After such a busy Saturday, on Sunday (June 27th), we slept in. After breakfast we walked down with Eva to the old town, where we saw an exhibition on baroque church objects from Zug at the city museum in Burg Zug (Zug Castle). Included in the exhibition was a small baroque organ. Incidentally, Mary Joy and I got in free because our Swiss Saver Pass covers not only trains, but most museums in Switzerland. We had had to pay nothing for any of the trains or cable cars on the Rigi. The pass will end up paying for much more than its cost.
After we left the museum, we walked down to the lakeshore and strolled among the citizens of Zug, delighting in the warm sun. We went back to the apartment, had a light lunch with Andreas, then we all caught the bus (again, free for Mary Joy and me because of our pass) to the train station, where Mary Joy and I said our goodbyes and caught the 3:58 train to Thalwil. There we caught another train to Chur, where we caught yet another to Samedan, one of the resort towns of the Engadine (the valley of the river Inn, which flows into Austria, through Innsbruck, then to the Danube).
The train ride covered the same route as the first part of the Bernina Express, a scenic ride that we would finish on Tuesday. I am running out of adjectives to describe the scenery. It is awesome beyond words. The railroad itself is a major feat of engineering, studied by those designing mountain railways for its ingenious use of tunnels, switchbacks and spiral overpasses.
After going through the Albula Tunnel, the longest high railroad tunnel in Europe, we ended up in Samedan, where we changed trains again for the short ride to Pontresina, arriving there after a little more than four hours en route.
Pontresina is not as ritzy as nearby St. Moritz, and is more of a hiking and mountain-climbing destination (it has several climbing schools). It is stretched out along the Bernina River. Our hotel, Hotel Station, is nice, but not as expensive as most hotels in Pontresina. It does have free wi-fi, which we may not see again until Dublin.
After we left the museum, we walked down to the lakeshore and strolled among the citizens of Zug, delighting in the warm sun. We went back to the apartment, had a light lunch with Andreas, then we all caught the bus (again, free for Mary Joy and me because of our pass) to the train station, where Mary Joy and I said our goodbyes and caught the 3:58 train to Thalwil. There we caught another train to Chur, where we caught yet another to Samedan, one of the resort towns of the Engadine (the valley of the river Inn, which flows into Austria, through Innsbruck, then to the Danube).
The train ride covered the same route as the first part of the Bernina Express, a scenic ride that we would finish on Tuesday. I am running out of adjectives to describe the scenery. It is awesome beyond words. The railroad itself is a major feat of engineering, studied by those designing mountain railways for its ingenious use of tunnels, switchbacks and spiral overpasses.
After going through the Albula Tunnel, the longest high railroad tunnel in Europe, we ended up in Samedan, where we changed trains again for the short ride to Pontresina, arriving there after a little more than four hours en route.
Pontresina is not as ritzy as nearby St. Moritz, and is more of a hiking and mountain-climbing destination (it has several climbing schools). It is stretched out along the Bernina River. Our hotel, Hotel Station, is nice, but not as expensive as most hotels in Pontresina. It does have free wi-fi, which we may not see again until Dublin.
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