As For Knowing
Whether Or Not One Likes A Picture, Which Under The Present
Aesthetic Reign Of Terror Is De
Rigueur, I once heard a man say the
only test was to ask one's self whether one would care to
Look at
it if one was quite sure that one was alone; I have never been able
to get beyond this test with the St. Gothard scenery, and applying
it to the Devil's Bridge, I should say a stay of about thirty
seconds would be enough for me. I daresay Mendelssohn would have
stayed at least two hours at the Devil's Bridge, but then he did
stay such a long while before things.
The coming out from the short tunnel on to the plain of Andermatt
does certainly give the pleasure of a surprise. I shall never
forget coming out of this tunnel one day late in November, and
finding the whole Andermatt valley in brilliant sunshine, though
from Fluelen up to the Devil's Bridge the clouds had hung heavy and
low. It was one of the most striking transformation scenes
imaginable. The top of the pass is good, and the Hotel Prosa a
comfortable inn to stay at. I do not know whether this house will
be discontinued when the railway is opened, but understand that the
proprietor has taken the large hotel at Piora, which I will speak
of later on. The descent on the Italian side is impressive, and so
is the point where sight is first caught of the valley below
Airolo, but on the whole I cannot see that the St. Gothard is
better than the S. Bernardino on the Italian side, or the
Lukmanier, near the top, on the German; this last is one of the
most beautiful things imaginable, but it should be seen by one who
is travelling towards German Switzerland, and in a fine summer's
evening light.
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