This was a day with breakfast included. My hotel provided a good one.
The forecast for my destination of Zermatt did not look good, but the weather looked great for the ride across the country.
I was taking the train across much of Switzerland along the route of the Glacier Express, the most popular of the Swiss tourist trains. The Glacier Express runs from St. Moritz in the east to Zermatt in the west, although many tourists do the St. Moritz to Chur section, the Albula line, separately or as part of the Bernina Express. I had taken that section the day before.
A train with the name of the Glacier Express was first run in June 1930. The service has evolved over the years with the elimination of steam engines on part of the route, the extension to a year-round service, and changes in the dining options. It eventually became one of Switzerland’s major tourist attractions.
Passengers on Glacier Express stay on board for the six-hour ride, eight if they start in St. Moritz. Of course, I was not doing the tourist train. My ride on the regular trains would require a minimum of three easy changes. I would step off one train and get onto another that was leaving from the same place or just next to it. I added a fourth connection with a stopover on a mountain top.
This is a busy station with trains going in all directions.
My first train was from Chur to Disentis/Muster, a journey of an hour and fifteen minutes.
The train was waiting. I used my compass to make sure that I found the front of the train with the first-class cabin.
I joined a Swiss couple who had taken the front seats, so I settled in behind. We were the only passengers in the section. The woman was interested to hear that I lived in Newfoundland. “But it’s cold there in Newfoundland!” I just agreed rather than pointing out that it likely was colder in much of Switzerland.
This was the only time on my trip that the conductor checked my ID with my Eurail pass. I thought it was a little funny since Chur had been the only hotel where I was not asked to show my passport when I checked in.
It was really neat that the driver kept his curtain open so that we could see through to the front.
It was beautiful along the Vorderrhein river valley. The Vorderrhein is a major tributary of the Rhine River.
I had a tight connection in Disentis/Muster with only three minutes between my trains. Then I was shocked when my Swiss train was eight minutes late. This is not supposed to happen in Switzerland and was the only one of my twenty trains that was late. It was no problem, the other train waited for us.
This train went between Disentis/Muster and Andermatt, but my plan was to get out just before Andermatt at Naetschen. The ride would take 50 minutes.
I had the front section to myself. There was a couple in the lower section behind me. Once again, I was free to move back and forth to take my photos and videos. At one point I stumbled as I was taking a photo and landed on an armrest. My tailbone was sore for the rest of the trip.
The best part is always the climb up.
We reached the highest point of the day, the Oberalp Pass at 2,044 metres (6,700 ft). We were back into the snow.
The next stop was Naetschen, a request stop. Just like on a city bus, if you want to get off at a request stop, you must push a button. If no one asks to get off (or on), the train goes right on through. There were many such stops on my trains through the mountains. They were always announced in three languages, so I constantly heard “Request stop” after the name of the stations. I especially got used to the German words they used, “Halt auch verlangen”.
Since I was the only person to get off at Naetschen, I had to push the button.
I stopped here for some great mountain photos, but also to get something to eat. There was no food on any of my trains, and the connecting times were short. I had made plans for that. I had a Naetschen restaurant picked out, knew how far I had to walk, and even what I was likely going to order.
It was a best laid plan, and like many of my plans for Switzerland, it went awry. Sorry about that, but it does sum up a lot of what happened from my planning, or rather what did not happen, for me in Switzerland. The first big missing thing had been my funicular ride in St. Moritz. Number two was soon to come.
I got off the train and looked around. I was all alone. The restaurant was closed. So much for my lunch.
I had an hour before the next train. I left my bag inside the shelter next to the tracks and went off to take my photos.
I watched three trains pass by-one regular train headed east and Glacier Express trains in both directions. No one joined me in Naetschen.
I had my lunch in the shelter, one of my emergency granola bars and some water. The food was not great, but the view was. I was lucky to have had my breakfast before I left.
A request stop is also a request pickup. I needed to request my train to stop for me. I pushed a button on the platform and was given a verbal confirmation that my request had been accepted. A light confirmed it. I was impressed.
My third train ride was quite short, only one stop down the winding route to Andermatt.
My fourth train was by far my longest. It would take almost two and a half hours to get from Andermatt to Visp. I boarded and was again all by myself in the first-class cabin. This lasted for a few stops until I was joined by two couples who stayed with me for perhaps half of the ride.
I looked over at the Glacier Express train that was leaving just before us. It was full.
