The Bernina is the only Swiss railway to operate a line top of the Alps. The line, which started in 1910, takes you from the glaciers of the Bernina Pass, situated at almost 2253 meters ( about 8,000 feet) above sea level, down to Tirano, which lies at an atitude of around 429 (meters (1400 feet). The Bernina Line covers this difference in altitude of nearly 1824 meters (6000 feet) between Ospizio Bernina and Tirano over a horizontal distance of just over 22 KM (around 13 miles) without the use of cog wheels- despite having to tackle gradients of up to one in seven. ( Not sure what all that means but I'm impressed and I hope your impressed.)
The railway is unique, blending ideally with the alpine landscapes around the Albula and Bernina Passes. The train negotiates the 55 tunnels, 196 bridges and inclines of up to 70 per mille with ease. At the highest point on the RhB, 2,253 metres (over 7,000 ft) above sea level, you will find the Ospizio Bernina. Here, visitors can delight in the cultural and natural surroundings and enjoy the Alps at their most impressive. The railway line from Thusis to Tirano has UNESCO World Heritage status. A brand name.
This picture from their website shows a portion of the aqueduct that was built which enables the train to make the assent without cog wheels.
The route taken by the line is particularly impressive, allowing it to cope with the immense difference in altitute, while also giving passengers truly breathtaking views of the imposing peaks of Graubundn- along with its ancient glaciers and beautiful mountain valleys.
The Bernina Line has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites since 2008. Its 61 kilometers ( 37 miles) of high-altitude engineering wizardry operate against the backdrop of the tallest peaks of Graubunden, and the line is the highest-altitude mountain railway with all-year operation to offer a way to ctoss the alps by train.
Our guide was Maura and our bus driver was Oprando. Both very delightful people.
It didn't look the weather was going to cooperate with us as we left the hotel at 6:30. . Initially when we were planning the trip the forecast looked like it was going to be pretty clear on Tuesday. Would be terrible to go to the mountains and not be able to see anything because of cloud cover. We were a bit fearful. The forecast was for snow and rain in St. Moritz and around 35 degrees.
We did get to go along Lake Como which was beautiful. Hoping to return to Lake Como I won't write a lot about it here. It is shaped like an upside-down letter Y, measuring 120 KM all up its squiggly shoreline is scaterd with little villages. It is also the fourth deepest lake in Europe.
Interestingly it is in these villages that Mussolini , his mistress and some close associates were captured trying to escape to Switzerland. He was executed in the village and his body was brought to an Esso Station in the Piazzale Loreto in Milan and he was hung by his feet. One woman fired five shots into the hanging body and shouted "Five shots for my five assassinated sons!. Other spat on the body. Although "regetable" it was said such incidents were also desirable as a way for the public to vent their anger against the former dictator and his cohorts.
We made a little breakfast stop at this little retaurant. We shared the bathroom facilities with about 30 little children who must have been on an outing. They were well behaved and the chaperones made sure the children let us in to use the facilities.
Our little cafe. Very nice and they had a very efficient system to get people in and out of there.
A little temptation but fortunately too early in the moring for a gelato.
All aboard and off we go.
Not sure if this fellow tourist always travels with his own roll of TP or not. I didn't ask.
Before arriving in Triano to catch the train we went through the Valtellina area which is known for its wines, and olive oil production. It has also become important for its hydroelectric plants.
Maura is explaining the terracing that is used by the farmers to plant their vines and about the wines in the area. Very high quality wines. One of which we would be tasting at lunch if we went with her to the restaurant she recommended. She also explained about some of the other foods which are native to this area and again we could taste if we followed her. We had our choice to have lunch or do what ever on your own or join her at the restaurant. A no brainer for me.
All of the terracing was on one side of the mountains probably due to the amount of sun that side had. This was the other side. Of course I was on this side of the bus so I didn't get good pictures of the terracing and the big signs which were placed on the hills by the various wineries' . The wine is hand
made and thus rather expensive. Oh, you can see the sign just barely. This was Sharon's picture and I hadn't noticed.
We arrived in Tirano not long after having breakfast. Our first stop was at a small church the Sancturary of the Madonna of Tirano.
I think behind Sharon is a little shrine connected with the church.
The sanctuary was built on the spot where, according to legend on September 29th, 1504 at dawn, the Virgin Mary appeared to Mario Homodei from Tirano, promising spiritual and physical health upon condition that a shrine would be built in her honor on the same place, near the folla bridge and outside the city walls. In 1946 Pope Pio XII defined the Virgin Mary Of Tirano as the "special patron saint of the entire Valtellina".
A sculpture of the Vigin Mary appearing to Mario Homodei.
A painting depicting the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Mario Homodei.
This is a little shrine area and marks the exact location where the Virgin appeared.
This is the spot.
As you can see lots of people leave something in the shrine.
A very beautiful interior.
The organ is almost 14,500 meters high (47 feeet) and is supported by eight pink marble columns from Arzo in the Canton Ticino, which is world famous for the wonderful wood carving work made by Guiseppe Bulgarini from Brescia between 1608 and 1617, later completed by G.B. Salmoiragi of Milan.
We had time before lunch to walk over to the old town across the River Adda.
