I’m pretty much alone on the street and enjoying the nice weather. And so I continue to fight my way up and soon reach the dam of the Oberalp Pass. The bright red Rhaetian mountain railway offers me a race.

I stop at the Piz Calmut restaurant for photos and rub my eyes when I see the lighthouse.

Of course, this is the source of the Rhine, and the water that finds its way into the valley rushes past me in Freiburg, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf… all the cities where I lived. My life connects me to this river, which begins its own life anew with every drop. It will end in the far ocean of the Northern Sea.

It’s really about time for a place to sleep. I just want to drive a little further and camp near the Lukomier Pass.

I only have to drive a few kilometers to find a suitable spot. This is how I get to Italian-speaking Ticino.