Catch up Time!

Her perspective….

DW-JFK – 1st class – nice flight, chatted with flight attendant about Ipads, and our favorite apps. Told me about Boggle for Ipad. Duly noted & purchased.
Visited with our friend Ralph at JFK…..so great to see him, catch up….note to self, we are all getting old! Additional note to self……oh well!
Flight from JFK to ZRH – what can I say? I’m spoiled. I enjoy my first class seat to Europe. Have not flown coach to Europe (especially when it was intentional as this trip) since 1993. That was a Kilian family adventure that we all remember well, I’m sure! So, it was totally adequate, nice crew, read books, listened to music, slept a bit. And then the best part, it was over!
Bahnhof Zurich – Starbuck’s. Ahhh, coffee….that definitely helped! Added bonus, Zurich Starbuck’s mug to add to my collection.
On to the train headed to Lucerne. Hotel was not ready, wandered around the city for a bit. Beautiful city, cloudy day but a nice walk.
Back at the hotel, slept soundly for a few hours & then went out for dinner.
Cheese fondue…..how stereotypical! No matter, VERY good! Sat outside in the square which reminded me of Sweden last summer. Very nice evening made nicer by the spontaneous songs being sung every so often a few tables over.
Back to the hotel, stayed up fairly late but eventually got a good night’s sleep. Nice breakfast at the hotel & a visit with a young couple from Connecticut who are nearly at the end of their visit. Quick taxi drive to the next village to pick up our car & we were off for Pontresina. We had a brief stop in Austria on the way where we got some snacks at the local Sparr, wandered a bit & continued on. We also drove into Liechtenstein where we took a walk around a castle apparently still in use.
Roads remind me a little or Ireland – they are VERY narrow. There seems to be a lot of traffic including some hikers & a lot of bicycles. The scenery driving up here was gorgeous – crystal clear water that followed us for miles, it turned green or blue depending on the light. Some snow on the Alps, lots of bridges, roads that leave little room for error but give you a chance to look over the side & admire the view down below. Pontresina reminds me of a medina in Morocco (does everything on this trip remind me of someplace else?) – kind of a walled area where we are staying.

On the advice of the hotel proprietor, we headed down the street last night to the last street fair of the season. It was a lot of fun. This trip seems to be punctuated with music and last night did not disappoint. The German band playing outside for most of the evening was wonderful - everything from 50’s to bubble gum to classic rock – Dire Straits, Beatles, Stones, Van Morrison, Billy Joel. They played on and off for about 5 hours. We sat front row, outside, eating dinner, drinking wine & enjoying. Fun night!

Lago di Livigno

After purchasing tickets for the Bernina Express for Sunday morning, we headed off this morning for the National Park. We crossed the border into Italy, enjoying our picnic lunch alongside Lago di Livigno. There are waterfalls coming from the Alps high above, snowfall melting – very beautiful. The Alps look almost unreal, as if they are carved very precisely against the backdrop of an ever changing sky – gray, clouds, sun, they look amazing no matter where they pose!
Back in Pontresina this afternoon we took our first ski lift ride to the top of Alp Languard. At 2330 meters it is a midrange height compared to some we’d like to get to the top of in the next few days.
Switzerland so far – absolutely picture perfect. Everything I imagined & NOT 105 degrees. What more could you ask for?