Ingo

Thanks fellows! Yes, quokka, that's a promise ;-) Ok, I'll try to skip the hot chocolate in the future chapters. But ya know there was more of it, eh? ;-) And Swiss hot chocolate is the best!

Maudie, I remember that I recommended the Engadinerhof to you. Glad you it worked out fine.

deladeb, 1300 photos are not too much for two weeks and six destinations. I had taken more if it had not been my umpteenth trip to the Engadin (and I can wallpaper my rooms with pictures from there) and the weather had been better.

Ok, let's stop with the report for a moment and have a look at pictures instead. I'll split them into Hotel/Sils/excursions and post some today on kodakgallery.com - will add the link when it's done.

I.

Ingo

Hope the links work:

Sils 2008 - The village
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

Sils 2008 - The hotel
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

Will add more pics to the first album later today.

jmw444

I woke up an hour earlier this morning looking forward to the new installments. Especially enjoyed your description of the Bregaglia valley villages. And, of course, the beautiful photographs. I've got my big map by my side to see if I can locate the littlest places. J.

Proenza_Preschooler

What beautiful photos of Sils.

Why no photos of you, Ingo?

We are all waiting to see photos of you in a Speedo at the pool of Hotel Schweitzerhof.

Thin

karens

Thanks for posting the pics and this report.

<<Someday when you retire, perhaps you could publish a book called "The Church Frescoes of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria." Or perhaps not limited to churches; that could be one chapter, along with chapters on exterior trompe l'eoils, residential, public buildings.

Can I please help with this?!?! I would love to see this completed book!!

Ingo

Sorry, more pictures will follow next week. I didn't get very far with them. Too many emails to write after two weeks away.

Instead, here we go with another installment of the trip report:

Saturday, 12 July

Ghastly weather. Rain, rain, more rain. Good day for an excursion to Chur. The drive over Julier Pass was annoying - heavy traffic, road works, slow drivers. Stopped in Tiefencastel for a short visit of the church there. Nice, but not spectacular. Upon recommendation of the hotel manager who was from Chur I drove via Lenzerheide, not via Thusis (didn't have the sticker for the motorway). In Churwalder we stopped again to visit the beautiful former convent church. Shock - I realised I had left the camera bag (not the camera) in the church in Tiefencastel. Ouch! That kept the visit of the church in Churwalden a short one (I regret that, it is a very nice medieval church with a rod-screen, frescos and beautiful altars) since I had to go back - which took 25 minutes. The camera bag sat in the pew where I had left it, thank god. I had no urge to drive the curvy pass road via Lenzerheide again, so made the slight detour via Rhine valley to Chur. The scenery was even nicer - the so called Domleschg on the right bank of the Rhine river is dotted with picturesque villages, churches and castles. Lovely.

Arrived in Chur close to 1 pm - quite late. Parked in the Arcas underground parking, at the edge of the old town and inexpensive. Almost the entire old town is pedestrian zone - very nice for strolling along the cobbled alleys and (window) shopping. Though not an olympic shopper I *did* buy some clothes. 50% off was too tempting, LOL. Got some very good bargains.

It rained all the time. Brrrr. We were tired and had cappucino and an ice cream at Café Zscharler near the Arcas parking, which was ok. My main goal for the Chur trip was to see the cathedral after the recently finished restoration, so we headed up to the so called "Hof" where the Bishop resides and the cathedral is located. Time was tight since they had a mass at 5 pm. I still managed to walk around and take some photos, but didn't get inside the crypt. The woodcaved medieval altar is IMO the highlight of the late Romanesque cathedral. Couldn't get too close to it, but could see it well enough. I also loved the (pre-) Romanesque capitals of the pillars, the Gothic fresco, the old font and the altars from Renaissance to Baroque. Well worth a visit.

We were tired after the shopping and touring and the rain didn't help either. So we decided to head home - the drive was 1 hour 40 minutes via Thusis and Julier Pass. Again, I don't think the Julier is one of the most beautiful pass roads in Switzerland. However, the sun greeted us when we got closer to the pass. Blue sky in the Engadin. Whoa!

Sunday, 13 July

More rain. And colder. Who would have guessed it would turn out to become one of the best days of the trip?

