Bernina Railway and another - And Then - Yes I'm afraid so!

St Moritz and Bernina Railway

We caught the train from Venice to Milan picked up a hire car and drove to Lake Como. We spent 2 nights in Magreglio a little village above Bellagio – one of the larger towns on Lake Como.

We were uncertain where to go next when we left Magreglio. There are so many options in this area. Elena (yes another Elena) at the Il Nobbio Hotel suggested that we go on the Bernina Express – a railway that runs from Tirano in Italy through the Swiss Alps to St Moritz. This seemed like a good idea so we took the car ferry across Lake Como to the village of Varenna and Bob drove the 1 ½ hours while I navigated and booked a hotel in St Moritz on my IPad.

We left our hire car and got on the train at Tirino. And what a trip it was. The track was built between 1898 and 1904 and part of it is UNESCO listed. It has 55 tunnels and 196 bridges. It rises from about 490 metres above sea level in Tirano and rises to 2328 metres. It takes 2 ½ hours. At first it travels through lovely Italian countryside and then into the Swiss Alps and past amazing mountain scenery including glaciers.

                Can you see these cows have bells around their neck - very Swiss. The drink cart in the     train is also Swiss with a mountain goat impression on the front!

                                                      Great windows for a better view.

I was quite excited to be going to St Moritz to view some of the beautiful people who I’ve read about frequenting it. However they were not there. It’s a nice town and we had a cheese fondue for dinner because that’s what you do in Switzerland – isn’t it? However apart from a few tourists it was deserted. Sure there were the expensive shops – Prada etc and lots selling cashmere for some reason but it was certainly not buzzing. The hotel and restaurant staff we  talked to said the Europeans are not coming because of all the flooding in Europe, the economic situation and the weather which has been bad. Clearly it is different in winter when skiers and beautiful people do arrive but they were not apparent when we were there.
We noticed lots of great walking tracks from the train and would like to go back and try them some time.

It was interesting that Bob and I both got slight headaches and felt a little breathless climbing stairs in St Moritz – not because the altitude was so high but because we’d done it quite quickly and had quite a rise in a day.

So we did the return journey on the train the next day and this time were prepared by knowing where the best photo opportunities were. We paid for first class so the windows were very expansive and all was well.

We stopped at the Palu glacier in Alp Grun about 2100 metres above sea level - an hour into the journey. We were lucky it was quite clear as I’m sure there are days when the mist is in and you don’t see much at all. 
Bob asked the conductor how long we were stopping for and he said a few minutes until the train came in the other direction passed. So we got off – Bob to take photos of the glacier and me of the train and driver to send to Tait and Quentin because they love different trains. I got a couple of close ups of the driver and thought I was doing well for the “grandmother of the year” title.  I even had time to pose with this Japanese lady and giggle in broken English about how much our husbands like to take photos and if we posed together hers could go to Australia and mine to Japan.
Then another train glided in from the other direction and we made our way back to our carriage. Bob got to the door and pressed the button to open it but it was locked.

And Then

Then before our eyes our train pulled out and slowly glided off without us! We couldn’t believe it. I waved frantically and a couple of passengers further along the train waved back – probably surprised at my enthusiasm in wishing them a good journey! 
So there we were in T shirts and jeans with only our cameras, at a high mountain railway stop near a glacier, seeing our bags with our passports, credit cards, money and overnight possessions disappearing into the distance. 
Not most importantly I suppose but also the lovely fruit slice we’d bought in St Moritz for a snack that I’d denied myself of until at least halfway through the journey.
We just looked at each other in disbelief.

Bob when we realised the train had gone without us. Maybe a look of resignation but I think it's pretty good he could look this relaxed at this time.

When we got a little over the shock and had remarked how the conductor must have seen us and why didn’t they ring a bell or something to announce their departure we went into the small restaurant. nearby. Again, as in Chianti, we were saved by the restaurant manager. He spoke almost no English but as it’s a German speaking area we were able to explain our plight in very stale German. He came to our aid and phoned the train station who phoned the driver etc. 

Eventually we were told to get on the next train in about 40 minutes and collect our belongings when we got to Tirino.  So we waited. 
My suggestion that we could take a small hike while we waited was not taken up by Bob! 
I tried to use the toilet but we didn’t have the coins required to get in. I asked at the restaurant and he let me use theirs which is usually a no no in this part of the world unless you’re a customer and we weren’t as we were cashless at this point.

And so it transpired. The next train was not the upmarket tourist one but we didn’t care. The conductor was very friendly and told us that we weren’t the first that this had happened to. And you know the windows in the commuter train opened so Bob felt he got better photos from there than the smart one where you had to photograph through the windows.

When we got to Tirano the conductor took us to the train office and there were our belongings – neatly packed with even the fruit slice still intact. We were very pleased to see them I tell you!
The train staff had even put in a double supply of the herbal tea bags from the area that they give you as a gift when leaving the train. 
The station staff were all very friendly and assured us that this can easily happen. I still wonder why they don’t warn people before they leave the stop if it happens regularly but I don’t think I have a high chance of reforming the Swiss and Italian railway system so I’ll keep my thoughts to myself (well almost.)

And so another adventure for Judy and Bob – maybe we shouldn’t be let out on our own after all!