Switzerland - A Mountainous Adventure
Trip Start
May 15, 2010
1
21
50
Trip End
Dec 15, 2010
Davos, Swiss Alps, Switzerland
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Day One - This is an early start as i needed to be at the pick up point outside the local supermarket at 7:30 mission 1 was to find the bus stop, it used to be easy, however since the site of the bus stop was in the middle of the town improvement project it had been moved around the corner. I waited for the bus it arrived early, i loaded my luggage and boarded. This was the feeder coach and as such was travelling between Southend and Thurrock services to meet the touring coach. After an hour at Thurrock services waiting for the various other feeder coaches to arrive we boarded the touring coach and after a health and safety speech from the driver/guide we set off. I was surprised that our tour didn’t have a dedicated tour manager, but hay ho. We headed out onto the motorway and after a few hours we arrived at Dover, the clouds had descended by this point and the sea was a fog. The coach boarded the ferry and we left the coach for the ferry trip across the channel. The crossing itself was very calm although steeped in fog. The ferry itself appeared to be a cross between a floating motorway services and a large duty free shop, i was most surprised not to find a convenience shop, selling snack food. I headed to the food court as we were advised by the driver to eat on the ferry. Initially the queue was enormous as it seemed that a number of other passengers were in possession of food voucher so I went for a walk around the ferry which seemed to be selling everyday items such as beverage and chocolates, but in much larger packs. After taking a walk inside and outside of the ferry i headed back to the food court where the queue had all but gone i settled on the curry meal deal which came with a bottle of beer, on finishing the meal the ferry had all but done its journey so i took a seat in one of the lounges for the final 10 minutes or so of the journey. We then re-boarded the coach for the journey through France and Germany, the overnight was to be at a hotel in Germany before another day’s journey on to Switzerland. It struck me that the French countryside on either side of the motorway was not that different from UK motorways, i wasn’t driving this one, so i put my ipod on and listened to podcasts and music until we arrived at our stop at services outside reime. We were advised again to eat as it would be around 9 when we arrived at our hotel and it being Sunday the hotel restaurant may not be open. I wasn’t that hungry but ate about half of what must have been the largest portion of burger and chips ive ever been served. Following the stop we were back on the road to continue our journey through france and on into germany to hotel number one. Arriving at the hotel on the German border we were allocated a room, as we had arrived at about 9:30 in the evening there was not much to do than go to the bar, i ordered a small beer and sat with a few of the group and took part in the usual getting to know you chats. After a couple of hours i decided to go to my bed. It was due to be an early start with breakfast at 7.
Day Two – I woke about 6:30 after waking at 4 and 2, i don’t think i am ever going to get used to not sleeping in my own bed. I went to the breakfast hall which was packed. I managed to pick up what now seems to be the usual European cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and boiled sausage. After breakfast it was back on the coach for the trip across france, i had assumed that we would be travelling across german but after our stay we apparently came back into France and headed down and then across, we made a couple of stop, which seemed to be more for the driver than us as passengers. The scenery was much as day one through france and the industrial part of Switzerland, then we came out of the industrial area and into the rural sector leading up to the alps. Once into the alps it was winding roads and mountain terrain with the odd lake thrown in here and there for good measure, we made one final stop at a services on the side of a lake before getting to our hotel, I decide that on arrival and being allocated my room that i would freshen up before dinner, After freshening up i headed to the bar for a pre-dinner drink, i got my beer and headed to the dining room, the dinner was a starter of mozzarella and tomatoes (which i wasn’t convinced was mozzarella), pork steak with potatoes which were undescribable and cherries and cinnamon ice cream, It seemed OK to me. Following dinner i went to the bar for a quick beer, i decided that i didn’t really want to talk to anybody after dinner but 9pm was too early to go to bed and so i sat quietly and drank my beer, After a quick session of blog updating i decided i should retire before another early start.
Day Three - This day began at the same time as the previous, we had breakfast in the same dining hall as before, this time there was no hot breakfast option so i went for the cereal and juice which was an acceptable option. Following breakfast we were boarding the coach at 8:30 for the drive to post-something for our first train journey of the trip the was the bernia express which in its entirety goes from st-moritz to tor-something. But we were going from post-something which was about 2/3 the full journey. To get to post-something we had to go over/around a section of the alps which at this time was covered in low clouds / fog, the journey seemed quite precarious at times not because our driver wasn’t good at driving the very tight bend but because we had caught up to another coach (due to various road stoppages) and it identified that the corners were not designed with touring coaches in mind. To read more about the train journey please read the blog entitled Bernina Express - Train down the Alps. Following lunch it was another coach journey back to the hotel, since we had travelled 2hr down by train it was about an hour by coach back to where we started and then on to the hotel. We took a minor detour on the way back to visit St Moritz train station for a bathroom break. The town is set on the hill above the lake and train station, but didn’t strike me as being any greater than any other large town we passed. On the way back we travelled the same pass that we had in the morning but this time without the cloud cover which provided a much better view. On arrival back at the hotel there was time for a quick freshen up before dinner which was this evening some kind of thinly sliced beef in a horseradish sauce, followed by boiled beef with beans and sauted potato and dessert was what seemed like another pana cota with a sickly sweet caramel floating on top. An acceptable meal, but nothing to the standard that the restaurant menu suggests that they might serve to a high end customer. After dinner i was knackered following the broken sleep of the previous night so after a period of blogging, battery charging and email catch up i retired early in an attempt to have a better nights sleep.
