Thursday, December 22, 2016

Traveling to Our Shangli-La




Last evening we ate our supper a very Swiss rustic meal in the excellent restaurant of the Mövenpick Hotel in Egerkingen. Mine came in a little metal pan and was a bed of rösti with pork slices, bacon and little sausages topped with raclette cheese mmmmm Lecker! Steve had liver and rösti. That town is not of our choice because it’s all a bit industrial around there but the location on some of our journeys is perfect. The breakfast is also perfect for just about anybody; I love bircher muesli and lots of fruit, I am a bit of a fruit bat, but this morning I also could not resist the natural honey straight out of the hive still in the tray. Steve ate from the cooked breakfast food that I always think looks and smells so good but that I always regret so I don’t have it very often. There was also smoked salmon or custom made omelettes and even Prosecco for those wanting the hair of the dog. There was a rather special choice of teas too.


We were only facing another 160 miles of driving today and since we had finished the audio book we had been riveted to, Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher story Night School we started a new one this morning Val McDermids Wire in the Blood. Today the motorway could not be avoided until Chur where we turned toward the Julier Pass to cross the mountains into the Engadine Valley.

We made one stop for coffee in Bivio before carrying on over the pass road. Just a little way after the highest point of the pass 2248 metres I think, we saw a half dozen dog sledge teams just to the side of the road. We counted that as a five star sighting; we are just a pair of kids as far as anything that is practiced in the snow is concerned and in all the years and they have been many, we have never seen dog sleds working before whilst on holiday here.


The drive up the pass road from Chur is roughly 30-35 miles but the drive from the highest point down to the Engadine is not longer than twenty minutes. On reaching Silvaplana at the base of the pass road that side, we turned left where we drove along to the very end of the Engadine Valley to Maloja where we are staying in the Scheizerhaus Hotel for two nights. Very traditional.


No sooner were we shown to our room with a most amazing view, that Steve was sitting on the balcony with the big binoculars looking up at the mountains. He loves the mountains and snow and skiing and would not give a thank you for a sunshine holiday lazing by a pool in Spain. He is a snowman!

 There was thick mist all the way along the motorway but as soon as we turned off there was wall to wall brilliant blue skies and bright sunshine. Once we had our luggage in we got changed and went for a short run 
to wake out legs up again.





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