Subject: Averaging 1 picture every 1 minute 20 seconds over 13 hours today...
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2009 3:02 PM
Buona sera or whatever time it is where you are,
I'm back in Switzerland -- less than 2 months after I left it, which is my quickest return trip here. I know Zurich airport very well now!
After landing in a very foggy Zurich (15 minutes ahead of schedule) this morning, I was out of customs/immigration within 10 minutes (I love this country!) I was at Zurich city railway station within 1/2 hour, and on the 8:07 AM train to Chur -- by now all the fog had burned up and the day was starting to become sunny!
Zurich-Chur was about 1.5 hours, I grabbed a chicken sandwich at a deli and got on the Chur-St. Moritz train at 9:58 AM -- not as per plan but its not like I ever follow any plan anyway!
Chur-St. Moritz is a very scenic route, with mountain peaks on both sides. I had driven this route on my first Swiss trip, but that was in the rain so I couldn't see anything much then. Today was perfect and I was going crazy continuously taking pictures on both sides of the train (after looking at me a couple of other people also started doing that -- that got a little chaotic after a while since we all kept rushing to the "best view" window at the same time!) I still have to go through my pictures, I took more than 200 during that 2-hour train ride!
After reaching St. Moritz I checked into my hotel for tonight -- conveniently located across the street from the train station. Very nice hotel -- my room has a view of the town with mountains in the back and a lake in front -- more on that later...
I didn't stay at the hotel long, had to go back to the train station quickly to catch the 12:45 train to Tirano, Italy.
This part of the trip was completely new to me, I've never been along the St. Moritz-Tirano route before. This train goes over Bernina Pass (2328 m), and the line is the highest trans-alpine rail line in Europe (Jungfrau doesn't count, since that train doesn't cross the Alps). I had never taken this train before -- nor driven the adjacent road, so I wanted to go on it.
The 12:45 train went to the first stop (Pontresina) and apparently had some mechanical problem so was delayed there for 1/2 hour. Thats the first time that I've EVER been late on a Swiss train! Of course technically this is a "Swiss + Italian" train so that might explain it! Anyway, I got on my iphone and checked the timings for the return trains -- the last train departing Tirano for St. Moritz was at 3:40pm, and that meant I would miss it if I took this one all the way to Tirano. I would now have to get off at one of the earlier stations and take the train back to St. Moritz. Oh well...
There were a couple more delays en route, but the scenery more than made up for it! It is SPECTACULAR! Now that I've been to both Jungfrau last year and Zermatt 2 months ago, I think I can safely say that the scenery across Bernina Pass is the BEST that can be seen from any train or road in all of Switzerland! This is where my "average photo clicking speed" jumped up to basically what I wrote in the subject line!
I got off the train in the town of Poschiavo, about 1/2 hour before the Italian border. It looked like a good place to roam around before catching that last train back to St. Moritz.
Roamed around Poschiavo for about 1 hour, its a nice town -- reminded me a lot of Toledo, Spain (except for the castle part). Tiny cobblestone streets, good central square, some very old buildings, and a river and lake (but the lake was too far away to walk to in 1 hour). That was a nice and relaxing stop after the non-stop bombardment/ mental overload of breathtaking mountain scenery!
My return train arrived on time -- 4:25pm, but unlike all the earlier trains today this one was packed! I guess a lot of people were taking this "day trip" from Chur/St. Moritz to Tirano, so it is advisable to take the second-last train back, there's probably more elbow room in that one!
I fell asleep pretty quickly after leaving the station, and was zoning in and out for the next 1 hour or so, waking up for good just before reaching St. Moritz.
Train arrived in St. Moritz at 6:15 -- 8 minutes late but this time I didn't care, just went back to the hotel to charge both my camera batteries -- I had completely drained one and was on 40% remaining for the second.
I went back out at 7 -- battery charging not yet completed but I took them both anyway...
There is a lake next to my hotel/train station, circumference is roughly around 5km. I decided to walk around it, hoping to complete the whole thing before sunset. (Then I realized I've got almost 3 hours "before sunset" -- plenty of time.)
My last and only other time I was in St. Moritz -- first Swiss trip in 2003 -- it was a rainy day and I didn't spend any time here. It is well worth a day of roaming around! I just went around the lake this time, not in the town itself -- and was happy with that much. There are mountains all around, and this time of the year also a lot of flowers. Plus, my timing was just right -- evening with the sun setting behind the mountains made the lake sparkle and reflect all the mountains too!
Another 100 or more pictures over the next 2 hours -- I took my time walking around but wished I could've lingered longer in some places -- it is really beautiful! I completed the circle and got back to the train station at 9, then went inside an italian restaurant next door to hotel and train station for dinner. It's a tiny place, with just 1 cook/waitress/ owner. 6 tables in the whole restaurant (room), 4 of them occupied when I got there and one of them having either a birthday or anniversary party, because just as I went inside the waitress/cook/ owner was taking a cake to that table. It looked like a nice, personal restaurant :)
42 francs. 1 meal. 1 dessert. 1 glass of wine. I gave a big tip and made it 50 CHF... Fifty... francs!
!!!
oh well, the service really was exceptional considering there was just 1 person doing everything!
Now I'm back in my hotel looking out the window and seeing the city lights reflected in the lake... I still have to go through all my pictures (591 in all) and I should probably get some sleep so I doubt if anything will be on the website tonight!
Tomorrow is uhhh... "undecided". The forecast is for rain everywhere in Switzerland but Venice is supposed to be sunny and my train pass includes Italy.... I just have have to back in Zurich by tomorrow night!
Ciao,
-me.
Breakfast aboard the flight, then at Zurich airport and train to Chur:
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Train from Chur to St. Moritz: (pictures #91-94 are the 108-years old Landwasser Viaduct, a UNESCO world heritage site -- under renovation right now)
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View from my hotel room in St. Moritz:
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Train from St. Moritz to Poschiavo:
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Town of Poschiavo, Switzerland:
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Back in St. Moritz:
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| Jul 3 | Contents | Jul 5 |