Friday September 22, 2017

Yo Yodel Lady

Today we are crossing the border into Switzerland and although we are very sad to leave Italy behind us, we are excited to explore a completely new country that has been high up on my bucket list. With wonderful Swiss neighbours, the Toenz family has been introducing us to Raclette, Roasted Chestnuts, Swiss Chocolate and Yodelling when you drop something in the fondue over many years. I also have a terrible song in my head from Treblemaker days that combined a Rap type song wth a Yodelling song… thus the title of this blog. Yo Yo Lady… Yodel Lady … Who! I feel very prepared for our next leg of this journey!

Although we only had a few hours in Varenna it is a place that we will remember fondly with it's extraordinary views and wonderful people. If we are in the Lake Como area again we will return to this place to explore in a little bit more detail. We had our breakfast outside overlooking the lake and were so grateful for another sunny warm day.

The hotel information had suggested that both the ferry and the train station are walking distance. True… but only as the crow flies and they did not mention that this would be voluntarily taking your life into your own hands. Straight up and down hills with narrow roads that a car and a pedestrian side by side do not fit on. Now add a suitcase that you are trying to control on these hills and as you thinking about this, I will call the taxi. Our taxi driver was the same one that we had on our arrival and was very friendly and was able to communicate with us in English. She told us that the weather that we had in Varnenna was one of maybe 4 days this summer that had been as nice. They too had a lot of rain this summer and were also happy to see this beautiful weather. It makes everything look that much better and everyone is in a much better mood, or so it seems.

We arrived at the train station and other then the few minutes that I thought I was locked in the bathroom and would miss the train, waiting was fairly simple as the trains here seem to run exactly on time unless there is a very extreme reason. At exactly the correct time the train arrived. We piled on with the other passengers and we were apparently in the wrong car and could have upgraded but once we finally got our bags out of the way and a place to sit, we decided to stay put. Both of us managed to bump our uncoordinated bones in this chaos… I hurt my elbow and Grant hurt his knee but we survived it. Somehow our bags seemed 10x bigger then they had yesterday! This commuter train from Varenna took us to the town of Torano where our next train was across the tracks to take us St. Moritz Switzerland. Across the tracks yes, but what they didn't tell us is that we had to make our way down a steep set of stairs with hundreds of passengers rushing up the stairs and then go across the station and back up the stairs again to come up the other side to the other tracks. Horrible. Now our bags not only seemed 10x bigger but also 10x heavier then yesterday. Grant was a trooper and did most of the hauling which I was grateful for! We found a cute little restaurant with an outdoor patio to stop and have lunch to pass the time until our next train arrived. We sat next to a young British couple who were obviously in the middle of an upset. At first they did not speak to each other but then the phone rang and the young lady was speaking to her Mother in a thick Birmingham accent about how upset she was because they had missed their train and the conversation went on from there. I felt sorry for them but at the same time it was very entertaining. They were arguing about having to now drive but she wanted to stop for hot chocolate at a hotel even though it was very expensive. You had to be there but trust me it was entertaining if nothing else! I wonder if they got where they were going. I was glad they were not going with us. I hope he splurged for the hot chocolate. I feel sorry for him if he didn't!

I bought Vince the 2'nd postcard that I have now lost as it was placed in a little white bag and I left it on the white linen table cloth. It was a good one with the train on a switchback tunnel. Sorry Vince! :( 2 EH!? Thought that counts?

We arrived for our journey to St. Moritz to discover that our journey was not going to proceed as scheduled. There had been damage in one of the tunnels so our trip on the famous Bernina Express trip we had booked was now disrupted. Our reserved seats were irrelevant and we were told we could sit wherever we like. We moved into a cabin with less comfortable seating but we ended up having the car all to ourselves. We proceeded to put down all the windows and because it was such a beautiful day we were hanging out the windows enjoying the views as far as the train could take us. About 1/3 of the trip was by train but sadly at the foot of the pass we were all transferred onto a bus. The good part about this was that the bus had a space to put our bags underneath so for once we were not hauling our bags on and off. Funnily enough as the bus was about to leave I looked out the window and there was OUR bag in the parking lot and not on the bus. They had run out of room on one side and taken it to the other but then forgot to load it. Close call but saved at the last moment!

