Day 61 - A Journey Through the Mountains

Today started well with a very cute breakfast at the chalet I was staying it - it was a small family-run restaurant with apartments, and it all felt very homely. I even befriended the cats!

With a little time between checking out and my train, I returned to the site of one of my geocaching failures of yesterday. Pleasingly, I quickly found it today - it is amazing what fresh eyes can do for you - and then went to the train station.

It was about a half hour journey to my first planned stop on the Bernina route - Alp Grüm. The scenery to get there was stunning, and the views over to the glacier from Alp Grüm were spectacular. I had decided to spend an hour there (catching the next train) so was able to catch it at a quieter point too, and enjoy a cup of tea in the cafe.

My next leg on the train was a short 10 minutes to Ospizio Bernina - the highest point on the journey at 2253 metres. This was not high enough for me though, as I set about hiking up the hill/mountain to a restaurant that I had been told was up there. It was quite uphill, and I obviously had my big rucksack with me (My thoughts did go to the scarf I am still carrying from Gothenburg, and the US adaptor that I packed by mistake and has travelled around Europe with me being absolutely useless!) but the views, and the lunch, were totally worth it.

After lunch I hiked up a bit further to the Bernina Pass itself - not least because I wanted to get a cache there to be my highest altitude geocache! I succeeded in my mission, but did have to forgo one other cache in order to scamper down the hill in time for the train. It was a lot easier going down than up.

My next leg on the train took me all the way to St Moritz. The journey continued to be beautiful, although I sadly did not get a prime photo taking seat on this part of the journey.

On my arrival in St Moritz it became apparent that the train station is very much at a lower altitude than the main part of the town. Thankfully there was a bus on hand to take me up the hill though, and close enough for me to go and visit the leaning tower of St Moritz (that looked quite straight to me) and monument to the Cresta Run and then to walk back down the hill through the town. It is quite an upmarket place, but my bank manger can rest easy knowing that the only shop I went into was Co-op to get a new deodorant and some chocolate!

I had the thrill of going on Switzerland’s longest escalator down to the lake! I was then able to walk around part of the lake, and stop off back near the station for a cuppa.

It was a short train ride back to Pontresina, where I am now staying for two nights. Google maps had told me that it was only about 1km from the station to my hotel, but it had not told me (or I hadn’t noticed) that it was very, very uphill to get there. There was a bit of puffing on my way, but I was delighted to see that the hotel I have booked is a proper oldy-worldly hotel with loads of charm and character. I think I will like it here :)