by and asked me about the van. We got to talk a little and one of them is from Kazakhstan, so she gave me all the good places to go when we are there. Another one invited us for diner the next day, which we unfortunately had to skip because we were heading south. How kind of him, right?
Turro
The next day we woke up and relaxed a bit. Cleaning our dishes in the stream, washing ourselves in the same stream, reading a book, editing some photos. After a relaxing morning we headed more South to Turro.
Turro is a very tiny village near Piacenza, which is one hour driving from Milan. It took us a little longer, but 1.000 roundabouts later we arrived in this tiny village. Clelia my friend was waiting for us with a wonderful and typical lunch. Ravioli with spinach and cheese inside. Oh and let’s not forget the focaccia. We love bread!! And wherever we go we try the local bread, but I think the focaccia is our favourite up to now.
Clelia’s family lives in this village for a very long time now. And with ‘her family’ I mean, the whole family. Her grandfather was a chicken farmer and the farm where he had his chickens is now transferred into homes. Her parents live next to the ‘Palazzo de Turro’ a beautiful mansion.
Clelia tells us it’s a typical village where the mansion is built at the front of the village and the homes behind it are for other family members and the workers. A typical Italian village blueprint.
Not only did we learn about typical Italian villages we also learned that this is the region where the tomato paste, we use in our pasta sauce often comes from this region. It’s a bit too early to see the tomatoes grow but it’s nice to know where the wonderful sauce that I buy in a Dutch grocery store come from.
After lunch we headed back to Piacenza to do grocery shopping before we headed back to Clelia and get ready for diner. A couple of her friends would also join – enough space here. We had a nice aperitivo and when the sun was setting in the bee friendly field in front of the house we set down for diner. Diner being rice with delicious salmon from the oven, lots of wine and of course ice cream for dessert!
We headed towards the van, tucked ourselves in and were soon dreaming of gelato, pizza and well most of it about tiramisù of course.
I have lived in Turkey for almost two years and in Argentina so I’m used to countries which have so many different places. But, I never imagined Switzerland being like that.
We left Zürich behind to travel to the Southern part of the country. At the start we took the scenic route around some lakes and nice towns and then we took the highway. The highway which took us through the Gotthard tunnel. A tunnel I know from when I was small, back in the days it was the longest tunnel on earth, nowadays it’s the fifth longest tunnel. The van still had this flickering battery light and we still had no idea what was wrong. However, she starts easily, drives perfectly and sounds normal.
In the tunnels the light was flickering more, or is that because it’s dark and we it is easier to see? Not sure. But, we managed to get in and out of the Gotthard tunnel and entered another world. Suddenly we were surrounded by incredibly high mountains and truly arrived in the middle of the Alps. But also; it was a lot warmer. We were wearing a t-shirt and were still feeling warm. Love it!
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Lago Maggiore
I’m not sure but I remember lago maggiore from my youth. A huge lake in Switzerland and Italy. We were staying the night in Lucarno, at a campsite right at the lake. A very expensive campsite I must say, the most expensive one we’ve ever stayed on. But, for the night it was okay. The campsite has a restaurant and since we hadn’t done any shopping yet this was quite handy. I has nice toilets and good showers and we are staying with view on the lake. For one night the price is doable I guess.
Dipping in Lago Maggiore
What better way to wake up with a nice dip into Lago Maggiore? Well, a hot shower maybe. The lake is still so incredibly cold I couldn’t stay in it for too long. It felt like the New Years Dive in the North Sea back home. But, this time it’s warm outside so you don’t need that disgusting soup afterwards 😉
Fontana, Europe’s cutest village?
We soon left the lake and campsite behind us to visit a valley and it’s cute little villages. While on the road we had to stop at possibly every waterfall on our way because they are all so beautiful. And then we walked up to a village called Fontana. One of the cutest villages I have ever seen I’m sure. All the houses are made out of big stones piled on top each other, in the middle of the village one finds a fountain with delicious mountain water. It’s as quiet as if it being a village on a early Sunday morning. For us this meant a village alone and a moment to drive up the van.
The great thing about travelling in this time is that there aren’t many tourists and that may be more of a plus than all the downsides of travelling during this time. Yes, the bars & restaurants are closed, borders might not be open for tourists and you have all these regulations you have to take into account. But the plus side is so huge; almost no tourists, people being incredibly friendly and curious and true adventure.
Back to the village(s). Fontana is truly amazing. The location is wonderful, the houses are just incredible and the tiny streets wonderful. The van could only just fit the small streets of the village. We drove up and down and continued our way to another cute village. This village was also located with view on a waterfall and had the same cute houses as Fontana. It’s called; Foroglio.
