We had the opportunity to move a little more leisurely this morning than the past two mornings, which was fortunate because I (Becky) needed a little extra time to adjust to the altitude. Or maybe it was all the cheese and wine at dinner last night. Either way, the extra time was welcome, as was the hotel breakfast. Chuck and I got to experience German hotel breakfast during a past trip to Bavaria and fell in love with the cold cuts, cheese, and fruit they serve. Swiss hotel breakfast is similar, but also offers a special overnight oatmeal (bircher muesli), which really hits the spot and goes a long way to cure altitude adjustment woes.

After breakfast, we packed up and caught a train to a small alpine town called Samedan. We tucked away our luggage in some lockers at the train station and embarked on a walking tour of Samedan. It was a bright summer morning and the air was cool and crisp. The town itself is small but mountainous and the walking tour took us up into the hills through fields of wildflowers around old Catholic and Protestant churches before winding back down into the town.

It was a short tour but an excellent opportunity to test out our endurance for hill walking at higher altitude (6,000 feet). We had hoped that the cooler temperatures and lower humidity would help offset the thinner mountain air and so far that seems to be the case. We were both huffing and puffing at the top of the hill, but neither of us collapsed.

It was also our first opportunity to take advantage of the public fountains that are all over Switzerland. They seem decorative, but you can refill your water bottle at most of them unless they indicate otherwise (“kein Trinkwasser”).

After our walking tour, we headed back to the train station to catch a train to Chur where we would catch the Glacier Express to Zermatt. We had around an hour-and-20-minute layover in Chur and there was one more Engadine local specialty that I wanted to try (a dish called pizokel that combines spätzle with bündnerfleisch, local air dried beef). So we stashed our luggage in lockers yet again and found a restaurant that had it on the menu. It was delicious and everything I hoped it would be, so worth the stress of hurrying back to the train station to catch our train (though I’d be singing a different tune if we’d missed our train).

The Glacier Express is somewhat a deceptive name, as we saw lots of evidence of glaciers past but few (if any) actual glaciers. We definitely saw more glaciers yesterday on the Bernina Express. Nevertheless, the scenery was beautiful and more or less consistent with what we saw yesterday (but with notably fewer glaciers). It was past 8 when we finally arrived in Zermatt, so we caught an e-taxi to our rental apartment and checked in for the night.

Today’s Highlights

• Bircher muesli
• A beautiful alpine morning in the cutest little alpine village
• Pizokel!
• Beautiful scenery along the Glacier Express, as well as from the regional train to Chur

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventures

• Strategically choosing mountain adventures around Zermatt, depending on the weather forecast and visibility