CHAPTER XIX 

 riORA 



IF any readers of the Guardian are in search of a 

 place in Switzerland where they will find quiet 

 rest in the midst of beautiful scenery and abun- 

 dance of flowers I would recommend them to go 

 to Piora. It is very easily reached. If they are 

 in a hurry they can go from Luzern to Airolo in 

 less than four hours ; but if they can spare the 

 time they would be well repaid if they took the 

 route from Luzern to Fluellen and Goschenen, 

 then by omnibus to Hospenthal and walk over the 

 St Gothard Pass. This is a walk that is now 

 very seldom taken, but it is a grand walk and an 

 easy one ; and though the two miles on each side 

 of the Hospice are barren and desolate, there is 

 not a yard of the road without some object of 

 interest. The road itself and the Simplon are 

 the finest pieces of road-engineering in Europe, 

 and it is kept in beautiful order, though the 

 traffic must now be very largely diminished since 

 the opening of the St Gothard Tunnel. The 

 view on the southern descent when we first look 

 into the Val Tremola is a view that none will 

 forget when once seen. The long road made in 

 a succession of corkscrew turns has quite a weird 

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