We didn’t stay the night at either of these villages. We headed for a campsite which we hoped was open but wasn’t. Actually, the campsite itself was now the home to many Scottish highlanders with big cowbells. It was all very idyllic, but we had no place to stay, except for the wild. Which we did, with approval of the farmer of course. And so we slept on the farmers land next to Scottish highlanders with big cowbells. Luckily, they aren’t awake at night like the hamster I had when I was young. And so, with cows, snow and mountains surrounding us we fell asleep.
We woke up not to the sound of roosters but to the sound of cowbells. After a quick breakfast we headed for another valley, but first we had to figure out the flickering battery light. We headed into town and found a garage quite easily, but not the right one. From one garage to the other but no one seem to be able to help us, and no one seem to be able to speak a language other than Italian. Annoying but yet another adventure. I tried my best Spanish to make some sense out of our problem. Without any luck. No garage is able to understand nor help us. Instead of getting irritated or annoyed we decided we better head into another valley to relax at more cute villages. We ended up at the end of the valley on a parking lot for campers. With about 20 campers we occupied the lot and had a nice sleep in our van. Also, we did some grocery shopping so were now able to cook for ourselves, yay!
A lot has happened since the last time I wrote a blog. We’ve crossed borders, visited some castles and experienced our first car troubles. We also have left the rainy and cold days behind, had great hikes with friends and cooked our first meal!
So, we feel real advantourists now. Driving the van is a lot of fun. We have had 18 thumbs up, countless smiles and many compliments. But, like I said, we also experienced our first car troubles. So let’s start with those.
Welcome in Liechtenstein
On our way from Apenzell to our friend in Zürich we crossed into Liechtenstein and Austria, without many troubles. Going back from Austria into Liechtenstein went as easily as from Germany into Switzerland. A couple of questions about what we were going to do and where we are from.
Liechtenstein is just a small country in a valley and honestly it doesn’t even feel like a different country. Except for the flag and the border on Google maps it just feels like you are in Switzerland. The border patrol we spoke to on the border from Austria into Liechtenstein were actually Swiss. But, it was fun to explore a capital city without tourists, without the fuz that most cities have, it had one traffic jam! And probably one street but ok.
Van problems
Anyway, after our quick visit to Liechtenstein we went to our friend who lives in Uster, next to Zürich. While driving the very scenic highway along some lakes suddenly the battery light of the car starts flickering. Oh no. Normally that means; stop the car. But I decided to continue to Uster (we were close) and see there what is going on.
Well… finally in Uster we parked the car somewhere to see where we actually had to go to. You have to know that the car sometimes has these minor issues with electricity. So of course, I thought, well something must be wrong there. However, after checking out our address for the night I tried to start the van but nothing. She didn’t make a sound. That’s not at all like her.
We checked all we know, couldn’t see anything so decided to push her. Which she enjoyed so she started again. We went to our friend, turned off the van, tried again to turn her on and voila, no problem!
Visiting our friend in Uster
While at our friend we had nice diner, went to bed not so early to have a day of work planned ahead of us. We both had to do some work so this was a good day to do so. Of course with a break to check out the nearby lake. A hike of two hours – very doable. We also had a vegan kebab for lunch, which was nice, but of course not like real kebab.
The next day we worked in the morning, had lunch with friends of friends and went for a hike in the afternoon. A short hike this time but with an amazing view on the Alps. We headed to our friends house in Zürich and had real Swiss fondue for diner! It was so much fun we went to bed quite late actually, whereas we had plans to hike the next day. Which of course we did. A hike of about 5 hours over the ridge of a mountain. For some quite scary, for us not so much. We are not afraid of hights but if you are, this hike might not be for you. We ended the hike in the cute little town of Baden, where we had a beer on the street.
The bars may be closed but in Switzerland you are allowed to drink wherever you want. So many bars just open a place outside where people can get alcohol and drink in the square in front of it. We loved it! A good way to end our hike.We went back to Zürich by train and had nice typical Swiss rösti, and as we were all so tired from the hike we went to bed early. Also because we were going to leave the next day, onto our next advanture which will be taking us south.
After two nights in the cold, many steps in the snow and nothing but bread and pizza it was time to leave Germany and it’s corona restrictions behind and head for another country and hopefully some sun. After visiting the Hohenzaller Castle we travelled all the way south to Switzerland. I write all the way but it wasn’t that far really. However, the road to the border wasn’t that great. We took the highway instead of the lovely winding roads through the Black Forest. Mainly because our toes were frozen again, secondly we wanted to reach Appenzell before nightfall.
Border crossing
Crossing a border in Europe isn’t really a big deal. Most of the time you won’t notice you crossed a border except for minor things like; when you cross the border from The Netherlands into Belgium you suddenly drive on bad tarmac and when you drive from The Netherlands into Germany suddenly everyone knows where the accelerator is located and well when you arrive in Great Britain you suddenly have to drive on the other side of the road and pay with Pounds. Then there are the differences in gasoline prices, license plates and landscape. But that’s about it.
