St Moritz

Monday 12 August

St Moritz

We were all ready and out of the door by 9.30 am and walked downtown to the station, to catch the 10.03 to St Moritz.  The announcement came over that the train to St Moritz would be 6 minutes late - unheard of in Switzerland! There weren't many people waiting for it so when it came we were able to get a nice set of 8 seats together and settled ourselves in. This was the express route and only took an hour and a quarter to get there.  As usual the train journey was through wonderful countryside,  pretty farmhouses dotted up the hillsides and majestic mountains soaring up into the sky.

From the St Moritz station there is a huge escalator taking you up to the village in the mountain with designer shops selling toys for the rich international jet setters - climbing up the steps from the station takes 15 minutes and time is money!  Naturally we followed the tourists up the escalater and came out into a delightful little shopping area,

 

the architecture is a mix, obviously as the population has changed the shops and city buildings have grown to accommodate this change.  

The older buildings stand out with their Swiss detail, colour and style, while the newer shops, roads and some hotels generally lack the artistic influence of colour and design, they never the less look good, bold strong design and a more grey slate look which fits in with the mountain craggyness.  So I was impressed and the mix all worked well.  

We wandered around the shops walking up and down through the little streets, looking at all the fantastic displays of goods that we only see in the airline magazines, and surprisingly the shops seemed empty.  

Yes, I remember, if you have to ask the price you cant afford it!  I guess if you are rich and famous and felt like buying a diamond ring, then you'd have someone call up a shop and have them bring round a selection to see what looks good on you!  We did, however come across a lovely toy shop stacked with toys of every description and make, so felt a bit more at home while the kids had a ball imagining what we were going to buy them!

By this time we were feeling a bit peckish so James looked at the cafes and restaurants around the square to see if they had suitable menus for kids and a gluten free choice.  But not with much success, so we thought we would make our way down to the lakeside where they would have something more our style.  

On the way down we came across 'Bobby's Pub' obviously there to attract the British tourists, but the selection looked ok and the price was right, so we piled in and had some good pub food, chicken and barley soup, salads with sausage and cheese, chips, toasted sandwich, chicken wings, etc, feeling refreshed we set off for the lake.  

There was a big circus top at the bottom end of the lake with two smaller striped tents and stalls.  While it looked quite exciting, it somehow sullied the lovely area with its entourage of caravans, old trucks, cars, washing lines and rubbish strewn around.  We walked on, we had about an hour and a half before our train left, so wanted to make the most of our walk.  

There are only so many ways you can describe the the Swiss countryside and I think I have used them all several times, pristine, clean, majestic mountains, crystal clear water, pretty, etc, etc.  

So we made it back to the station in plenty of time for the train and as it was standing at the station we were able to get on and choose good seats once again. 

 The return trip was through the Albula Valley, such a feat of engineering, it winds its way through the mountain range, over viaducts and through tunnels, (trying to hold your breath until the end doesn't always work when the tunnel is 10 mins long!).

Most of the time you are on your feet taking unforgettable photos!  

We had to change trains at Filisur and again at Davos Platz, and arrived back at Klosters Platz at 5.30pm.  It took 2.5 hours and it went by in a flash.

We climbed back up the hill to our appartment had a well-earned g&t and were able yet again to tick off another great day.