Day 62 - Putting the FUN into Funicular 🚠

I woke up this morning feeling a bit lurgi-ed with a sore throat and grouchy lungs. A shower and breakfast helped though (even if I don’t think the bathroom here has been renovated since the 1950s!), and I decided that there were too many exciting things to be seen to wallow!

One really cool thing about most hotels in Switzerland is that you get given a travel card whilst you are here (so I am told - it is not just the flag that has a big plus in Switzerland….), which allowed me to catch the bus to the funicular station, and then take the ten minute ride up the mountain to Muottas Muragl, all for free.

The funicular is very impressive. The track is over 2km long, and it takes you up over 700m, from the bottom station at 1740m to the top station at 2445m. At the top there are then miles of walking paths, as well as lots of places simply to sit and admire the views. And what views!

Excitingly for me, there are also two geocaches hidden at the top of the mountain. The first one was about 300m (horizontally, not vertically) from the funicular station but took me AGES to find. It did not help that the hint was wrong! But I was very happy to find it. Thankfully the other cache was much easier to find. I did enjoy that the cache had been given a terrain rating of 4 (out of 5), but the cache page stated that you should treat it has a 1.5 if you took the funicular instead of walking!

On the mountain, there was also the world’s most accurate sundial. I tried to work it but, let’s be honest, I really had no idea how to do it! Apparently it is accurate to within about five seconds, which is pretty impressive.

There is also a fun swing with a view. I really did need either longer legs or a push to get going on it, but had fun anyway. Dad is pleased to hear that this was my most extreme sport of the day, as I am a bit early in the year for the 4.5km toboggan route down the mountain.

I enjoyed a Diet Coke and some cake in the mountain restaurant before taking the funicular back down the mountain, and then the bus back to Pontresina. I had a quick stop at the supermarket for some throat sweets, and have just enjoyed a bit of a nap in my room.

Tomorrow I go back into Austria (for the fourth time this trip!), this time to Feldkirch, which should not only be interesting in its own right, but also an excellent launch pad to get to Liechtenstein at the weekend.

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