Wanderings: Viafier Retica over the Swiss Alps

March 16, 2024

The Swiss Canton of Graubünden spans the summit of the Alps in the southeast of the country, bordering Italy and Austria. A multi-lingual canton, its residents speak Swiss-German (Allemenic), Italian, and Romansh (1).

The two other railways traversing the Swiss Alps (both further west) do so through deep tunnels. The meter guage railway through Graubünden (2) goes up and over the Alps. I was up earlier than planned (3), so I hopped on the first train to Chur. Many other passengers on the train brought skis with them, some already wearing their ski boots (4).

Changing to the meter-guage train at Chur, the first few miles are dual guage, before the narrow-guage Ratian railways swings south to begin the climb to St. Moritz. The rain in Zurich had not penetrated far south into the mountains, although clouds clung to the hillsides.

Arriving in St. Moritz at 10:00, I spied a trail around the lake. Cleared of snow on the west and north, the trail was a little icy on the east side, where evergreens prevented the sun from penetrating. Hearing indistinct announcements echoing across the valley, I noticed a ski race happening on the town's slopes. I pondered what appeared to be straight lines running across some of the mmountains. Also a commin sight further south on the rails, these were avalanche breaks, seemingly designed to disperse (not stop) the energy of an acalanche.

Having circumambulated the lake (about 3 miles), I climbed to the town, perched about 300 feet above the lake, to find lunch. A local restaurant's menu offered hamburgers for 48 Swiss Franks (> US $50) (5).

The train further south to Italy runs hourly, but was crowded on this pleasant Saturday. The line's summit at Opsizia Bernina marks the watershed between the Danube River and the waters flowing south to the Adriatic via Italy's Po Valley. A frozen lake at the summit was busy with paraskiiers taking advantage of the northerly breeze.

Desending through tunnels and across bridges, glaciers and avalanche breaks were frequently visible. Poschiavo Lake was visible far below, long before the train reached there via 7 switchbacks. A small station at the lake is known as Miralago. Previously known as "Miserable" due to the high peaks preventing the sun from reaching the lake for much of the year, tourism is said to have increased when they changed the name.

The train traversed a 360° viaduct to lose altitude. Into Italy and through the streets of Tirano, the journey ended. An Italian train runs from here to Milan, but there was substitute bus transportation due to "lavori in corso" (work is progress) for the first 15 miles to Sondrio. Most people waited in a crowd near the bus, but I saw a woman with a Trenord (northern train) uniform on. I stood next to her and was the second person on when the bus pulled up.

Sunset as the train sped by Lake Como, where a mass of people got on the train, standing the hour+ to Milan, from where my flight home departs tomorrow. The train ride across the Alps was a good way break up the trip home from Central Asia.

(1) An endangered language, Romash is an official language of Graubünden (called Grisen in Romansh).

(2) Generally referred to as the Ratian Railway in English.

(3) Central Europe is 4 hours behind Uzbekistan.

(4) Stiff plastic boots, which could not have been comfortable on the train ride.

(5) St. Moritz is the playground of the rich and famous. Being neither, I opted for a modest Italian place.