The bus brought us the rest of the way through the Bernina Passage and the scenery was spectacular. It was our first glimpse at the Alps and it was the perfect day to see them as the skies were clear so peaks were in full view. We arrived in St. Moritz and split up in order to be first in the line for the refunds for our train journey. I'm glad we did because the line up was very long by the time my paperwork was completed. Grant had retrieved the bags and the shuttle was there to transfer us to The Steffani Hotel.

This is the perfect time to travel in the season as we once again received an upgraded room that we were not expecting. The room was an oversized and lovely but the view was so surprising with the lake and mountains in the background of the city that we could enjoy on our own balcony.

We dropped our things and after a chat with the hotel staff and making some reservations we headed into town. St. Moritz shopping is not for the faint of heart. Everything is very expensive. Very. It was fun to window shop but made no sense to buy things that were overpriced simply because of where we were.

For dinner we wanted to have our first fondue meal. We walked to the local Hotel Waldhaus am See, recommended to us and known for their amazing food. Once we were inside we discovered that it was a Michelin Star restaurant and we were seated at a lovely table they had reserved for us and I admit I was feeling very underdressed for where we were. When we explained to our waiter that we had been referred here to simply have a Fondue and surprisingly he asked us to follow him. At first we were not sure what was happening but we soon discovered that the restaurant has a fondue room with bigger tables and a quite rustic theme. It was actually perfect once we got out of the formal dining room. Our waiter was wonderful and very helpful in helping us order our meal and everything was going smoothly… Until….

As we were eating our salads a young man and his wife (we think from China) arrived in the fondue room. When I say "arrived" it is intentional. They had not waited to be seated at the front reception like everyone else, they just walked in. Then they decided they wanted the table right next to us that was occupied with some of our things that the waiter had placed there. There were others tables but they wanted this one. The manager was trying to explain that they would be happy to seat them but they did not seem to care about etiquette. This behaviour went on throughout the whole evening and could have easily ruined our evening but we were determined to not let it. They did not wait for the waiter to come to take their order, he went to find them. They did not wait for the waiter to bring what they had ordered but went to chase them (literally into the kitchen) for it. When their food came they didn't seem to know how to eat it and had ordered enough food for a large group. The manager kept trying to keep them happy but it was impossible. In the end Karma prevailed and he broke his wine glass and splashed red wine all over himself. His wife didn't notice as she didn't look up from the movie she was watching on her phone throughout the whole meal. We offered our napkins to help him which he took but it was not met with a thank you. The end of their meal was a relief to us as he went to chase the waiter for the bill. We had intentionally tried to slow down to let them leave ahead of us so the end of our meal was much more pleasant. We felt really sorry for the staff who had been trying to take care of the other customers, specifically our own table who were affected by this very entitled and rude couple. Even though tipping is included in this country, we left a bit more tonight to show our appreciation for how much he tried to make our experience a pleasant one. The food was wonderful and the experience of fondue always fun and once again our table companions added the free entertainment.

It was a cool evening but nice for the walk home which felt more like we were rolling home. We were so full! It seems like everywhere we have been walking is up and down steep hills so it helps in our belief/the misconception that we are somehow working off all this extra food we have been eating. The people here believe it is winter as they are bundled up but it is much warmer then I had anticipated and have only needed a sweater/light jacket so far. Tomorrow we are heading up into the mountains so perhaps it will feel colder then. Ironically there is a heat wave at home and my nagging Ross to take his winter jacket to camp was an epic fail. It is 33 degrees in Minden and they are trying to stay as cool as they can with no need for any clothes at all never mind winter gear!!!

Our first day in Switzerland was certainly not as expected but is defiantly a memorable one. Tomorrow we hike!