St. Moritz with the Bernina Express... Genius and Madness.

The children gave us a surprise... for our 39th wedding anniversary they sent us... to Switzerland, to St. Moritz on the Bernina train. We had wanted to do it for a long time, everyone had told us about it, everyone had described it to us as a trip not to be missed. They did everything themselves and on 4 September, at the end of lunch, the moment of the gifts, they presented us with an envelope...??? what will it be, what will they have arranged, what will they have thought and... a beautiful surprise, Hotel booked in St. Moritz, trip booked on the Bernina Express, Tirano - St. Moritz - Tirano, from 8 to 9 September, they were surprised because I got emotional, I didn't expect it, we didn't expect it. The train with reserved seats left from Tirano on the 8th at 10.03 and so we preferred to arrive the day before, finding accommodation in Sondalo, a few km from Tirano.

Motorway from Marcon (Ve) up to Brescia and then up to Tirano to collect the train tickets. The weather was not the best, rain during the car journey and so the pasta and beans with pork rinds offered to us at the hotel in Sondalo was providential as, with its goodness, it lifted our spirits, also hoping for an improvement in the weather for the following day. Wake-up at 7.00, general cleaning, rich breakfast and off towards Tirano. The weather was still overcast but improving and so was our mood. Free parking behind the station, a duffel bag with our things, an underpass that comes out in the Italian station, we go out and immediately to the left, where it says Dogana di Tirano, in we go and there... the famous red train, the Bernina Express with its panoramic carriages.

Having located the carriage with our seats, punctual as the Swiss, the train leaves at 10.03 sharp and one of the most beautiful train journeys begins, 2 hours and 15 minutes of curves, tunnels, mountains now on the right and then on the left, and up and up to over 2,000 metres and then down towards St. Moritz. I thought that only a brilliant but slightly mad mind could have designed this railway route among the mountains, with a continuous winding among woods and rocks, passing from one side to the other of steep mountains, showing at the same time incomparable landscapes of the valleys below, of the lakes, of the snowfields encountered along the way. An unexpected journey, one of those journeys that however much they tell you about it, until you experience it in person you cannot realise the route of this train. St.

Moritz is beautiful, very expensive, but it did not enthuse us that much because we are used to the towns of our Dolomites... but St. Moritz too has its charm, the pedestrian area, the lake, the mountains around... but the Dolomites... do not have the Bernina Express. We stayed at the Hotel Languard, booked by the children, a hotel close to the pedestrian area, typical mountain style, with all the furniture in wood, spacious room, quiet, clean, very kind staff, abundant breakfast in a small room with a view of the high peaks opposite, there was also a bit of snow and... the sun. A walk through the centre, its luxurious shops, then outside enjoying the panorama with its mountains, a few clouds still, but the sun was prevailing showing us a St. Moritz pleasantly lit up. The only flaw, besides the cost of a dinner or a lunch, but we are in St. Moritz, is that the Euros...

work only for giving them, but then you receive Swiss Francs and luckily we managed to spend the ones we had in our pockets by paying the compulsory booking as we took a panoramic train again. A very kind girl at the ticket office made sure that between Euros and Swiss Francs we had 60 centimes of Franc left in our pockets... a souvenir. In the afternoon, at 15.22 sharp... return journey and at 17.27, again Swiss timing, we were in Tirano. We enjoyed the journey as the sky was a beautiful intense blue and the sun made the colours of this splendid mountain landscape clear to us. A journey to try, a journey not to forget. Good trip. Wanda and Giancarlo