Any Swiss on my Flist?

[elrhiarhodan]

I am working on a new White Collar story that puts Neal in Switzerland in the winter. I've tentatively set it in Bern, but I'm not married to that particular city. What I am looking for is an urban location fairly close to the Alps. A major plot poin has Neal leaving his hotel room and going for a drive at night on rather trecherous mountain roads.

In fact, it doesn't have to even be Switzerland.  Northern Italy or Austria will work too - I just need a city that is in the mountains with difficult driving conditions.

Many thanks in advance.

Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

My dad spent a few years in Northern Italy in the seventies. The way he tells it, he spent most of it driving back and forth between Yugoslavia, Switzerland, and either Milan or Torino. If no one else comes forward, I may be able to drag info out of him.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you!

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

I have a cousin who lives in the mountains above Lake Geneva. Gotta tell you, the Swiss keep those roads up like nobody's business - two minutes after the snow stops falling, everything's plowed and clear. There are even long overhangs in avalanche zones to make sure the road stays unblocked. Still, for someone not used to driving them, they might be pretty treacherous. I think you could go with one of the cities along the lake. Montreux, for example.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you!

It's not road maintenance, or even snow - I need narrow switchbacks, close to a city.

Will check out Montreux

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

It's the biggest town on that side of the lake, I think (besides Geneva and Lausanne, which are farther from the mountains), and the sort of town I imagine Neal loving - I could really see him being in Montreux or maybe Vevey. Lotsa money there. My cousin lives in Leysin, a ski resort pretty high up in the Chablais Alps above the winemaking town of Aigle - but I think Aigle may be too small and rustic for your purposes.

[kentucka]

I got those steep cliff, narrow road, tight turns by accident once. was driving from Kapfenberg (a small but nice enough city) to a tiny village called Pöllau. The Alps, even in summer and during the day can make you feel queasy, let me tell you. Should've taken the long way 'round instead of the shortest...

anyways, Graz and Salzburg lie at the edge, and Innsbruck basically right within the alps. I'm not sure how big your city should be, but Innsbruck has about 100,000 people.

[elrhiarhodan]

Thank you. It's either going to be Innsbruck or Montreux on Lake Geneva.

It's actually a very small plot point - I just don't want people to read the story and say, "pish - that could never happen. Insert name of city is 200 km from any roads like that."

[tj-teejay.livejournal.com]

I've been to Austria a few times, and I think any place that is outside of the bigger cities can get treacherous in winter. Especially those that lead up the mountains. My parents and I used to stay near a mountain called Wilder Kaiser (Wild Emperor). The nearest town to that is Ellmau. That would certainly work, but I'm sure Innsbruck fits the bill as well. I live in the Innsbrucker Street in my city, so that's a nice coincidence. :-)

[kentucka]

it's like every self-respecting town, village or couple of huts in the eastern half has a Wiener Straße, or Linzer Straße, or both. LOL

[kentucka]

yes, research. I've just done a lot of that on defunct airports in the UK, particularly Scotland :D