"Too Much Cows"
 

In late May we spent 10 days in Iceland and then flew from Reykjavik to Zurich to spend 10 days in Switzerland, a country we’ve visited many times, but can’t seem to get enough of.

The Iceland Trip Report is here if anyone is interested:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-road-trip.cfm

We’ve visited the Berner Oberland, Zermatt and the more ‘touristy’ bits of Switzerland several times over the years, but these days we much prefer quiet, off-the-beaten-path locations. Our primary interests are hiking, beautiful alpine scenery and good food/wine.

Enter Ilanz and Kandersteg.

We discovered the canton of Graubunden in eastern Switzerland a few years ago, and have made repeat trips to the Engadine Valley (based in Samaden and Scuol) several times since. This time we wanted something new, so we picked the brain of Fodorite Ingo, who suggested the Vorderrhein valley in the Surselva district. He also suggested the town of Ilanz as a base, and went so far as to find what turned out to be the perfect apartment.

We learned long ago that an expensive Switzerland can be made more attractive by booking apartments instead of hotels, especially in the low season. We prefer the extra space anyway, and having a fully equipped kitchen to whip up breakfast is a bonus, so it’s win-win.

We’d stayed in Kandersteg once before, years ago around Easter. We’d talked about going back to see what the Oeschinesee looked like in the summer months and to walk the entire Gemmi Pass route (we’d just walked a section previously). This seemed as good a time as any.

Day 1 -

Our early morning flight from Reykjavik to Zurich on Iceland Air left 30 minutes late, but was a good one – smooth. Flight time was 3:30. It was 28C when we arrived, much hotter than we expected and a bit of a shock after chilly Iceland. The first thing Bill said when we landed was “trees”!

Upon arrival in Zurich we cashed up at the ATM, bought Half Fare Cards for the next 10 days of train travel (120 CHF each – 30 day), bought ½ fare tickets to our first destination, Ilanz (30 CHF each) and made a run to Migros for train food; 18 CHF bought us salami, paper thin Le Gruyere cheese (a personal favorite), two rolls, two small tubs of Icelandic Skyr (happy to see it had followed us to Zurich!), and a 375 ml bottle of red wine.

Switzerland gets a bad rap for being expensive, and it is, but after 10 days in Iceland, it felt downright reasonable, and better yet, good VALUE.

Our journey to Ilanz via the Zurich Hauptbahnhof and an ICE train to Chur took just under 2.5 hours. The ride was typically Swiss gorgeous, vibrant green pastures dotted with cows, snow covered mountains, heavy sigh...

In Chur we boarded our connecting train to Ilanz; an indecipherable announcement was made, and everyone got up and left the train. Hmmmm. We frantically sought out the conductor, asked if she spoke English, and were told that there was an electrical problem on the train and a bus would be provided to take us to Ilanz. A bit of chaos followed - one bus arrived, filled and left. Then a double-decker bus arrived – it wasn’t clear where we should put our luggage, so we sought out the driver who opened a high door on the side of the bus and even lifted it for us, bless him. We boarded, another indecipherable announcement was made, and we set out on the incredibly pretty and winding drive to Ilanz via various alpine villages. We arrived 45 minutes later than planned, but we considered the detour a bonus and a taste of what was to come.

Upon arrival in Ilanz (which was bigger than we expected), we sought out assistance from a lovely young man in the train station information office who steered us in the right direction to our apartment. We didn’t know it at the time, but he would be our savior over the coming days.

As so often happens, our apartment was situated at the top of a rather steep hill, about a 15 minute walk from the train station, so we rumbled up with our luggage, stopping occasionally to check our map.

The apartment is within the owner’s home, yet completely private. It consists of a compact living room, breakfast nook, and an exceptionally well equipped kitchen (although we could have used a skillet), a separate bedroom and bathroom. It was spotless and comfortable and worked a treat.
We really appreciated the shutters on the windows, which kept our room cool during the heat of the day, and added a bit of privacy. There was light traffic in the mornings, but we could hear more birds than cars, which is always a plus in my book.

