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Chur, Switzerland
June 4th, Friday - Chur, Switzerland, by TD
The skies weren’t clear for our drive from
Salzburg to Switzerland. We wondered, “how can it continue to
rain?” The rivers we crossed were swollen and over their banks
in some places. Our route takes us into Germany and then back
to Austria. In this part of the world the mountains determine
the route, roads were constructed. We wished that the clouds
weren’t covering the peaks. It would have been spectacular
scenery.
Shortly after passing by Chiemsee (a beautiful lake), we
turned south to return to Austria and Innsbruck. The rain was
lessening and skies looked like they might clear. It was our
intent to stop and drive through Innsbruck but it didn‘t look
very exciting from the highway so we opted to pass it by. Road
construction and a lack of knowledge over directions (you can
never really tell how far down a road they choose the city to
use) caused a small misstep in our travel. Fortunately, an
English speaking fruit vendor steered us back on course.
 West from Innsbruck, the route should be called “tunnel
alley”. We decided to count them, there were so many shown on
the map. Voids in the roadway on the map gave us that
indication. Most of them were short, but some were a few kilometers
long. At the entrance to each was a sign with the length. The
longest turned out to be over 10 KM long and finally had a
price tag on it. We knew “no tolls” was too good to be true.
Traversing right into the heart of the eastern Alps with a
roadway had to come at some cost. Snowcapped peaks were now
visible to us. The forests were thick with fewer towns set
along the mountain river we followed.
 Our turn off for Vaduz, Liechtenstein was in a wide valley
region. We drove through the attractive city of Feldkirsch. It
was surprising to see such a busy city. The Swiss handle the
border for Liechtenstein and waved us right through. We
followed a large river which seems to separate the two
countries. Vaduz was a very modern city overshadowed by a
medieval castle. We stopped for lunch and a walk around the
small city center. Every building that wasn’t retail was a
bank. That’s what they are known for. The price of lunch was
shocking. It isn’t a shopping haven!
 Chur is only a half hour south of Vaduz. It is a city of
30,000 people and the home of our friends, Geni and Madgalena
Rohner. We had only been here for a day on one previous visit.
Our time has always been spent at their mountain holiday home
near Klosters-Davos. On two previous visits, there was 3 feet
of snow on the ground, so to see a green Switzerland is new to
us. While driving into the city, DW spotted their street name.
“How lucky to find our way that easily”. We wasted some time
in the city getting some money, since we’d arrived early. The
girls, Amanda and Seraina didn’t get home from school until 4.
 They were excited to receive their company, even if we
couldn’t talk to each other very well. The girls are fluent in
German and Italian from school but English doesn’t start for
them until the seventh grade. Magdalena arrived home shortly
afterwards to help translate for us all. We sat and ate some
snacks, chatting about life and our trip. Amanda is in a fun
run tonight which we are going to watch after Geni comes home
from work. The run is a relay race through the pedestrian
center of Chur. We watched and cheered as the kids started and
finished. AD stayed home with Seraina watching “Finding Nemo”.
Seraina was surprised by how much she understood of the
English movie. Magdalena made dinner when we returned. The
kids seem to be getting along well, even with the language
barrier. It was nice sitting and chatting through the rest of
the evening. I went with Geni for Anka’s late night walk
before bed.
June 5th, Saturday - Chur and Cavadurli, by TD
Morning began slowly in the Rohner
household. I got up first and sat in the lounge room writing.
The day looks like it will be partly cloudy. Anka, their dog,
has warmed up to us. She’s 13 years old and going blind. All
the floppy hair over her eyes must make it very difficult to
see. She surprised me by rolling over and offering her belly.
Our first question when we arrived was, “is Anka still alive”?
(Since she was here for our first trip to Cavadurli in 1992)
After Madgalena got up, AD & I asked “if we could take her for
her morning walk.” She is very well trained and runs ahead
then waits at every crosswalk.
 The girls and Geni got up slowly cherishing their Saturday
morning freedom. After breakfast, DW & I walked into the town
center with Magdalena to a farmers market. AD stayed back to
kick a soccer ball with Amanda in the field next to the house.
Local farmers bring in their produce every Saturday morning.
Residents filled the streets shopping for vegetables, bedding
plants, cheese and other goods. The city has successfully
turned most of the oldest section in Chur into a pedestrian
zone. I asked about merchant resistance and fears. There had
been but it was proven unnecessary. The zone is appreciated by
both sellers and customers.
Loaded up with salad makings, local cheese and sausage, we
walked back to the house. I drove Geni to a home center (they
live, very happily, without a car) and then to the grocery for
our heavy food shopping. Magdalena would have ridden a bike
with baskets for this shopping. We ate lunch out on the
balcony and then packed up for Cavadurli.
 Cavadurli is a train station sitting on the mountain side
above Klosters, near Davos. It consists of 2 old station
buildings that are now rented as holiday homes. Our friends
have been fortunate enough to have one for about 15 years.
Skiers are the main passenger traffic for the railroad between
November and March. You can press a button to signal the
engineer a stop is necessary. Unfortunately, in the off
season, they will only drop off 3 times a day, which limits
the schedule on arrivals. The 3:20 train from Chur dropped us
off at Cavadurli at 4:30. A light mist had started to fall
during the trip.
Geni made some kindling to start the fire. Almost everyone in
the Swiss countryside heats with wood. The fire took the chill
off the house quickly. Seraina brought a friend, Urrsena,
along. Amanda stayed in Chur, going to a sleepover for a
friends birthday. The two girls played pickup sticks with AD
before becoming enthralled with some game on Seraina’s new
cell phone. They spent most of the weekend side-by-side
whispering to each other and giggling over the phone.
We enjoyed some wine and snacks at the lounge room table
before making tacos for dinner. It is an easy dinner that
everyone enjoyed. The kids watched “Finding Nemo” again while
we played cards and dice. Geni and Magdalena wanted to play
some of the games we had taught them during our last visit.
The rains had continued to pour down through out the evening.
Hopefully it will clear up overnight as predicted.
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AD Journal |
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June 3 - The trip to Switzerland
Another long trip to meet friends in
Switzerland. On the way we went through 29 tunnels. One
of the tunnels was 6 miles long. On the way we stopped
to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the country of
Liechtenstein. My dad said,” that he almost died when he
saw the price of the lunch.” In total the bill was $60
for three dishes and they were not very big.
Our friends have two girls, Seraina and Amanda. They
said that “they would be home at 4”, so we walked around
the town and went to a bank to get money. When we
arrived their girls came to the door. Seraina is 13
years old and the Amanda is 10. They do not know English
but speak Italian, French and German. They tried to talk
to us anyway. We had fun playing games, soccer and
riding our scooters. They have a dog, Anka, who is 13
years old. She was a nice dog and liked to have her
belly scratched a lot.
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Hiking in the Alps...» |
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