22 Sep 12 Zermatt - Davos
Zermatt - Davos
The glacier express. We boarded the train after another hearty
Italian inspired continental breakfast. We knew that there was a
high chance that the glacier express was going to be super touristy
but we were just being lazy saving on the tricky train changes. We
expected the train to be packed but it turned out to be relatively
empty - a definite tourist warning sign in peak season. Still the
Asians came along with us to keep us company anyway and first class
was quite full.
The weather was good again for the journey. One advantage were the
light commentary points along the way which were essentially a tease
as they obtained our interest then stopped when more details were
needed.Nice scenic journey which would have been made all the better
if there had been a blanketing of snow on everything.
Davos
We arrived and jumped on the next train that pointed to our
destination station. The glacier express did not deliver us to the
required station. Vanessa over thought the possibilities and was
worried that the sign showed where the train had been rather than
where it was going so it was relief when we did indeed arrive at
Davos.
This is an ugly town do not stay in this place unless of course it
is covered in snow. Vanessa seems to think that it was not that ugly
but I think that concrete buildings in a nice alpine area do not go
together having been in Switzerland. The best part was leaving and
seeing that indeed the area was nice was a lovely aquamarine lake on
the edge of town. There also were distant snow capped mountains.
Next was a 1.2km walk to the hotel. We had a master plan. We took
images of the instructions on the camera but realized once we had
arrived that the step by step instructions were actually incorrect.
There was a caveat about the accuracy and it was correctly. We
regrouped and re-planned and despite Vanessa's desire to walk in the
opposite direction ended up at our hotel without too much bother.
The hotel however was nice. We got upgraded from basic to superior.
Not quite sure what that means but we had a room with shower and a
tv and a balcony with sun chairs and blankets. The receptionist was
nice as well however I need to subtract some points as she sent me
down the street on an guarantee to get some euros from an ATM but I
found that it only issued Swiss francs. The other problem was the
map she gave me had small print and I had no glasses with me so had
to guess my way back to the hotel once I got lost.
The region is actually really nice with ski slopes all over the
place and it is no wonder that it is popular in winter.
It was nice to sleep in a bed long enough for my length!