There was a small sitting area in the yard for our use; we spent several evenings out there admiring the impressive flower garden. We’d booked directly, and paid cash upon arrival. Our five nights came to 415 CHF, inclusive of linens, internet, final cleaning and tourist tax.

The owner, Mrs. Heiligensetzer, relied on her high school English to communicate with us, and we on our pitiful 50 word German vocabulary, yet somehow it worked.

We’d done laundry in Reykjavik before leaving for Switzerland, thinking we’d be set for the balance of our trip, but we’d not expected to be hiking in an early June heat wave and smelling like goats. There was no Laundromat in town, but Mrs. Heiligensetzer offered to let us wash a load of laundry and use her outdoor clothes line, which was a godsend.

http://www.ferienwohnung-valserstrasse.ch/

After getting settled, we made a food run to the nearby COOP - four tubs of Skyr, walnut bread, two types of cheese, milk, Rosti, two types of salami, a bottle of wine, three large bottles of beer, a box of Caotina hot cocoa packets, fresh strawberries, and the obligatory Swiss chocolate and gummy bears – 63 CHF. I only provide my grocery list as a comparison between what things cost in Iceland and what they cost in Switzerland. We thought we’d died and gone to heaven.

We then backtracked to Old Town, settling onto the patio of Hotel Obertor for drinks, surprised at how warm it was so late in the evening. It was here we discovered we might have more trouble than usual communicating in this part of Switzerland. Fortunately, Weißbier and Trockener Weißwein are part of our limited German vocabulary.

Then it was back to the apartment, where it felt really good to put the one night stands of Iceland behind us and settle in for a few days.

It got dark around 9:30 pm, which felt strange, but somehow refreshing, after 10 nights in the land of the midnight sun. Perhaps we could catch up on our sleep.

To be continued...

Sounds like a great start of your Switzerland vacation, albeit an adventure to get to Ilanz. Thank God they speak German in Switzerland (for me :-) ) Glad it worked so well with the apartment (and sorry for the location up the hill.)

Keep it coming!

I have been waiting for this :)
What a deal with your apartment... I have booked hotels throughout, for our September visit, so it has been eye wateringly expensive.

Ingo -

Ah yes, hills and Switzerland...can't have one without the other!

Don't you dare apologize for being helpful! It was brilliant.

I don't suppose you know of an apartment in Lenzerheide (or Arosa)? You seem to know what we like:) I'm looking for a place in mid December and I can't seem to find many direct booking options, no doubt due to my stellar German and Romansh.

Adelaiden - Good to hear! I will do my best to finish before you leave for your trip (halfway through already, so there is hope!)

Day 2 -

Unable to find trail maps in English, we consulted with our new found friends at the train station and with their help, decided to walk along the Vorderrhein (one of the two sources of the Rhine) at the base of the Reinschlucht, also referred to as “The Swiss Grand Canyon”. We didn’t know it at the time, but the 20 km long river section between Ilanz and Reichenau is a popular white water rafting area.

We’d understood it to be a three hour trek, but it took us close to four hours to walk from Ilanz to Versam Safien (just under six hours including two café stops). The day was unbearably hot, the trail hilly and rather exposed, with plentiful roots, loose rocks and scree, but the views of the river, the incredible vertical limestone cliffs and deep chasms were absolutely fabulous.

https://www.graubuenden.ch/en/explor.../rheinschlucht

Until we reached Valendas-Sagogn, a station on the Rhaetian Railway that links Chur and Disentis, we’d not seen another soul. Suddenly we came upon a construction crew building a bridge and a welcoming little café with umbrella covered tables. Perfect timing, as we both needed to rest and cool off. I’m not a beer drinker, but suddenly I desperately wanted one...and that ice cold Weizenbier was Wunderbar! (12.40 CHF for two).

We forged on to Versam-Safien, filling up our water bottles en route at a deliciously cold fresh spring. The heat was miserable; I was beginning to think the trail would never end, but some 8+ hot, sticky miles since leaving Ilanz, we finally reached Versam-Safien, yet another station on the line of the Rhaetian Railway that links Chur and Disentis.