The five star Hotel Waldhaus in Sils, rather ABOVE Sils, on a hill, celebrated its 100th anniversary with a "Day of the open doors". I had stayed there for a week about 15 years ago and was curious to see what had changed in the meantime. We walked (like 1100 other visitors) to the hotel at 11.30 am, were greeted by one of the owners by handshake and started the tour with a visit of the laundry, staff rooms, wine cellar, kitchen. Very interesting and perfectly organised. Grabbed a glass of white wine, then waited in a long line to get to the dining hall. We didn't really know what to expect ... and were stunned when we saw what a buffet they had there for us! Variations of smoked salmon, beef tartar, sorts of salsiz (local salami), dried meat, barley soup ... whoa. We ordered a bit of everything and sat down at a table in the dining room, feeling like being an actual overnight guest. Staff was extremely friendly, btw.

The tour continued via the music room (very beautiful Art Nouveau) with a Welte-Mignon piano from 1908 that played classical music. Funny. Then we headed up to the rooms. We saw three or four in different styles. I liked the neo-Baroque styled room (in bright green-white) the least and the nostalgic "1908" room the most. The latter had the original furniture, the tub in the bathroom stood on sculptured feet - funny. The modern style suite was very beautiful as well.

I noticed that the pool/sauna area obviously had undergone a renovation since my stay. It's much nicer now. We continued to the library/reading-writing room - which I LOVE - that has its original wooden interior. A magical place. Then through the "Arvenstübli" (Swiss pine room), the a la carte restaurant, to the bar and the lobby. Both gorgeous, in Art Deco style, like you would expect in a Grand Hotel, but not intimidating - more cosy. They had set up more buffets in the lobby - pastry and cheese, wine etc. We got goat cheese, several local Alp cheese, Tete-de-moine and Sbrinz first, then some pieces of nut cake, cookies (brownies), pralinés and coffee. All that free. We ate at a table in the bar, then changed to the lobby where we occupied a sofa in a niche plus a table/chair and got another glass of wine. Free, of course. A brass band played, people chatted ... and we met other guests from our hotel, the Edelweiss. What a great day.

At 3.30 we hurried back to our hotel (still raining), I changed, relaxed a bit and then walked to the protestant church where the Sunday afternoon concert took place. The local piano quartet played works of J. Strauss, Gluck, Haydn, v. Beethoven and Stolz - very good quality, enjoyed it a lot.

Fast walk back to the hotel to arrive right on time for the postponed wine tasting (from the Wednesday before). How kind of the hotel staff! It was our own fault that we missed it on Wednesday, right? We spent about 90 minutes "biting" wine from canton Grisons, the "Bündner Herrschaft" to be exact. All of them were excellent. If you're in the area (or live nearby: hint, hint, schuler!) try to get a bottle of wine from the wineries Adolf Boner, Malans (who cultivates the rare and delicious old grape Completer), Donatsch "Zum Ochsen", Malans, or Schloss Salenegg, Maienfeld.

quokka

*grumble grumble*
That's the sound of my stomach.

Ingo, thanks for sharing!

annhig

Hi ingo,

why, oh why, do we spend so much time rushing around cramming so many places into our trips, when we could see so much more by staying still?

preferably in the engadin. I have a friend who has written about it but I STILL haven't got there. it's definitely going on my list [along with central eurpoe as you may remember, but that's another story].

keep it coming,

regards, ann

annhig

hi ingo,

i amused myself by looking at the hotel web-site and then neckermann -is there anything they don't sell? it was a bit of a test of my german but I think I got there - quite a discount.

I must remember to give them a try when i want to buy..well, anything, I suppose, but especially hotels in germany, switzerland, or austria.

regards, ann

Ingo

quokka - only two more days and not so much food involved. Hope your stomach will feel better then ;-)

annhig - yup, I hate to do road trips. Did that in the U.S. last year and hated to pack/unpack/check in. If only staying for two days or so in one place you cannot get familiar with it. But I'll grant that 2 weeks in one place are a bit much for most travellers. Did your friend write a guide book or a published article about the Engadin? That's interesting.

Neckermann sells almost everything, yes. And they have great deals on hotels. They bought Thomas Cook a while ago which should ring a bell.

And here comes the last installment of the trip report:

Monday, 14 July

The rainy weather continued. I saw it had snowed almost down to the valley last night. The snow line was about 200 m above the valley floor. Wow. And it was cold. Freezing cold.

