Day 5 - Glacier Express over Oberalp Pass |
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The world-famous, slowest express train on its
magnificent journey over the roof of Europe. From the Bernina Mountains to the
Matterhorn in Zermatt. The train ride from St. Moritz to Zermatt is 8 hours.
Between Chur and Zermatt is 6 hours.
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There are three daily Glacier Express (GE) trains eastbound from Zermatt to St.
Moritz; and three Glacier Express trains westbound from St. Moritz to Zermatt (less in winter.)
Hence, it seems easier to get reservations on the GE than on the Bernina Express.
But if your schedule is not flexible, or if you go during peak season, it is best to make reservations for GE way ahead of time.
This is the view from our train while we climbed the mountains.
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Near the 2033-meter Oberalp pass. Outside the window it was
endless, blinding white.
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The beautiful glacier gorge and river along the train route (scanned from a postcard). |
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Got off the Glacier Express at Andermatt, approximately 1300 meters
above the sea level.
It was snowing and raining lightly when we arrived.
(We took this picture to show the misty, snow-capped mountains in the background.)
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The only public transportation from Andermatt back to
Disentis is by train, so we rode train over Oberalp pass one more time to go
back to Disentis (then continued to Chur.) Along the way we got off at
Disentis and spent a few hours visiting its Abbey and touring the old town.
This picture was taken at the abbey ground of Disentis. (Again we
took this picture to record the beautiful scenery behind us - both the green
mountains and the snow-capped mountains further beyond.)
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A worker "cutting" the grass. (Can we get this guy a
riding mower?)
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Most Swiss public phones come with email keyboards, as shown
in this photo at Disentis' rail station. You pay for the email
with a phone card, just like paying for a phone call.
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From the train, we saw a rainbow near the town of
Reichenau-Tamins, 10 minutes before arriving at Chur.
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Back in Chur, we had dinner at Restaurant Calanda.
The helpful waitress,
Yvonne, tried to translate the menu into English for us. (Are you sure
this is the Colonel's secret recipe?)
Calenda brews local beer and the restaurant is famous for its chicken
dishes. See the outside of the restaurant here.
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