With 45 minutes until the next train, we bought our return train tickets (3.40 CHF each with ½ fare card) then walked uphill a bit and settled in at a shady table outside a tiny café. Worried that I didn’t have enough cash on me (our ATM card had been rejected twice in Ilanz), I went in and asked the proprietor if 13 CHF would cover a beer and a glass of wine – fortunately it did (12.40 CHF).

As we rested and enjoyed the scenery, I noticed that the sapphire from my engagement ring was missing – six days short of our 35th wedding anniversary. Evidently I’d knocked it out at some point, perhaps even the previous day wrangling luggage on and off the train/bus.

Versam-Safien is a tiny station with one track in each direction. We weren’t sure which track we should wait by – the one closest to the station, or the one just beyond it, which would be cut off from us when the next train arrived. The arrivals board showed both trains arriving at the same time.

I approached a woman waiting nearby and asked if she spoke English - she did - she assured us that as weird as the set up seemed it would work – we had a nice chat and she suggested that we visit the area above us, the top of the gorge, and to not miss Restaurant Conn.

The ride back to Ilanz took a mere 15-20 minutes. The ride was gorgeous, the train full, possibly with commuters from Chur (?).

Back in Ilanz, we popped into Restaurant Todi for an early dinner, where we shared a fabulous plate of Capuns drenched in a decadent cream butter sauce and a decent salami pizza (50 CHF including beer and wine).

Note: Capuns are a traditional food from the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland, made from Spätzle dough with pieces of dried meat, and rolled in a chard leaf. They’re often served in a sauce of cream and butter and covered with grated cheese. Although there are many variations, we’ve yet to have any that weren’t wonderful...many thanks to Ingo for introducing us to Capuns a few years ago – we’ve never looked back.

Restaurant Todi doesn’t accept credit cards, so Bill ran to the bank to try the ATM again, unsuccessfully, so we had to use our Visa card to get a cash advance to pay our tab.

That evening was spent talking to our credit union via Skype. Evidently, they’d blocked our ATM card the previous day after we’d made two back-to-back withdrawals at the Zurich Airport, in an attempt to withdraw sufficient funds to pay for the apartment, but not knowing the exact USD-CHF exchange rate.

Anyway, problem solved, we were back in business.

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/melnq8...h/35640782580/

To be continued...

Thanks for posting, was looking forward to this the whole day :-) Brilliant pictures also, doesn't look *that* hot ;-) It's part of the Glacier Express route, btw. Yes, I think many folks commute from the Surselva to Chur, not too many jobs up there in the valley.

Oh, Capuns ... I'm getting hungry, but salmon and spinach with rice will have to do today.

Nice pics, Mel - love the empty plate!

I've never heard of Capuns before - i wonder if we'll find them when we get to Interlaken next week. Wonder if the weather will still be that hot?

BTW you are not the only one to benefit from Ingo's great accommodation recommendations, we stayed in a lovely hotel in Dresden that he suggested a few years ago.

Now you make me blush, annhig :-) Thanks!

No Capuns in the Interlaken area, I am afraid. They are a specialty of canton Graubünden/Grisons - but maybe you can find a restaurant with Grisons food? :(

PS: Mel - I'll do some research for Lenzerheide-Valbella-Parpan. Think it's better for you than Arosa.

Hi annhig -

Capuns are from the canton of Graubünden, so I'd be surprised if you found them in Interlaken.

Never fear though, there's plenty of good food in the Berner Oberland too - the land of Rosti, Raclette, mountain cheese, sausage, and seasonally, trout. And don't forget the ice cream and sorbet. One of the perks of visiting in the summer months.

And Älpermagronen - not sure if that's region specific, as I've seen it in several parts of Switzerland - heavy for summer, but OMG.

Now I'm hungry.

I had to google Älpermagronen but I think I get the idea - onions, garlic and bacon with cheese and other additions. Sounds good.

Ingo - if we see a restaurant offering Grisons food I'll drag DH in there, even if he screams and kicks. and no need to blush!

annhig -

Älpermagronen is like mac and cheese on steroids - it usually has diced potatoes in addition to the noodles, plus all that lovely cheese, often topped with crispy onions. It's typical Swiss stick-to-your-arse-fare.

