St. Moritz is really well known for being THE ski spot for the hoi-polloi. It also hosted the winter Olympics a couple of times. In the summer, it's just kind of a fancy resort on a lake ringed with mountains.
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| Pretty sweet, right? View from hotel room. |
Just? That sounds pretty spectacular - and it is. But, compared to what you can do and see getting to and from, it's really not much at all.
Getting there:
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| The angel at Zurich Hauptbahnhof says "good-bye" |
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Boarding the first train. A German ICE train that started the day in Frankfurt Germany.
They can run 187 mph in Germany, but only 90 mph for part of our route. |
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| On board. |
Getting some on board abuse while watching Zurich Lake roll by.
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| Saying "good-bye" to the standard gauge ICE train... |
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...and "Hello" to meter gauge Rhätische Bahn.
Heading to St. Moritz
Maximum speed, 55 mph. Way fast enough. |
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Old station building - modern infrastructure, oh, and Alps!
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What to do with the rest of the day? Hotel clerk suggests visiting the Diavolezza Glacier. Patti is all over it. It's all covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. Why not? Run downhill, catch a train, to a cable car to the glacier.
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| Train |
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| Cable car |
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| Going up! |
Was it worth it? You be the judge.
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| Glacier! |
There was a restaurant at the top. We had fondue. Outside. Hard to imagine anything more cliche Swiss and perfect!
Switzerland has "scenic" trains. Actually all the trains in Switzerland travel scenic routes, it's just that there are some that are more scenic than other and there are special trains that run these scenic routes.
The first of these for us was the Bernina Express that goes from St. Moritz to Tirano, Italy and back.
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| The day started with a tranquil view of the lake. |
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| The Bernia Express. Ready to go. |
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| On board. Big curved windows. |
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| Leaving St Moritz |
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| Top of the grade |
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| The view from Alp Grüm |
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| Just past the top of the grade. Alp Grüm |
Heading down the hill toward Tirano.
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| We are headed to that valley. |
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| If these are cows, this must be Switzerland. |
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| Rare cow without bell. |
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| The Kreisviadukt Brusio |
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| Stone arch bridge is part of loop. |
We had lunch reservations in town and then walked around a bit afterward, including popping into a few churches.
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| Santuario della Madonna di Tirano |
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| Adda River |
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| typical street |
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| Strange artwork? |
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| Parrocchia Di Tirano |
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| Torre Torelli |
Then back on the train to St. Moritz
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| Past the glacier |
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| ...and the waterfall |
And, were back. St. Moritz has the glitz, but the Diavolezza Glacier and Bernina Express have the right stuff.
Just in time to eat, get some sleep and depart on THE scenic train experience in Switzerland. Good-bye St. Moritz. All aboard The Glacier Express.
