Friday, September 23, 2011

Glacier Express

The day after traveling the Bernina Express we rode the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt.  It was a 7 1/2 hour train ride through some of the most beautiful countrysides we've ever seen.  The scenery was very diverse-shear mountains, mountains lined with trees, lots of farmland, tiny villages, large towns, waterfalls, and of course, glaciers!  We went through a section of the Rhein called the Swiss Grand Canyon.  Not quite the same as the US version, but very beautiful nonetheless.  We ended the day with our first looks at the Matterhorn.  It was rather cloudy as is the norm, but we were enthralled.

View from the Glacier Express, close to Samedan

The Swiss name their houses.  I liked this one!!

Rugged mountains

One of the oldest bell towers in Switzerland-over 1000 years old!!

It was a long train, and a long way down!!

Little villages lined the route

This was the Swiss Grand Canyon area

Not quite the same as Arizona

Glacier

More Glacier



Streams like this were all along the route, too

Most waterfalls were too hard to photograph.  This was my best shot

The Matterhorn

A memorial to those who perished trying to climb the Matterhorn

church in Zermatt.  They had a concert that night but we missed it!

Bernina Express

Church outside St. Moritz

View from Bernina Express


Lake Miralago


Tirano, Italy


Basilica Madonna



A round house in Tirano-We must have this!!

Waterfall from Bernina Express

Lake Miralago





A glacier and the lake the melt flows into




Happy cows wearing bells


Our first Swiss adventure was to take the Bernina Express, a scenic train, from St. Moritz to Tirano, Italy.  We took the upper part of the BE the day prior from Chur to Pontresina.  It was rainy in the morning, but the sights were still breathtaking.  After a wonderful lunch in Italy, we reversed the trip back to Pontresina.  The sun came out which made it even more beautiful. 

Zurich and St. Moritz

After some review, I realized that I left out the first few days of our trip!  Oops!!  We only saw Zurich by train since our flights were rearrange by Hurricane Irene, but the ride from Zurich to Pontresina was beautiful.  I am also posting some pics from St. Moritz here.  We were there a couple of times catching trains.  Wow, is that an expensive town!!  It was fun to look around, though.

Lake Zurich


Pretty church outside of Zurich

This scenery kept us awake after the long flights



Hotel in St. Moritz

St. Moritz

I think they are dreaming!!

Me, Ken, and Jan overlooking lake in St. Moritz


St. Moritz

Poppies were still blooming!!  Beautiful!