Too cool off I suggest Movenpick chocolate ice cream with shaved chocolate pieces. Buy the carton and share!
Thanks for sharing your trip and photos Mel!

I am really looking forward to Swiss food!

So unusual to see green in your Switzerland photos after all your December trips, Mel, did you enjoy the non winter trip more than you expected?

Indeed we did Adelaidean. We could have used without the heatwave, but otherwise...

Looks like a gorgeous area.

It doesn't seem right to be in the alps with snow up on peaks/glaciers, but sweltering in a heat wave, does it? I love the views, but prefer to hike below the tree line for some shade.

Kay2 -

No it doesn't! We'd visited early in the season to avoid the heat.

Best laid plans...

Day 3 -

We took a train from Ilanz to Disentis/Muster (16.60 CHF each return with ½ fare card) and popped into the train station to enquire about walks in the area. A very helpful young woman suggested we take the train to Sedrun then walk back to Disentis, stopping for lunch in Segnas.

With time to spare, we walked up to the Disentis Monastery (Benedictine Abbey), where we poked around a bit and took in the views above town before catching the next train to Sedrun (3.10 CHF each one way, with ½ fare card).

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...-disentis.html

Once in Sedrun, we slowly worked our way to Segnas, via the Senda Sursilvana trail, which extends some 100 kilometers from Oberalp Pass to Chur. This section of the trail was undulating and varied, the day hot, the wildflowers amazing. I must have taken 100 photos of flowers, bugs and butterflies.

Once in Segnas, we settled in for an alfresco lunch at Ustaria Cresta, where we both tucked into beautiful Mozzarella tomato salads and shared a small bottle of Sylvaner Riesling, a local favorite of ours (42 CHF total). Lovely spot this.

The final stretch to Disentis led us through cow, sheep and goat filled pastures, serenaded by a cacophony of bells, and alongside flower and gnome filled gardens. We followed the river through town, walking past the church. The immaculately tended cemeteries in Switzerland never cease to amaze me and this one was no exception – two people were working on the grounds as we passed – it was awash in blooming flowers. (I’ve heard that Swiss cemeteries are rented for 25 years and then dug up and the site reused- anyone know if this is true?)

We’d logged about 6.5 miles, and had found yet another beautiful part of Switzerland. I could see us staying in Disentis on a future trip.

With plenty of time before the next train to Ilanz, we sat at a table under an umbrella at the station café and ogled the tempting ice cream/sorbet menu. Resistance was futile. I greedily dug into a dish of Blutorangensorbet, blood orange sorbet with a shot of Campari – icy and delicious. Bill stuck with his Weizenbier (14.50 CHF).

We ran into the station employee who’d recommended the walk; she seemed genuinely interested in what we thought and was very pleased that we’d enjoyed our day.

On our return to Ilanz we detrained at Waltensburg, planning to check out the frescoes in the church mentioned by Ingo, but not realizing until we’d gotten off the train that Waltensburg was about a 45 minute walk uphill from the station (and there was no connecting bus). My knees were in no mood for a trip up and back, so we just poked around the valley and waited an hour for the next train. This is a stop on demand station, the train won’t stop unless someone is getting off, or those waiting on the platform push the STOP button.

Back in Ilanz we revisited Restaurant Todi for a buttery and delicious Capuns encore - we had the restaurant to ourselves – 72 CHF for two plates of Capuns and 5dl of Sylvaner Riesling. Wunderbar!

And then came the rain – lovely and cool, washing away the stickiness.

A brilliant day all around.

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/melnq8...h/35193249164/

To be continued...

Beautiful photos Melnq8. We stayed in Guarda last year and loved the area. Your trip sounds so lovely. I hope you two have a great time.

Hi Melnq8,

I so love reading your trip reports!! I love that you find such un-heralded spots of beautiful Switzerland, and that you stay long enough and walk through so much of it so you get a true feel for the area. And then you pass it on to us! Lucky us!

Thanks for this lovely report.

((I have to admit that I hesitate to look at your photos because I don't want my carefully laid future travel plans disrupted ...!!))

s

Lovely, Mel,

.... we head off on our Swiss adventure on 2 September :)

Wonderful report, Mel! And beautiful pics! We're headed to Italy again in mid-Sept, but your report has us longing for another trip to Switzerland. Thanks for posting!

