Switzerland 2014 – Day 13 / St Moritz & Piz Nair

CHEESE COUNT: fondue 6 / raclette 1

Saint Moritz is very quaint, but there is not a whole heck of a lot to do if you are not skiing or hiking (or shopping!!!). A full day is more than enough if you’re just “walking around”.

We got off to a late start because it was -3°C when we got up! It made us reluctant to get an early start to the day.

We started off by going to Piz Nair, and we were a little annoyed that we didn’t get a discount with our Swiss Pass; normally these excursions up to famous mountain peaks are not included with the pass, but you do get a discount (half price). In this case, we had to pay full price which was 144 CHF for 2 adult return tickets! not cheap!!

At that price I said we’d stay up there as long as it took for the fog to lift, and it wasn’t bad at all – we were above the clouds and fog so we got a nice view. 

We stayed for a drink, I had a Schümli Pflümli, if you are not familiar with it, it’s the ultimate boozy coffee – a well loved Swiss concoction.

…then back down to explore the town(s) a little more: St Moritz Bad and St Moritz Dorf.  Not a lot to see overall, we just walked around the lake then went for lunch.

Ironically, we found a place that serves fondue right by the place we were searching around last evening! Figures.  I have to admit I am slowly reaching my limit for cheesy meals, but I will at least try and have ONE more to tie the record from 2011.

 

After lunch, we walked around the lake a second time then headed back to the hotel so my husband could rest and have a nap; his cold is so far very minor but better safe than sorry! Around 6PM I woke him up and we went for a walk around Samedan (the town where we are staying) and aside from the lake, I like it even better than St Moritz!

In the mother of all ironies, since I was not very hungry for supper, we decide to have a “lite bite” in the hotel restaurant…  and wouldn’t you know they have fondue AND raclette!!!!  If only we would have known that yesterday!

_________________________________________________________________

The Air France strike has been concerning me. We got an email today giving us a head’s up that all is being done to minimize flight disruptions and “reassuring” us that so far they have managed to run half their flights…  How is this reassuring exactly????  Ah well – there is really nothing we can do about it, just have to cross our fingers and toes that all runs smoothly on Saturday!!

Switzerland 2014 – Day 12 / St Moritz

CHEESE COUNT: fondue 5 / raclette 1

BIG lesson learned today: save your money and forget about the Glacier Express!!

It was not bad, but not worth the extra money and more time to get to our final destination. We travelled from Andermatt to Samedan, which is 10 minutes before Saint Moritz. Trust me: take a normal train, it’s just as good….  if not better! Why? well, another lesson I learned today was to be careful what you wish for because you just might get it!

For months I was praying for blue skies, and I got them! Not a single cloud!!! therefore, the train is like a greenhouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OMG it was so hotttttttttt!  There was air-conditioning, but it did not help.

I also think the killer-views are at the other end of the Glacier Express route, near Zermatt.  (And I have travelled that route FOUR times on a normal train and never ever felt like I was missing out).

Conclusion: Glacier Express = fail. It’s a tourist trap.

 

 

p.s.: That meat plate + cheese plate was 44 CHF! AND the cheese was melting on the plate because the sun was beating down on it so strongly! I am half tempted to count it as a raclette in my cheese count!

We knew we’d arrive in St Moritz late in the afternoon after dropping our bags off at the hotel (which by the way is the BEST one so far) so we had little other plans than finding a place to have fondue.

WHO KNEW that St Moritz is full of Italian restaurants??? We could not find ANY Swiss places! My guidebook is a little outdated (2006) but did recommend a good fondue place. Not knowing if it still existed, we searched and searched for it – no luck. I went into a hotel near the area it should have been to ask about it and it turns out it moved to another location “across the street” from the train station. Off we went to search and search and search around there. Nothing!

I finally asked at the train station ticket window and it turns out the guy knew the place. It was behind the train station!! so, after about an hour, we finally got our fondue fix!

The weather is freezing cold, under 10°C – not that I would mind ordinarily but we were not dressed appropriately.  I just hope it doesn’t lead to more colds; my husband has been fighting off the sniffles all week!