Join the two-days trip to the eastern Swiss Alps!
Read the first day of the trip (if you haven’t already).
After the breakfast and leaving the little hotel nestled in the wooded mountains, I almost jumped on the wrong train because my train was late – which is rather rare in Switzerland. The couple waiting with me at the station seemed also confused.
Saying “I couldn’t make it because my train was late.” in Switzerland could be equivalent to the classic explanation: “I couldn’t do it on time because my dog ate my homework.”. 😉
At the old train station, it felt like time had stopped.
The wooden waiting room of the train station
Train window views in Engadin region
A playground on wheels
45 minutes later, I found myself from the beautiful shore of the Lake St. Moritz.
You could see the water and fishermen already from the station tunnel.
St. Moritz is “the birthplace of Alpine winter tourism” since the 19th century, and has hosted the Winter Olympics twice, in 1928 and 1948.
A man who was also exploring the lakeside, asked if I wanted to have my photo taken in the “peep-through-board” (or how would you call these boards?) – so, there I was suddenly as one of the mushroom girls!
This illustration is made by the Swiss artist Mili Weber (1891 – 1978) who created her art and her ‘fairytale house’ by the Lake St. Moritz.
You can visit the house, Mili Weber Museum on certain times. I went to see the house, but only from outside as this time it was not open.
Weber’s inspiring illustrations and her artwork-house makes me think how we could all use our homes more creatively. To decorate, paint, have exhibitions and installations – if not in the whole apartment but at least in some spots of our homes.
I was still seeing horses…
When I was taking photos of the views, another person asked me if I would like him to take a photo of me. So, there I was – again – smiling at the camera, this time in the middle of the meadow.
I also sometimes take pictures of other people, if they wish, and I find these short encounters uplifting. You too?
In these kinds of photo-taking situations with strangers, a friend of ours always subtly takes an additional photo, a selfie of himself, so when the person starts to check the photos taken, she/he finds a surprise! 😀
I found a lunch restaurant in the town but soon wished I had bought food from the supermarket again and eaten it out in a beautiful landscape. This was because it soon turned out that neither the atmosphere nor the food was too nice in that restaurant. Also, it took forever to get the meal and the bill.
Even if one would want to support the local entrepreneurs and is grateful for food in general, some restaurants are just not worth our money and time.
Recently I drew this cartoon on the secret of a good restaurant – luckily there are many of them too.
When I finally got out of the restaurant, I missed the train I had planned to take. But because of an extra hour in St. Moritz, I happened to meet a fun group of fellow tourists (a family of different generations, also the grandma was with them) who asked my help with the parking meter.
We don’t own a car, and nowadays I basically never drive, so I had no clue about the parking, yet I wanted to help. The parking meter had all texts only in German and it was asking, for example, the region and naturally the visitors from abroad didn’t know what ‘Graubünden’ or ‘Tessin’ mean. But I did, and eventually we got the right ticket out and were all happy.
Not the parking meter but binoculars showing photo art on the lake.
Another brilliant thing about missing the previous train was that the sun came out, and I was able to take this photo where the sunlight highlights the colors of the trees, waters and flowers. And even the rowing boat came to the right spot!
The train trip back home was an experience in itself.
The Bernina Express panoramic route glides through the UNESCO World Heritage trail Rhaetian Railway.
Altogether the train passes through 55 tunnels and over 196 bridges on its way from Tirano to Chur. I traveled only part of the trail and was already mesmerized.
The map showing part of the loopy train trail (it doesn’t feel like a roller coaster it looks like!)
I was glued to the train window and took for example these following photos.
Can you see the road with the cars in this picture?
The trip doesn’t end when we open the home door and drop our backpack on the floor.
The experiences still live in our minds. They are strengthened and shaped when we talk about our travels, go through the photos or document our experiences.
I hope you had a good time on this journey and will join the next one too!
PS. Selected photos are now available in various sizes as printed posters – like this one with the lupines, mountains and a rowing boat on the Lake St. Moritz.
