Hotel Nolda St. Moritz

So here we are, the first time I have ever been to Italy. The first time I have seen Italian drivers in their natural environment. They are CRAZY!! They pull out in front of oncoming traffic, overtake on blind bends, overtake inside tunnels with DOUBLE WHITE LINES!!!




It was just unbelievable. In fact, when I was ...

... for the Stelvio.




In case you didn't know, this road was chosen by the Top Gear TV presenters as 'Driving Heaven' a few years ago.


http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=lUF-N8BsBmU&feature=player_embedd ed

I don't think they noticed the waterfall.




We followed the pass down ...

... hairpins. Our car has a hand hold in the roof and I swear if she hadn't held on, even with her seat belt she would have slid out of the car, and she told me so. Not many pics going over the pass, something about can't take pictures with one hand. As we approached St. Moritz we follow along Lake San Murezzan. We were arriving around 4:00 to 5:00 pm and sun was just about to pass behind the mountains, not sunset by about three hours but puts a glow on the city that is spectacular ...

... of the Stockhausen family and the wealth that was the Baronacy of Stockhausen and the salt route exploiters of Medieval Switzerland. Their impressive castle ramparts and towers welcomed us this time but I could imagine that had we been passing by back in the 14th century or so we would have had to be very careful not to wind up in their dungeons, held ransom for all our measly wealth!!!

... I could imagine it being a very lively place in the ski season. The day we chose to visit was ghastly! The rain causing a very low mist over the scenery. The cable-car wasn't doing much business that day either and our planned walk into red squirrel country up above the town didn't seem to beckon us! After a light refreshment in the nearest cafe we climbed aboard the same train we had arrived on and made the very slow descent back to Chur!

After such a long day travelling down the Rhine Valley to Austria and Germany then back into Switzerland through Appenzell into Graubunden back to Chur we needed a nice dinner, then bed !!!
We had another long and exciting day ahead of us in the morning.
Chur, Swiss Alps, Switzerland ankorjuglor

... very symetrical and therefore looking friendly to each other. Unlike the over crammed Victoriana that befalls most big city burial places in the UK. Each headstone in this neat place designed and carved by the most impressive sculptors. Nothing shoddy! No stucco angels! Each design suiting the background of its interred owner/s. Each burial piece planted up with a beautiful blanket of 'annuals'. Not to be missed by the casual visitor.

On our return from Poschiavo to Chur the train took the alternative route via St Moritz. A very short stop, enough to allow us to stretch our legs beside the picturesque Lake Engadine. This lake is famous for its winter Polo and Horse Racing. Quite a spectacle for winter visitors ...

... surprise around every corner you turn. I found a small (really out of the way) cemetery, apparently Jewish. I went back to get Bev so she could see it, too. I got some great shots. (Shirley should be happy.)

The time to head back to Davos came all too soon. Once again, we traveled the back roads, this time by bus, and the scenery was just as awesome as it was on our train trip coming up this morning. We traveled up to the 6,000 ft. level, up and down and all around the ...

... to help rescue them.

Well, it’s about 8:50 p.m. and I’ve been up for about 33 hours. Tomorrow we have a day off, we’ll stay in Davos and walk around. I’m starting to be concerned that Davos is maybe just a little too large for us to tackle, but we’ll see.




8/29/99 Sunday

DavosWe woke up to a sunny, chilly morning. Fog covered the top of the mountains. I woke up at 5:25 am, but fell back to sleep until 6:45 ...