Hello Ursula
I am currently packing as I leave for Zurich on Monday. I am going to rent a bike and tour Switzerland and Austria for a couple weeks. I am looking forward to meeting all of you on Friday the 13! Please let me know if anything changes.
Yvonne
E-mail [email protected]

Hello everyone, It's been a busy week, one more to go. JoanW, I enjoyed your post so much, though I am indeed envious that you are retired and free as a bird. I am looking forward to your trip report with great delight! Please don't make us wait too long. Will there be pictures? (By the way, not knowing how long you've been retired, do you know anything about PowerPoints?) (For that matter, maybe you do, S?) Instead of five nights in Ticino this summer, I'll have 7 days at a educational technology course. :( Help! J. Speaking of technology, I could not access the forum yesterday at all, and today my old bookmark doesn't work. Have they changed something about their address? Love to all p.s. again, Ursula, how was the 'Expressiv' exhibit at the Beyler?

Good morning, So glad I don't need to be jealous of Ingo anymore. jmw, I've been retired 2 glorious years, but never heard of Power Point. Yes, I have some wonderful pictures- a misty view from my terrace at Panorama is my favorite. Trip report to follow since it's a rainy day in NY. Actually, I haven't seen sun since CH on Tuesday. Joanw

Ciao to you all from Rovinj, Croatia. It is so HOT here I am really looking forward to cooler weather in Zuoz (which I presume is the reason I am dragging around these warm clothes). Croatia is very interesting. So far I have only seen Rovinj and am still surprised by the many faces it presents to me. Just when I think I've about seen it, I turn into some alley that uncovers something new and magical.

Hopefully my blisters will all heal and my feet won't be bloody stumps by the time I see you!

Inga, a tall beautiful blonde skiing along. I love it!!!! :-)

http://128.111.124.127/ssr/Alps/Alps.htm

Hi y'all, just came upon this absolutely gorgeous set of travel pictures. Hope you can copy the address and have a look. J.

Hello all, So sad to be leaving Dubrovnik in the morning. It is an absolutely magical place. But Il Papa is arriving and I have to make room for him.

On to Slovenia and Lake Bled. I fly to Zagreb but am not up for a big city right now so I am opting for a more nature-y place. Getting geered up for the glories that are Switzerland!

Grasshopper, I am glad you're having such a great time in Croatia.

It is terribly hot here in Dresden (and in wide parts of Europe). Can't wait to go to the Engadine and enjoy the cooler temps.

Yippee - just bought the train tickets!

See you, Ingo

Hi, are you absolutely positive it's going to be cool in the Engadin? I'm beginning to wonder. It was just last June about this time when I sweated my way through five wonderful days/nights. At first I thought it was only Ticino, but I was even hotter in Zurich! What's up? I thought that was a once in a decade thing. Well I guess not. Here it is another June and you are all complaining of the heat again! Do you think global warming means that never again will I have the pleasure of wearing a sweater in Switzerland in June?

By the way, Ingo, did you look at any of the postings to the thread about always returning to a favorite place? One of the posters described Dresdan as the place that has captured his/her heart.

Have fun with your last-minute preps. I'm getting pretty excited for you all! Does the Engadin have its own beer of choice? A home brew? If so, drink one for me with your best sausage and maluns. (Is that a fair combination?) I'm still wishing you folks could jump up and down in front of a web cam somewhere, but if that were so easy, more travellers would be doing it. Truth be told, a group e-mail will be great. Love to all, J.

Hi all!

Yes, it's unbearably hot here in Zurich, too (around 30?C)! Too hot to make my brains cells work, especially when it comes to write anything in English.

The heat wave we had in Paris seems to follow me. :o(

I wish I was in the Engadine right now, instead of being at work!

30c!!! That's what it is here in Louisiana! What's going on, Ursula? J.

