Another couple of days on the move

Despite losing an hour on moving to Continental European time, we were up, showered fed and out before 08:00 on Wednesday.  We neither of us care for breakfasts in basic hotels, so had tea in our room with croissants from the petrol station next door, then took the bus and went for a stroll round Chur’s old town centre, which is practically free of motor vehicles.  Many buildings are lavishly decorated, and although few go back more than a few centuries, the town shows signs of being among the oldest settlements in Europe.

After that, we did a sort of circular tour, pausing at Rhäzüns to take the cable car up to Feldis, enjoying fantastic views of the mountains, with very clear tree and snow lines, and of the valley of the Hinterrhein.  Thence to Thusis for a quick and good lunch before joining the Albula line train to Filisur.  What an experience!  It’s hard to imagine such an engineering masterpiece being created with the technology of its time.  We’ll be repeating that stretch in both directions on Friday when Pam and Geoff join us for a trip the whole length of the line to Tirano.  From there we continued to Davos, then from there via Klosters back to the main line at Landquart.  The Davos - Klosters stretch is pretty spectacular, with views of mountains and valleys that rival those from some cable cars.  By the time we reached Landquart, I was just about railwayed out for the day, so it was not a welcome surprise to find that our train back to Chur stopped at every hole in the hedge.

Still, after a rest, we headed back to town for supper.

Having booked seats for Thursday for the express bus to Bellinzona, we were in town again promptly, having breakfast this time in the café opposite the station.  Having learned the Swiss disdain for queuing, I barged in and got us two upstairs seats at the front, which was very much worthwhile.  The bus is comfortable and air-conditioned, and the views as we drove up and over the San Bernardino were wonderful.  Unfortunately, the bus goes through the tunnel rather than over the pass, but that at least brings the journey down to just under two hours.

We took a train along to Locarno, and had a rather odd chicken Caesar salad each (barbecue sauce on the chicken, and immoderate amounts of ras al hanout in the dressing), then strolled along the waterfront before starting the trek back to Chur.  We connected with a Zürich train at Bellinzona, and for the first time experienced the fast, straight journey through the Gotthard base tunnel.  It takes just under twenty minutes compared with the hour or so on the ingenious old route.  So, like channel tunnel crossings compared with the ferry, it is fast but rather boring.

More spectacular scenery tomorrow, when we hope it will be a bit cooler!