The Stockalper Palace in Brig
„To Milano“ is written on the yellow road sign, and a cardboard
announcement at the fence of a chicken farm promises „Polli freschi” – fresh poultry.
A stooped woman carrying a watering can shuffles along the narrow cobbled alley
towards her tiny garden. Geographically we are still in Switzerland, but houses
built of coarse stone blocs, crooked lanes and Italian names on the gravestones
behind the church give Simplon Dorf the feel of Bella Italia. From the Swiss town of Brig we have just hiked over
the Simplon Pass to the southern side of the Alps. Although this trading route
has been used since Roman times, it was not until the 17th century that Kaspar
Jodok Stockalper, a merchant from Brig, developed it and started a prospering
trade in salt and silk over the Alps. Stockalper also launched a postal service
by horse and shortened the delivery time of a letter from Geneve to Milano to only
8 days in summer, or 10 in winter. Originally from an already wealthy family, Stockalper
became indecently rich over the years. To show off this affluence he built a sumptuous
palace with an arcaded courtyard and three square towers topped by gilded onion
domes in his home town Brig. His family became influential in regional politics
for generations. Not everybody liked Stockalper’s grandeur, however, and his
pious motto (which he had written on the wall of his dining room) did not help:
„Sospes lucra carpat.“ The meaning of this anagram of Casparus Stockalper is “God’s
favourite should skim the profits.”
After two weeks in the German speaking Upper Valais
(Oberwallis) we headed for the French speaking Lower Valais (Unterwallis) to
visit a friend we had met in Uzbekistan last September. Nicole lives in Les
Collons, a small village in the Val d’Hérence. “It is not a proper village” she
explains, “Just a resort village: It doesn’t have a church.” And indeed,
although Les Collons has three streets lined with chalets (named after their
altitude Les Collons 1800, Les Collons 1850, and Les Collons 1900), it is strangely
deserted in summer. “Only 50 people live here permanently,” Nicole tells us. From
her balcony we have a breathtaking vista over the Bernese Alps to the left and
to the snow-capped Matterhorn to the right. On the opposite site of the valley we
see several “real villages” with church towers glued to the steep slope of the
mountains.
“Pop! Pop!” Through the thin tent tarp we hear the soft
noise of corks being pulled out of wine bottles. French (and French-speaking)
campers meet all our expectations: Sitting in their flower print camping chairs
they have lengthy four-course dinners accompanied by numerous glasses of the
local wine. Of course they brought porcelaine dishes and proper wine glasses. After
all, wine has been grown in Valais for centuries. Poor farmers from these
rugged valleys used to go abroad as mercenaries (the famous Swiss Guards in the
Vatican are from Valais), and many brought home different kinds of grapevines
to try on their local soil. Some of the vineyards are 1,000 metres above sea
level, making them the highest ones in Europe. We especially liked the white
flowery Fendant. Mostly, however, we stuck to the tasty Swiss tap water – we
will soon enough be in regions again where potable water is rare. More Alps for
now, but after the summer we will be off to Central America.
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