18-Apr-2011 Glacier Express Tour, Switzerland

Bellerive Hotel.  Two of my credit cards were not working.  The guy at the reception tried to ring somebody to get some help as he was suspecting that it was not really my cards causing the problem but their Eftpos terminal.  We had a train to catch, hence, I told him if he could take cash in Australian dollars.   He said, 'Yes!'... as he would be in Sydney and Great Barrier reef next month. It was in my favour as Australian currency is really strong at the moment.  

I asked about the transport back to the station.  He led us to the back door of the hotel where the Bellerive electric car was parked.  And so I said… “ so you’re the receptionist and the driver at the same time J”.  I was curious about the car... He told us that the car was recharged for the whole night and that would be ready for use the following day.

We’re just in time for our next trip – The Glacier Express, the "world's slowest express train".   It's ironic, is it? Slowest and Express. 

The Glacier express departs daily from Zermatt at 10:00 a.m.  arriving at St. Moritz at 5:58 p.m.

Route:  Zermatt -  St Niklaus  -  Visp  -  Brig  -  Fiesch  -  Oberwald  -  Andermatt  -  Dissentis  -  Chur  -  Thusis  -  Tiefencastel  -  Filisur  -  Samedan  - Celerina  -  St Moritz  

The train travelled through the mountains, gorges, hundreds of bridges, overlooking falls, creeks, snow-capped mountains.  I reserved a 3-course-meal lunch for the 3 of us.  The mains seemed familiar... It tasted very much like our 'mechado' in the Philippines.

St Moritz. It was where the Olympics was held in 1928 and 1948. Took a bus from the station and walked 300 meters from the bus station to our Hotel, pulling all our luggage.  Whew!  That was not an easy walk.  We booked a hostel at St Moritz as I couldn't find any cheaper accommodation.  The place that we got were really for backpackers.  We managed to secure 2 rooms and private bath and toilet for ourselves.   We stayed on the third floor and with no lift (as expected).    So, Mon had to carry all our luggage through the stairs... poor Mon!

It is a sleepy town... very scenic but not as lively as Interlaken or Zermatt at night.  We went out and took a bus to look for something to eat.  We were lucky to find a pub, serving dinner.

It was freezing cold, I would say.  On the way back to the hotel, we realized that we already missed the bus. Rather than waiting for another hour, feeling cold at the bus stop, we had decided to just walk.  It was a fair bit of walk,  passing by a mirror lake and a cathedral...

Excerpt from Justin's essay -  "We woke up and had breakfast.  After that, we had a walk.  Then me and my Mum went back to the hotel and packed, while Dad went to Money Changer to buy Euros.  We went to train station to catch the Glacier Express.  The view was fantastic!.  We had 3-course meal--- First was salad.  For mains, we had beef, rice, carrots.  For dessert, we had cake that tasted like coffee.  The lunch was very yummy."

Photos:

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