However, like Great Britain, Switzerland is a different border crossing. Switzerland isn’t part of the European Union. Which means that there is an actual border control. We decided to skip the toll roads and cross the border via a small town. Turning the corner suddenly there was a border control post, it almost felt like a checkpoint. And in sense it was actually a checkpoint. Anyway, they asked us what we were going to do in Switzerland, where we are from and made a copy of our passports before letting us enter yet another country on our trip.
We’re in Switzerland!
It has been a very long time since I’ve been this excited crossing a border in Europe. And it went smoothly, luckily for us. The thing with the corona virus is that every country has it’s own regulations, and it’s own rules in terms of tourism, border crossings and travelling. For some countries you need a PCR test, in some countries you are only allowed to transit (which means you have to get out within 24 to 72 hours) and there are countries that welcome tourists like kings because no tourism means no income.
In Switzerland one needs a PCR test to enter and the regulations are that shops are open, so are hotels. But restaurants and bars are closed, well they are open for take-away and hotel guests. After two nights in the cold we were craving for a hot shower so we booked a B&B in Appenzell. And yeah, Switzerland is expensive so is our stay here but well.. luxury has a price.
Appenzell
Appenzell is a town in northeastern Switzerland, at the foot of the Alpstein mountains – or as the Swiss call it: the pre-Alps. Appenzell has a very cute car-free centre featuring wooden houses with colourful facades. They have a brewery, some cute little shops and market places. Near Appenzell you can hike the nice mountains, visit lakes and enjoy the amazing views.
Hiking Ebenalp
We stayed here because we wanted to hike the Ebenalp and visit the Wildkirchli, a cave complex housing a 17th century chapel and hermitage. Unfortunately for us we couldn’t visit the Wildkirchli due to snow but we did visit Ebenalp and actually had a snowshoe hike on the mountain top – 1644 meters above sea level.
We took the cable car up from Wasserauen (868 metres above sea level) to Ebenal (1644 meters above sea level). It took us about five minutes to get up. The cable car was built in 1955 and in a normal year it will transport about 200.000 visitors every year!
Above we got our snowshoes, which are free to use, and went on a short hike. We thought it would be a bit longer but it was quite a short hike actually, which was a pity. But it did take us to beautiful spots with amazing views. To be honest, I’m not a winter sport person and prefer these mountains in summer or autumn time. However, seeing the mountains covered in snow, while the rocks and trees show their tops through the tick whiteness is quite impressive. To have a real good hike over here and actually visit the Wildkirchli we have to come back in August in whatever year.
After having a beer at the top of the Ebenalp we went down again, tried to walk to a lake but heard lots of avalanches and decided it was not our time to die yet, so returned to Appenzell for a pizza and an early night in our warm hotel room.
Wales is known for it’s many castles, if you didn’t know shame on you! No, kidding. But, Wales is the country with the most castles on the planet, so if you love castles like we do that is definitely a place you should visit. However, Germany is also known for it’s beautiful fairy tale like castles. We’ve seen a couple on the way and for the Hohenzollern Castle we actually made a detour.
From far away you can see a hill with a huge building on top. The hill is surrounded by other hills but it’s clear that there is something to see over there. I can only wonder how it should’ve been back in the days, when you were not sitting in your van but on a horse. Probably with an army behind you and this castle was the one you wanted to take over. Strategically it’s located very nicely, on a hill overlooking kilometres and kilometres of area. It’s located on a steep hill with dense forests surrounding it so taking the castle wasn’t an easy task.
But that’s just speculating, we couldn’t enter the castle to learn more about it cause well Covid-19 shit and all. However, we’ve got Google.
History of the castle
The Hohenzollern House (house?!) dates back to 1061 as ‘Wezil et Burchardus de Zolorin’. In 1267 it was first mentioned as a castle complex and was called Castro Zolre. Apparently people praised the castle as ‘Crown of all castles in Swabia’ and ‘the most fortified house in Germany’. Nonetheless, the castle was completely destroyed in 1423. Anything destroyed can be rebuilt right? So, in 1454 the castle was rebuilt and constructed bigger and more fortified than before. During the thirty years war in Germany the castle knew many owners, during this period the maintenance of the building was neglected, so the castle dilapidated and turned into a ruin in the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1819 Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia decided to reconstruct the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern House.
So that’s the story of the castle. Nowadays the castle is preserved thanks to the admission fees, which are back to zero last year. Which is a pity. But while we were there they were working a lot on the castle so let’s hope they can preserve, renovate and maintain it well.
Hi there! We are Milene & Yuri. We are travelling the world together since 2015. Our endless curiosity and will to explore has resulted in many cool, and somewhat extreme, adventures. On MYgrations you'll read all about our adventures, you'll find lots of information about the countries we visit you won't find anywhere else and more. Enjoy!
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