Day Four – This day didn’t begin quite so early, as we were not setting off until 9:30, i took my time getting up, although i still woke up at 6:30 i got to breakfast about 7:35 which was the cereal and juice again. After breakfast i went back to my room, threw my stuff back into my suitcase (the joy of multi-centre tripping), then headed down to the meeting point, once loaded onto the coach it was about an hour to the train station at Chur to meet the glacier
express. To read more about the Glacier Express please see the blog entry Glacier Express - Train Across the Alps. Once we got off the train we were met by the driver and driven to the hotel in Tasch, a perfectly acceptable hotel apart from the broom cupboard sized room i had been allocated as a single (Although im told the doubles were not much bigger). Once we
had settled in our rooms and had a quick look round the town which consisted of a train station and a road with hotels on we had dinner, this was an egg and bacon salad, chicken in a mushroom sauce with pasta and a custard and caramel pudding. After dinner i had a quiet sit down outside the hotel and watched the world go by (go by some very large mountains of course) and then went to my room to use the free internet access provided to catch up email and such the like before retiring and hoping i would have a better night that the previous few.
Day Five – I woke at 4:30 after 4 hours sleep, the change of bed had not helped, breakfast was another cold buffet style. After breakfast it was the drivers day off so it was an expedition up the Matterhorn which conveniently left from the train station opposite the hotel. We had the option of spending the day in Zermatt which we had paid a 10 euro fee for if we wished to go. Since there was nothing in Tasch but the hotel and the train station i paid this fee. In addition to this we were then given the option of taking the additional train up the matterhorn range to the tourist trap (sorry the summit) of the gornegrat. This was an additional 40 pounds, but i decided that since Zermatt was only 2 streets that i would pay the additional fee, i also considered that if i didn't go and the members of the group told me how good it was i would be disappointed that i had missed out and considering i probably wouldn’t be in Switzerland anytime soon i shouldn’t choose not to do it. On returing to the hotel i laid on my bed and fell asleep for the 1.5hrs before dinner. Dinner this evening was curried vegetable soup, pork and vegetables and ice-cream with coffee sauce.The dinner was very nice, but we were rushed through it as nobody told the group we were starting earlier than usual and the hotel had another party to feed after us, personally i don’t think they shouldn't take the booking if they cant provide the service. After dinner i was exhausted despite the power nap, however after turning out the lights at 9:30 it wasn't until 11:30 that i finally slept, i woke up when it got light, or did i, looking out the window the rental place next door has switched on a spotlight which appeared to be directed straight at my window, although i imagine that it was to illuminated the hotels side signage at night to attract customers. I couldn't then get back to sleep and so layed awake until getting up at 6:30 for breakfast.
Day Six – Was to be another travelling day as we were now on our way home. We had breakfast at 7, but had to wait for everything to be refreshed; we can only assume that the party who followed us to dinner must have been before us at breakfast. After breakfast we loaded onto the bus and headed for home. We were taking the scenic route up the pass to Basel, On reaching the top of the pass the cloud descended and we drove for around 10 mins in what looked like fog but what was low lying cloud. Once we reached Basel we stopped at the services for something to eat as it was around lunch time. All fed and watered we headed towards Luxembourg for our overnight hotel. On arrival at our hotel and collected our cases, we
had the option of using the hotel restaurant or walking into town, i looked at the hotel menu and saw that they had steak and thought that i could get a quick meal and then head to bed early for the 6am start. Picking up my key i headed for my room and on opening the door i noticed a contrast of extremes from the previous hotel room, the toilet and bathroom were separate, opening the bathroom door, the walk in shower was the size of the last bathroom, the double bed was king size and the tv was flat screen. The room also had a sofa and desk with full width window. After a freshen up i headed to the restaurant where the fun began, the restaurant was surprising full and after finding me a table i then waited for around 20 mins before they took my order, i ordered the soup of the day and the rib steak, they then took around half an hour to deliver my bowl of soup which i eat with my second bread basket. The first i ate while waiting. I
then waited another 45 mins for them to deliver my steak. I could see they were busy and short staffed and so sat quietly and waited. When the steak arrived it was very good, it doesn’t make it into the top 3 (London, Italy, Amsterdam), but it wasn't overpriced. After dinner i went to my room, plugged my ipod into the TV and listen to some music until i fell asleep, woken at 6am by the alarm call.
Day Seven – The journey home continues, getting up at 6am i washed and headed to the restaurant for breakfast, although it was 6:30 it was a full European breakfast so i managed the hot breakfast, a bowl of pineapple, a chocolate pastry and a couple of glasses of oj. After
loading the coach we headed towards Belgium, stopping at a services for a health and safety break and then another services for ‘lunch’, with a further stop at the chocolate shop for Belgian chocolates.Then it was on to the ferry where we sat for a while as the ferry was delayed coming in. It was a very nice afternoon and the crossing was clear, since I had already eaten I didn't need to make use of the food court so I spent most of the crossing on the outside deck fascinated by a seagull. It was then a short (in comparison) trip back to Thurrock services for the feeder coach. We then waited at Thurrock services for the other coaches to arrive which would have been fine if a sudden torrential downpour hadnt suddenly fell from nowhere during the change-over. So a little bit wet I sat on the feeder coach back to Southend. On arrival in Southend a short walk home from the bus stop and the trip was done.
Comments
better you then me this trip