Engadine Valley & Swiss NP
10/29/07 09:29 AM *Adventure
There are four major language groups in Switzerland,
the smallest of which is found in the southeast part
of the country between Italy and Austria. The
language is Romansch and we found this to be an area
of lovely towns virtually undiscovered by American
tourists. Of course that meant that language was a
bit of a problem but most hotel and restaurant folks
spoke just a wee bit of English, so we got by.
It was our first, but by no means last, experience of detraining in a town where we had no reservations. I left the girls with our bags and wandered around Zernez checking for an affordable but decent place. The hostels were not up to our standards, but I found a nice, almost deserted, family run hotel for $40 per person per night (breakfast included). Throughout the trip, we never did have a problem finding an affordable place to stay.
Zernez is also just north of the Swiss National Park, the only national park in Switzerland, and the only area preserved in its natural state (most of Switzerland is given over to small farms and ranches or "alps", as they call them. It turns out that in its natural state, Switzerland looks a lot like California or Colorado. We took a bus and got out just south of the park; my faithful companions hiked back partway with me, including a summit, and then caught another bus back to town. I continued over another ridge and hiked back to our hotel thus successfully crossing the SNP from south to north. Woo-hoo!
I got snowed on, rained on, hailed on, blown around and saw an ibex and a herd of chamoix.
It was our first, but by no means last, experience of detraining in a town where we had no reservations. I left the girls with our bags and wandered around Zernez checking for an affordable but decent place. The hostels were not up to our standards, but I found a nice, almost deserted, family run hotel for $40 per person per night (breakfast included). Throughout the trip, we never did have a problem finding an affordable place to stay.
Zernez is also just north of the Swiss National Park, the only national park in Switzerland, and the only area preserved in its natural state (most of Switzerland is given over to small farms and ranches or "alps", as they call them. It turns out that in its natural state, Switzerland looks a lot like California or Colorado. We took a bus and got out just south of the park; my faithful companions hiked back partway with me, including a summit, and then caught another bus back to town. I continued over another ridge and hiked back to our hotel thus successfully crossing the SNP from south to north. Woo-hoo!
I got snowed on, rained on, hailed on, blown around and saw an ibex and a herd of chamoix.
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