We did have a great time Paqngo, thank you!

swandav, Adelaidean and tomarkot -

It's always nice to hear from you! I appreciate your kind words.
Enjoy your upcoming travels!

Enjoyed reading this and your Iceland report.
This was just built in less than 2 weeks, for a future trip perhaps?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel...dge-180964275/

Yum! Want a sorbet right now! :-)

Beautiful pictures again, Mel. It was the right time for the wildflowers, love the shots with the butterflies.

LOL, a Casa Capuns! Sounds like heaven ...

deladeb -

I heard about that bridge too, will definitely have to fit it into sometime.

Good eye Ingo - we laughed at the Casa Capuns too.

Day 4 –

We took the bus to the village of Flims (getting off at Dorf Post, 4.20 CHF each with ½ fare card), which is dominated by the high sloping plateau of Flimserstein, and the landscape of which was formed by a natural disaster, the Flims Rockslide. Flims is part of the Alpenarena ski resort, which links it with the villages of Laax and Falera.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/flims.html

https://www.flims.com/

When we arrived, we realized there were no walks in the immediate vicinity, so we turned around and backtracked. We popped into the information office for details on a walk that Ingo had suggested, hoping to also incorporate the Restaurant Conn mentioned by the woman we met at Versam-Safien two days prior.

As it happened, we should have gotten off the bus at Flims-Waldhaus, and walked from there to Waldhaus-Caumasee, but our mistake gave us a nice little walking tour of the village and treated us to some gobsmacking views.

We began walking through the Flims forest on the Culinary Trail; within minutes we were gazing down upon the turquoise Caumasee, which looked bizarrely tropical and seriously out-of-place.

Oddly (well, to us anyway) there was a funicular (no charge) that led down to the lake, which was completely fenced in - access to the lake is 10 CHF per person, access to the restaurant is 4 CHF per person (refundable with purchase, I think). Pretty as it was, we were content to view it from above and ride the funicular down and back up. Leave it to the Swiss to build a funicular down to a lake (my knees were appreciative).

The day was lovely and cool – we continued walking the trail to Conn, enjoying the views and surprised by all the giant snails.

Restaurant Conn is situated in a lovely spot with tables on a patio under large shady trees. How could we possibly resist sampling the food on a Culinary Trail? It should come as no surprise that the Capuns beckoned, but they’re a bit heavy for lunch, so we shared...and good thing, because it was a massive serving (and very good, yet not as good as those we’d had in Ilanz – 40.50 CHF with a locally brewed wheat beer from Flims, a glass of wine and a 2 CHF pitcher of tap water).

http://www.conn.ch/restaurant-conn/

We continued walking to the Il Spir viewing platform; we climbed the 62 steps and dangled over the Ruinaulta, The Rhine Gorge, and soaked up the spectacular panoramic view, almost directly above the trail we walked the other day; fantastic!

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...-platform.html

We forged on to Crestasee (Trin), yet another vibrant turquoise lake surrounded by lush green. There was no fence here, but the swimmers looked like they were wearing wristbands, so I suspect it too has an admission charge. It’s here that we saw our first E-bike charging station.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/crestasee-lake.html

We settled in a table at Crestasee Restaurant overlooking that spectacular lake, and people-watched while relaxing over a cold drink...until I was seduced by the strategically placed ice cream/sorbet menu. Hello “Summertime” - a divine concoction consisting of one ball each of Citron, mango and blood orange sorbet, topped with fresh fruit and a rolled wafer – excellent - (23 CHF with drinks).

We then continued walking to Felsbach, where we caught a bus back to Ilanz via Laax (5.30 CHF each with ½ fare card).

It’d been a wonderful day – eight miles of gentle walking in pleasant weather with incredible views and good food.

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/melnq8...h/35283551103/

To be continued...

How dare you posting pictures of ice cream? ;-) Must get some right away!

Seriously, excellent pictures again. Very beautiful lakes. Glad you finally had some pleasant weather, perfect for the walk!

Keep it coming!

I.

Ingo -

I see you share my love of ice cream and sorbet:)

After the first few days, the weather was pretty wonderful.

