St. Moritz is a city with two faces. Appears bright, trendy, sometimes aristocratic. Vedette high society since 1864 invariably fails to fascinate anyone who is close to its skiing or luxury shopping center, but because this tends to remove from the sight of his most intimate feelings and genuine. Use the artifice and cosmopolitanism as a tool of defense, real label to honor the title of capital of the Alpine winter tourism. So did the Bernina Express Railway herald his most faithful, the extraordinary entertainer can transform a point in the Engadine arrival, instead of discovering the authenticity of Switzerland.
Yet behind the city opens up a world of enchantment that comes from Tirano railway leaves the ambiguous taste with a bite of satiety mind-numbing. The vertigo of the viaduct Brusio, the retreat of the glaciers of colossal Morteratsch, the geological oddities in the muffler plasmatesi Giants Cavaglia: i could do 61 km from the Italian border to the capital Engadine to satisfy the thirst of surprise for each visitor.
If, however, UNESCO has decided to place under safeguards the entire path traversed on the Albula, Appendices of the German-speaking Switzerland, a reason to go further we must necessarily, and this is called the Glacier Express, the train twin of the much more popular Kleine Rote.
If, however, UNESCO has decided to place under safeguards the entire path traversed on the Albula, Appendices of the German-speaking Switzerland, a reason to go further we must necessarily, and this is called the Glacier Express, the train twin of the much more popular Kleine Rote.
Filisur Already, the first stage of the direct route to Zermatt, one intuits that the railway is slowly sending in a superhuman territory: here was in fact found the only copy of reticodattilo, a reptile of the Upper Triassic with such monstrous crest on the nose and jaw sharp tusks, before they take effect the new theories about the "lost world" described by Conan Doyle. A little further it is then suspended on the wide arch of the viaduct Landwasser, as if heaven and earth are now only linked by this single step.
In fact, the rugged gorge Schyn was well fortified with towers and castles, which rivals the puissance verticalizations Graubünden and conveys the same sense of security that releases pressure from the wagons.
Ambition. Titanic challenge. Longing to the peaks. The Glacier Express advances with the unflappable belief that they can break all limits, the son of a generation now far away, votatasi heart and soul to the positivism of reason, yet aware of the drama of Fall: The line dates back to the contradictory period between 1890 and 1930, when a group of pioneers dared to bend the stubbornness of the mountain to the yoke of technology, using the ingenious combination of hairpin tunnels, viaducts and rack systems. No coincidence that some sections of the railway reaching a gradient of 12.5%, then such as to nullify any claim of compliance.
Nestled in the valley, the abbey of Disentis seems then erected to remember that too much is not at the bottom of the real dimension of man, it is necessary to preserve in your heart with humility that, even today, is based Standing in the oldest specimen of monumental Swiss Benedictine austere enough troops to desist from crossing the unwanted step Lukmanier, considered crucial point to undermine the heart of the Alps since the emperor Otto I and Frederick Barbarossa.
From here on the way back to be so steep and treacherous, having to constantly resort to the use of the rack: verbatim the Glacier Express raises its head, with the clear intention of undermining the highest peak High whole journey. Fatigue and stubborn. Meter by meter reaches 2033, near Oberalppass, the point at which the ice of Graubünden spectacularly reflected in the lake that bears the name of the pass: this is a natural paradise for those who want to dedicate themselves to activities in the snow (in the direction of Andermatt meet 34 skiing facilities and over 166 km of slopes), but even for those who believe that the excursions in the folds of the Gotthard conceal the definitive answers to the audacity of the Glacier.
Suddenly, however, pitch dark. The capped peaks, the fury of the rivers, the dance of the trees disappear with a wet sponge. The earth fell silent. Left with the sinking feeling of being plunged into an abyss luciferin opened under the rails, an insistence now inevitable punishment for recidivism. No. It is not the hand of an angry god Olympic. Nor is the punishment for having despised Babel. Inside the gallery Furka-Basis actually opens a passage of twenty kilometers from 1982 to date, intends to beat the winter chill and allow the articulation of traffic without any interruption of service. And 'the ultimate sacrifice imposed on the Glacier Express: give up the heights to gain the way to the sea. To break through that will not meet until at least more real obstacles to the waters of the Mediterranean. The trip to Brig is now down, calmed by the waves of the Rhone and controlled view from homes patriarchal wood in the Valais is dotted. The needles and rough edges give the mellifluous call of the baroque bell, leaving the harshness of the rock beneath the plasma scalpel civilizing. After the 270 degree bend of the tunnel, the train then slips for 150 meters into the heart of the valley.
Never trust appearances. The beautiful
Stockalperschloss spiers onion, or castle in Brig, should have remembered that the defenses do not ever go down early. Forced to face a new terrain of steep and rugged, the momentum of the race can only run aground. At the sides, thin stone bridges are desperate to find footholds, and end up staring eyes linger on the huge cone of debris near Randa. If today the nature here seems more forgiving and allows you to have a successful outcome to the thrown, it was certainly not in 1991. Mostratasi yielding to the lust for conquest of man, the mountain was scarred by a violent rockslide.
A warning, perhaps. On the other hand, the wall that leads to Zermatt is not a joke, setting a new altitude of one thousand meters, as well as a lesson in patience he has in himself all the ancient wisdom of the Alps. Su. Su. Yet a little while. The bulwark of the Valais promises a safe haven under the stone slabs of the traditional "mazot" as well as care centers now masters of the final answer to the 104-year Inderbine Ulrich, the legendary mountain guide who forgot the time the shadow of the Matterhorn.
Canino ivory no longer prey on the horizon, is the only one not to be resigned to run for that train stubborn. Growls. Ring in the cobalt sky. It keeps repeating to himself: "come back, that's for sure." No fear. The Glacier Express is now known as well bite the bullet.
When you say "Swiss precision". Coaches for the panoramic vision of 270 degrees, tilted wine glasses with stems, depending on the slope slope, grappa and brandy served using an arc drop of nearly one meter. These are just some of the small details that make the journey on the Glacier Express experience of great comfort and welfare, as well as scenic beauty. Not least are the tasty dishes that accompany the journey from St. Moritz to Zermatt (or vice versa, about www.glacierexpress.ch or www.rhb.ch), generally accessible in a day between 9 am and 6 am evening: inevitable on board the typical dark Swiss chocolate or pecan pie Graubunden, bread and pear wines of Valtellina tradition, as the effort or the White Vertemate. For those nostalgic for a service is even available in retro style, hooking the Glacier Express a Crocodile Ge 6 / 6 more than 70 years (along the Alpine Classic Pullman Express) or a steam locomotive on the way Furka-Berg.
TRAVEL PACKAGES
1) Adrastea ( www.treninorosso.it ): 3 days in combination Bernina, Glacier Express and Zermatt, with shares in person from € 349 (includes two nights accommodation in 3 star hotels Chur to Zermatt, travel in economy class flights from Milan).
2) The Sunflower ( www.ilgirasoleviaggi.it) : 3 days in the formula "Matterhorn white": it always starts from London but you arrive on the first day in Zermatt, taking the train instead. First night in Brig the second to Chur and then back away towards the Bernina Milan. From 380 € in second class.
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