On each travel day I would add my trains to my “Trip” and would then click to show the day’s QR code. This would be my ticket for all my trains. It was not the case everywhere, but they always scanned the code in Switzerland.
The QR code would go away and had to be regenerated for each train. Since the ticket was for the entire day, meaning it would be the same code generated each time, a travel vlogger recommended doing a screen shot of the code just in case there was a later problem with the app. It would also make it faster, saving the conductors from having to wait for it to appear.
I followed that advice. My routine had been to make a screen shot of my daily ticket in the morning and then show that image to the conductors. This had been fine until this conductor. She insisted on seeing a real time ticket. I said something about internet, but she told me that a connection was not necessary. That was good to know, since I would soon lose my data and with it, my internet.
It was a beautiful ride.
Brig has a big station. I would be back here in two days. My coach mates got off, leaving me alone in the car.
A new conductor came in and asked if I had just boarded. When I said no, he did not check my ticket.
We were soon in Visp. The conductor wished me a good evening. I asked where I would find the train to Zermatt, and he told me, “Right here.” It was leaving from where we had been let out. He also told me that he would also be getting on that train.
I soon boarded my fifth train of the day. I was joined by an Aussie couple who sat in the back of our car. I was in the middle. My new car was an old Glacier Express car with lots of windows. Unfortunately, they were not very clean, and I do not think that the extra window space helps photography. They just add glare.
I would be in Zermatt in just over an hour.
The sky had turned grey. The sky, the dirt and the glare made photography rather difficult. I still tried.
I would be retracing this part of the route in two days on a much nicer day and would get a second chance at photos for this section.
We arrived in Zermatt. My long journey around the Alps would be on hold for a couple of days.
I exited the Zermatt station onto a busy street. The town severely limits vehicles with combustion engines. That reduces pollution but does not make it peaceful. The streets were full of electric buses, taxis, and other utility vehicles. It was obviously construction season with building materials being transported around the town. Pedestrians also must avoid the many e-bikes.
I made a quick visit to the tourist information office to ask about my plan for the next day. I had spent many hours studying my options and concluded that I would begin the day with a ride on the cog railway up to Gornergrat. From there I would hike halfway down before reboarding the train. It was a best laid plan.
I could see my Gonergrat station from the tourist office. I was really looking forward to going there in the morning.
The town was quite busy for off season.
My hotel was on the hillside, so much like St. Moritz. I began my climb, pulling my reluctant little suitcase behind me.
I crossed over the rail line that I hoped would take me up the mountain the next day.
I kept looking up to see the famous Matterhorn, but it stayed under the clouds.
I arrived at the Hotel Alpenroyal.
This was my first and only two-night stay in Switzerland, so I immediately went to work on my laundry which was not easy in my little bathroom sink.
After a quick call to Po, I went out to see a bit of the town and get something to eat.
The hotel had sent me a message recommending that I make my dinner reservations in advance, but I did not want to choose a restaurant from an online menu, nor did I know what time I would want to eat. After missing my lunch on top of the mountain, I was ready now..
I passed a café with a poster of their curry rice bowl special. It was not busy, and I was tired. I decided to order the special along with my coffee. Then the waitress told me that their kitchen was closed. I settled for a cappuccino.
I asked the nice waitress where I should go for supper. She suggested Grampi’s. That sounded like a casual place.
I walked upstairs to the restaurant. It was not a simple pizza place. I was given a seat at the bar. I was getting used to that but was having a harder time getting used to Swiss prices.
I had a minestrone soup, spaghetti carbonara, and a glass of wine. It was all very good but not cheap.
A young couple sat down next to me. He was wearing a knit cap or as we say in Canada, a tuque. I listened to them talking and decided that their accent sounded Canadian. I had guessed right in Slovenia with that couple outside the caves, but these folks were from Austin, Texas. They did not seem upset to be mistaken for Canadians.
I did a short walk around the town.
Zermatt has a long history with its mountain climbers. The cemetery if full of the ones who did not fare so well.
The river would be overflowing in a month, and Zermatt would be cut off. There would be no train from Visp to Zermatt. My timing was good.
I headed back up the hill to my hotel. I watched the Matterhorn for several minutes to see if the full mountain would appear through the clouds. I finally gave up.
I settled in for an early bedtime. I had lots of great plans for the next day.
This featured blog entry was written by Bob Brink from the blog Searching for Magical Moments.
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