The Scenic Route To Milan

Over the weekend, me and four of my flatmates decided to take a break. It's the middle of the exam period, but taking a break can be just as important as studying! That's my excuse anyway. We decided to go to Milan and take the scenic route: the mountainous Bernina Express route meanders over the Bündner Alps dropping back down into the Italian foothills. 'Picturesque' doesn't even come close.

The Bernina Express route took us into 120 tunnels and over around 50 bridges in the alpine canton of Graubünden.

The route took us through a UNESCO World Heritage Park in the Engadin (South East Switzerland). Three or four hours usually suffice to reach Milan, but taking the slow, scenic route, we spent 9 hours on the winding tracks. The time was made enjoyable, not only due to the magnificent views, but also because the train conductor was extremely friendly, taking it upon himself to sit with us and tell us jokes about the Zürchers and the Americans (with an American friend present) – just great!

The view from the village of St. Moritz.

For lunch, we made a quick pit stop at St. Moritz, the most expensive and most exclusive ski resort of Switzerland. A mountain village where jewellers and banks outnumber ski hire shops and cafés. One of the few places on Earth more expensive than Zurich! So we just had lunch and went swiftly on our way...

The Swiss Italian villages on the South side of the pass.

Crossing the border into Italy, leaving the Alps behind us, we could immediately sense that we were no longer in Switzerland. A €5 train ticket to Milan (on a less than stable train), Mediterranean heat and a slower, yet slightly chaotic approach to life all indicated that!

The cathedral – and crowds – the pope was in Milan on Sunday.

Milan is no pretty city, especially for Italian standards, but it is definitely a city worth visiting. It's not far from Switzerland either, as I mentioned earlier, it is possible to get there in four hours using the more direct train. This was my first time in Italy: the first of many I hope – even just simply for Italian cuisine. It's certainly earnt its reputation. I made the most of the occasion and filled myself like a king at each meal time – not being in Switzerland, I could afford to too!

A typical street in Milan.

A very enjoyable weekend indeed – I now hope to see more of not just Italy, but also the Italian speaking parts of Switzerland. There's something about the relaxed atmosphere which immediately appeals to me. Next stop perhaps Logarno and Locarno?

Davos Klosters Ski Resort

Sundays can be quite difficult to deal with in continental Europe. Unlike back in the UK, almost all grocery shops and supermarkets are closed on Sundays (excluding those found in major train stations). This can make forgetting to go food shopping on the Saturday before a punishing mistake. Sundays are often very quiet, even the centre of Zurich seems to become a sleepy town. One often finds himself planning how best to spend such days. Many Swiss take this opportunity to head into the Alps to enjoy the mountains.

The alpine ski resort of Davos, Graubünden.

I did the same, this Sunday. A small group of us went skiing and snowboarding in Davos Klosters. Davos lies in the canton of Graubünden in South East Switzerland and is the venue of the World Economic Forum. The ski resort itself attracts a range of public figures, including members of the British royal family for example.

We did the ski trip in a day, it's do-able as the train ride takes less than 2 hours. I wouldn't however recommend it for a day's skiing. The Davos ski resort is quite big, having around 300 kilometres of pistes, but it's spread over a large area and a number of different peaks. This means that if you want to try and ski down most of the resort, you will spend a lot of time in shuttle buses between gondula stations in the valley. No, instead, the resort is best visited over a number of days so that you can concentrate on one mountain at a time and thus minimizing time spent in shuttle buses.

The ski resort is quite large, covering the valley from Klosters to Davos.

Unfortunately the visibility on the peaks was really poor due to fog, making identifying piste boundaries almost impossible in the white out; (we even ended up finding and guiding a lost Ukrainian woman, stuck in deep snow between two pistes, less than 20 metres away from the piste she was looking for!).

That being said, despite only spending one day in the area and the poor weather, the day was really enjoyable - the snow conditions were perfect. I just couldn't see the snow I was skiing on, that's all...