Adelaidean -

Any plans for that Coober Pedy crash pad?

I am enjoying your report and all the photos. We will be getting a very tiny taste of Switzerland soon, and I appreciate all of your related reports. We'll only be in Lucerne and Guarda but hope to return for more next year.

Flims looks like a wonderful hike.

Looks so lovely, Mel.


...re: our Coober Pedy dugout, it was sold many years ago and my brother just did another motorbike road trip (those were his photos) from Perth back to our childhood homes in Andamooka and Coober Pedy. The Andamooka dugout was much worse, water from a well, long drop toilet up the hill, Coober Pedy was quite modern in comparison! Not sure how my mother coped with living in the outback, they both left East Germany as teenagers, migrating to Australia and meeting here in Adelaide, no family, no English (but lots of non English speaking Europeans in the outback in those days), no running water, no electricity, dirt roads. I will probably do a road trip next year, at least there is a lot more bitumen now and air conditioned cars.

Really enjoying reading this Mel and your photos are amazing!
I too am interested in hearing how you managed in the warm weather as I know this is not your favourite weather for travel (or indeed for living in particularly in those Perth summers).

We had a week in Ortisei last month (and then five days near Innsbruck in the Tirol) and it was very warm, but punctuated most afternoons by great thunderstorms, and once or twice at 4am we were woken by loud storms too! We are not as skilled hikers as you are but we certainly love being in the mountains and hope to return again next year whilst we can still walk far enough!
And yes, the ice creams in these areas are truly delicious and simply too enticing to ignore.

Great Coober Pedy story Adelaidean: people were so resilient living in those situations.

Hi love_travel...

We were in Ortisei July last year, so beautiful. Got caught in one of those thunderstorms too. We 'd love to go back. Going to Switzerland next month, so stalking Mel, LOL.

Excellent Trip Report, beautiful pictures. I always have enjoyed your reports especially from my home state on WA.

Thank you all for the kind comments. I hope my endless details help future travellers.

Adelaidean - That's quite a story. I can't imagine living in Coober Pedy or Andamooka let alone under those circumstances. We thoroughly enjoyed our short visit to Coober a few years ago. It remains at the top of my list of most unique Australian towns.

love_travel - yes, I'm still a hot weather wimp. Some things never change. There's a reason I live in the mountains - it rarely gets above 80 F here, and in recent days it's been about 48F in the mornings. My kind of weather!

Thank you Charnley - I do miss WA, the heat and flies, not-so-much.

Day 5 –

Our day began at the Ilanz Saturday Farmer’s Market – I was hoping to find some Bündner Nusstorte, a traditional Graubünden nut-filled caramelized pastry - we’d thoroughly enjoyed it on a previous trip - but no such luck today.

In the few days that we’d been in Switzerland, I’d been repeatedly amazed at the incredibly green landscape, the abundance and variety of wildflowers and the prolific gardening skills of the Swiss. Virtually every home we saw displayed window boxes awash with blooms and well-tended, healthy gardens. Flowers and bedding plants dotted the sidewalks of many shops as well as booths at the Farmer’s Market; a kaleidoscope of color we’d seldom seen during our previous visits (which are usually in the winter months). If only my thumbs were so green.

We cashed up at the ATM and popped into the train station to buy bus tickets to Vals (13.20 CHF each return with ½ fare card) then we walked back up the hill to the bus stop near the apartment.

All we knew about Vals is what Ingo had mentioned, that it’s a spa town in a side valley of the Surselva with Walser houses roofed with stone tiles made of Vals quartzite, which frankly, didn’t mean much at the time. Mrs. Heiligensetzer had also asked if we’d been to Vals yet, piquing our interest even more.

About the time we began to wonder if the schedule was wrong, the yellow post bus came trundling up the hill, some 10 minutes late; very un-Swiss-like. We took seats on the right side of the near empty bus, which turned out to be a fortuitous choice.