Walking back toward the restaurant.
Our Restaurant - Al Portici.
This is Bresaola. Like prosciutto but made of beef, not pork. Sliced very thin and lightly doused with olive oil.
Pizzoccher which is a short type of tagliatelle made with 80 % buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour.
The pasta was than sauced with some local cheese, some garlic and lots of butter. Absolutely delicious. We also got some of that handmade wine which was wonderful. Great meal!
The group gathering on the square in front of the train station. We had people from South Africa, India, Russia and even New Jersey.
We were off. This is called the fast slow train and takes 2 /2 hours to go from Triano to St. Moritz. Small portion of this map - lower right is Tirano and St. Moritz is the left corner of the triangle.
These were our seat mates. A darliing couple from Mumbai, India. He didn't sit with us much because he was running all over the train taking pictures. We all got up on occasion to go to the other side of the train but he was all over. He must have snapped more pictures on this train trip than I have on my whole trip this year. Well maybe I exaggerate a little, but not much!
Again, part of the aqueduct taken with my very own cameral.
These small statues or sculptures were by the aqueduct and I have no idea what they represent.
Lake Poschiavo.
We had a car all to ourselves so we were pretty comfortable inserting ourselves into each others space to snap a picture or two. We could even put the windows down and put our heads out to snap pictures. Just had to be a bit careful that you didn't have a hand or a head out when you went through a tunnel. It would not have been good.
Poschiavo, the main town in the Valposchiavo, is known for the imposing Renaissance style of its courtly architecture. The palazzis in the city were built by prosperous local residents who had made their fortunes abroad. One of the most beautiful districts of Poschiavo is still known as the "Spanish quarter". Of course we weren't able to see the homes up close and personal but from the train the setting was truly beautiful.
Lake Palu.
The Alp Grum ( Green Alps) station and restaurant building daes back to 1923 and is surrounde by the Palu Glacier and Lake Palu.
The waters to the north of the Bernina Pass naturally flow via the Danube and into the Black Sea, while the waters to the south of the pass end up in the river Po and the Adriatic. Efforts began in 1911 to change the natural order somewhat, and trap the water in artificial lakes such as Lago Bianco and Le Nair; whose names refer to different colors: white for Laga Bianco ;black for Lej Nair. The lakes are still a bit frozen.
What would a mountain be with some ski resorts.
Getting ready for St. Moritz.
From the train station we walked over to the entrance to the down town area. You enter through this tunnel and go through a parking area and than take escalators to the city center.
There were three sets of these escalators. There were stairs if you wanted to walk. We passed.
And here we are: average 322 days of sunshine. It was beautiful and there was no snow nor rain. We definitely lucked out.
St. Moritz, which is in the Upper /engadine, at an elevation of 1,856 m, ( 6,000 feet) boasts plenty of sunny days. It was exactly this sun that was legally protected as the emblem of St. Moritz in 1930. St. Moritz was often ahead of its time - for example, the first electric light went on at Christmastime in 1878, the first golf tournament in the Alps took place here, in 1889 and one of the first ski lifts in Switzerland began running in 1935.
St. Moritz is Switzerland's original winter, wonderland and the cradle of Alpine tourism. St. Moritz has been luring royals, celebrities and moneyed wannabes since 1864.
This is the tree of Tourism.
The town was pretty much closed up.
I had always dreamed of buying my first ever Valentino dress in St. Moritz and wouldn't you know it the shop was closed for some renovations. Darn!
Lake St. Moritz.
After walking arouond the closed up city we stopped by a shop that was open and bought some swiss chocolate . Of course the chocolate shop had to be open! The little shop was Laderach and the chocolate is delicious. Here we are with our purchases. MMMMMMMMmmmmm wonder how long they will last? Maybe a long time, as the saying goes, "A minute on your lips, forever on your hips". We're bringing a lot of chocolate back with us!
Can you see my two friends from Mumbai? They are waving at me as I snap their picture.
Time to return to the train station and board our bus for the trip back to Milano.
It was a thrilling ride to begin. The Maloja Pass began our journey home. Notice the road at the bottom of the mountain to get there you have to
navigate twenty two switchbacks. Oprando did a marvelous job of maneuvering that big bus. I did google it and it is found under a caption : "dangerous roads".
Such picturesque countryside : castles, waterfalls, green hills and snow capped mountains.
Crossing the border back to Italy.
Some beautiful falls. There were many actually on the ride but of course no one's camera was ever ready when they appeared. This one Maura warned us about.
We had a schedued stop on our way back at the little restaurant we had stopped for breakfast. When we got there Maura asked us to be back in twenty minutes and off we went. Unfortunately, the restaurant had closed early that day. We hopped on the bus, Maura counted the people, and we were short two. I had seen the couple walk away from the restaurant and kind of behind it. Maura went looking for them. Pretty soon she came back and I went to help her. There was a little grocery store we went into but no -- not there. Some others had checked out another little establishment close by but they reported they weren't there either. When the twenty minutes were about up the couple walked slowly toward the bus having no idea we had been waiting on them. We all had a good laugh and kept our sense of humor though the whole ordeal.
Back to the Lake Como area.
And back to Milano. Fabulous day!
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