I strolled to the public library, checked emails, read a bit, then back to the hotel. Since the rain didn't stop we decided to make use of the voucher (provided by our hotel) for one free admission to the pool area of the 100 m away hotel Schweizerhof. Spent about two hours there, enjoyed the swimming and the jacuzzi, then back to the hotel. Had another nut cake and hot chocolate in the lobby, read some more, took a nap. At 6.30 pm it was time to attend the weekly "Welcome Apéro", which was more of a farewell Apéro for us, with a glass of prosecco and delicious dried meat slices wrapped around grissini sticks. Yummy. Dinner, short chat with other guests and to bed early.

Tuesday, 15 July

Blue sky. And I mean deep blue. Crisp air, cold, almost unbelievable for July. The humidity is usually quite low in the Engadin, but 32 % ... geez.

Despite the sunny weather the choice for a last hike was limited: the north facing slopes of the mountains were still covered by snow down to almost 2200 m. So we decided to make use of the "cable cars included" program and ride the cable cars on the sunny slopes above St. Moritz. Drove to Suvretta, parked the car and took the chair-lift up. Hiked a half hour to Signal, then down by cable car to St. Moritz Bad. Had a look at the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains and the beautiful garden in the spa area, then took the bus to Celerina.

From Celerina we took the gondola up to Marguns, the very popular ski area. Had a hot chocolate there, then walked the panoramic hiking path down to Chantarella. Lots of benches with great views along the way, so it took a bit longer than expected, LOL. And took lots of photos - particularly beautiful views with the fresh snow on the mountains at the opposite side of the valley. Took the funicular up to Corviglia and the cable car to Piz Nair (3025 m). Tons of fresh snow there too, it was cold so we didn't stay long. Down by cable car and funicular to St. Moritz Dorf, bus to Somplaz, got the car and drove back to the hotel. We had not signed up for the weekly specialty dinner in the Fex Valley since we had to pack that evening. Sad.

Wednesday, 16 July

Departure. We will definitely be back in winter.

annhig

Hi ingo,

my friend writes books aimed at serious walkers, rather than ramblers like me. [and, if you don't mind my saying so, you].

he's called Kev Reynolds and if you google him, you'll see all the walking books he's published. I think he's back in the Engadine this summer to update his guide to that area.

I didn't realised that it was Neckermann who'd bought Thomas Cook. it's a long way from temperance tours by train which is how Mr. Cook started, I think. I'll certainly be suing them if we ever get round to our Central Europe trip.

I love the idea of the sort of trip you did on your last day; I'm always worried with plans like that that something will go wrong and we'll end up stranded somewhere remote needing a taxi back at huge expense.

thanks for the report,

regards, ann

annhig

oops, that was a freudian slip - i meant "using" not "suing" of course.

Ingo

Kev Reynolds? Wow. I have a book that he wrote, "Walking in the Alps" which is fantastic. Please say hi to him from me. Hope he keeps up the good work.

Glad you liked the trip report.

I.

annhig

Hi Ingo,

I certainly will. he'll be thrilled I'm sure that he's read in Dresden. do you have the book in english or in a translation?

regards, ann

Ingo

I have that book in English! I don't think it is available in German. Hey, I might volunteer for the translation ;-)

I'll look out for his (updated version) of the Walks in the Engadine as well.

Ingo

annhig

ingo - I'll let you know when it comes out.

regards, ann

Ingo

I added some more pictures to my "Sils - The Village" album. And the main album covering the hikes and excursions is also available now:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

Enjoy!

I.

swandav2000

Hi Ingo,

153 shots right to my jealous heart!! They're absolutely lovely, each one enticing me to come and linger among the peaks. Ahh, peaks and lakes and glaciers -- doesn't get much better!!

I can imagine how incredibly lucky you felt to have two full weeks to enjoy it. Wow. Great trip, great photos!!

Thanks so much for posting!

s

jmw444

Oh, Ingo. I've finally worked my way through all the beautiful photographs. Many interruptions as the summer comes to an end for me (including, I confess, a bit of distraction at the US forum, trying to find B&B's with the same allure as my Albergo Panorama).

Anyway, with my Hallweg map by my side, I've been enjoying the pictures of the lakes and the villages, especially Vicosoprano and Bondo. Also the dazzling trompe l'oeil ceilings at Coltura, and the pictures from Churwalden (that alterpiece!), and the cathedral at Chur. Thank you so much for giving us such pleasure. J.

Ingo

Thanks to both of you, s and jmw! Good to know you enjoyed the pictures. It was fun to go through them again myself.

The trompe-l'oeil pictures were especially for you, jmw, and the lake shots for you, s! ;-)