The climate is going crazy. But there is hope for us who visit the Engadine soon: Samedan reported 2,2 Celsius today in the morning, and the highest temp is 21 Celsius or so these days.

jw, thanks for the tip. In fact I missed that post! Have to look out for it. By the way, there is a good local beer in canton Graubünden, called Calanda, brewed in Chur. But people use to drink red wine (another reason for me to love this region). Wine grows in Northern Graubünden (Rhine valley around Maienfeld, Malans etc.) and in the Italian Valtellina valley, which was part of Graubünden for more than 200 years. Many vineyards there are owned by folks from Graubünden.

So much for now. My brain dries out. The heat!!

Ingo

Ahhh, the Engadin sounds better and better, 21c is how I remember Switzerland from my trips of many years past. Drink one Calanda for me! J.

I'm meltinnnnnnnggggggg.... (remember the witch in the Wizard of Oz?) Could it get any hotter?! I am praying it is cooler in Zuoz.

S, you can start packing (cool clothes!)

I am praying just as well....

Glad we have a long weekend up!

Here it's muggy and the sky is black for a thunderstorm. And I'll bet Zuoz doesn't have mosquitos either! Affectionately, J.

By the way, I got eaten alive by mosquitoes in Orta but nary a one on Maggiore, thank heaven.

Hi everybody,

Just longing for the weekend up in Zuoz.
It's just ways too hot down here.
Must be almost 35C (some 95F) today.
With some luck, we might have some cooling thunderstorms tonight.

And, no bad beasts here, at least, not yet. They usually show in August, especially in the evenings, when you have a fine dinner out.....

Grasshopper,
What, you got eaten??
But you will be IN Zuoz, won't you?!

Hello All,

So we're almost there!! I get to leave today, and I can hardly stay still!

Hey, I'm not so stupid as to pack for hot weather -- that'll bring the snow for sure! No, it's layers, layers, layers, as usual.

And no, you folks won't have to hunt me down -- I've got train schedules, bike rides, nut cakes, chestnut pasta, and Graubunden red to make real; I've been dreaming of this for far too long!

See youse soon!

s

S,
Layers, alright, I fully agree!

But, please no need for a fur coat or snow boots.
Bring sun screen, too.

Enjoy your flight.

Hi y'all, What are the temps in Zuoz? Ursula, do you know? Bon Voyage, everyone! J.

jmw,

They are around 24/25 C (around 77 F) and it should stay alike for the upcoming days.
Just checked some Swiss weather sites.
Perfect, I'd say.

Yes, I agree, that sounds perfect! Just wondering if there are other appealing places in Switzerland where temps would be similar in June. I really think my years of cool June travel are only a memory, and I have to admit that I miss them. In the 70's, we bought parkas in a department store in Lausanne in July! --and never visited Switzerland w/o sweaters in our bags. What do your weather gurus say? (This is not an important question, so if you're working, you can disregard it.) Affectionately, J.

jmw,

Basically, I don't care too much what the weather gurus say. :-?

Heat waves at that time of the year aren't that exceptional, but long ones like this one, quite a bit, yes.
It will probably have been the peak of this year's summer, who knows!

Anyway, I am off to Zuoz now. =;

We shall all have some (B) or some (D) and toast on the ones not present. :-D

Oh dear, that should be 'beers' and 'drinks'!
No idea, why the smileys don't show.
:'(

Just wanted to wish you all a wonderful, laughter filled trip. Joanw

Too busy with these amazing women to say much but.... fabulous hotel, great food, wonderful friends, incredible nut cake in Guarda, great weather, noisey cow bells, and nice old ladies who pick me up in their car when I can't hike another step! If you want to travel, these are the people to do it with.

Ciao to all from all of us....

Great to hear from you, Grasshopper! You know, I was kind of apprehensive about that hiking stuff, myself. Not sure if I could handle much of an incline (gradient?). What kind of shoes are you folks wearing? Happy trails to you! (for any Roy Rogers fans among you) J.