Ten minutes into the 38 minute journey we were starring wide-eyed into the startlingly deep valley that fell into nothingness mere feet from our windows, vibrant green mountains rising directly across from it, waterfalls seemingly everywhere. We grinned every time the bus driver tooted the three tone horn when approaching narrow corners. Nothing reminds me I’m in Switzerland more than the song of the Alps.

https://www.postauto.ch/en/three-tone-horn

Even in a country of eye-popping scenery, the drive to Vals stood out.

When purchasing our bus ticket, we discovered that there’s a reservoir southwest of Vals, but not knowing the distance involved we’d opted to only go as far as the village. A wise decision - we learned later that the bus wasn’t yet running to Zervreilasee, a high mountain man-made lake at an elevation of 1,862 meters formed when the village of Zervereila was flooded in 1957. Evidently the road is narrow and steep with grades up to 13%, and only accessible from later in June through October.

The tiny village of Vals was deserted. We went into the tourist office and picked the brain of a helpful young woman, asking if there was a walk in the area that incorporated a Bergrestaurant.
Of course there was - this is Switzerland!

I needed food before setting out on a two hour uphill walk, so we ducked into the village bakery for some pre-hike energy; self-serve lattes, a tasty cream filled coronet for me and a slice of Nusstorte for Bill (14 CHF).

Then began the 4.4 mile climb up to Hängela-Hütte, which took us 2.5 hours - slowed by my incessant photo taking and a wrong turn neither of us could explain. As we worked our way up and above the lush green valley, the views got better and better – snow capped mountains, fields of colorful wildflowers and cows that practically posed for us.

One bend in the road turned into another, and another, and another...just when I thought I couldn’t possibly walk another step, we came upon a chalet that I desperately hoped was the Bergrestaurant, but it didn’t look quite right. Bill approached the men outside the building – who said “Keine” and pointed UP. Uh-oh. My knee screamed, my heart sank, but we forged on...and on...and on. A couple whizzed past us on electric bikes; we jealously scowled.

We finally arrived at the tiny, rustic and oh-so-inviting Hängela-Hütte, settling in for an excellent lunch on the sun terrace, the mountains directly in front of us; the views outstanding. As we tucked into a plate of local cheese and dried meats, a bowl of barely soup and a small bottle of Sylvaner Riesling, the exhaustion and exasperation magically slipped away (57 CHF).

https://www.haengela.ch/index.php

Thunderclouds moved in as we walked back to Vals, cutting through the woods on a Bergweg, my knee giving me serious grief (and still tormenting me some eight weeks later, I think Switzerland killed it).

Some 7.7 miles later we were back in Vals, with time to spare before the next bus. So we walked further into the village via a bridge, admired the buildings and quartzite roofs, and cooled our heels on the terrace of Hotel Alpina. Bill went for his usual Weizenbier. I opted for the Hausgemachter Valiser Gold – Melissen-Sirup mit Limette, Minze & Melon, which was wonderful, and rather pretty (12.40 CHF).

Vals was a big hit with both of us.

We sat on the left side of the bus for the return to Ilanz, soaking up more of those fabulous views, although a bit obscured in low cloud. Then it was back to our apartment for a rest, and then down to Hotel Obertor for a ‘light’ dinner. Ha! I went for the barley soup again and talked Bill into ordering a small plate of Bizzochels, thinking it was either a typo for *Pizzochels or a regional spelling.

The Bizzochels were indeed Pizzochels and they were fabulous - decadent little pillows of butter, cream and cheese covered joy. This version was served with applesauce, which was lost on us, but otherwise they were divine. My fork kept straying to Bill’s plate - he was kind enough not to stab me with his - 53 CHF including a small salad and three glasses of wine.

* Unless I’m mistaken, they’re also known as Pizokel, Pizzöcar or Pizzoccheri

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/melnq8...57684322978144


To be continued...

lovely description of your day, Mels, and thanks for the link to the Hängela-Hütte - I particularly enjoyed trying to decipher the local dialect!

Indeed annhig - thank goodness for translation programs!

Finally a piece of Nusstorte! And barley soup (yum!) Hängelahütte is a gem. The plate of cheese and dried meat (I saw Salsiz, Speck and Bündner Fleisch - and a piece of goat cheese also, right?)

Fantastic scenery again. Looks like you were a bit too early for the typical Alpine wildflowers, though.