We’ve had all four seasons today. We woke to low cloud and grey skies again in Lake Como which followed us all the way along our drive north along the lakes edge. The drive alternated between pretty views our across the lake and long stretches in tunnels that whipped us through the mountains that tumble down steeply into the water.
As we drove north we continued to pass beautiful villas and hotels for a while but gradually the towns became more low key and working class. When we left the lake behind we started to climb…and climb…and climb…pretty much for the entire day!
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| Flower boxes brighten a grey day |
Crossing the border into Switzerland was a non- event, they just waved us through and shortly afterward we turned off to limb up to take a look at the tiny town of Soglio. Soglio has the nickname the “Gateway to Paradise” because it is nestled on a ledge way up on a mountain overlooking the beginning of the Engadin Valley, with fabulous views. Well, the low cloud totally obscured the views for us but we enjoyed wandering around the maze of tiny cobblestone lanes and Re-acquainting ourselves with the distinctive Swiss alpine homes. The splashes of colour from pots and window boxes brightened the grey morning.
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| Mountain lakes |
As we drove further east along the valley towards Saint Moritz the skies brightened and patches of blue sky and sunshine appeared and we were finally able to see the peaks of the mountains above. The lakes in the Engadin valley are beautiful and there were still a few hardy people enjoying the sailing at this tail end of the summer. At this season there were only patches of snow left on the peaks but as we passed Saint Moritz and headed up to the Bernina Pass we were excited to pass a couple of glaciers as well as some alpine lakes with that distinctive milky blue glacier-water color.
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| Its cold! |
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| Above the tree line |
We took several photos but it was damn cold out of the car! From the top of the Bernina pass we wound down through lots of bends before crossing the border again back into Italy. The hills above the roads here are dotted with racks designed to stop snow falling across the road in the winter and we passed through several places where the road is roofed to prevent it being buried under snowfall.
We arrived in the pretty alpine town of Livigno in time for a lateish lunch. Many of the shops are closed as we are in the low season between the summer visitors and the ski season , but we found a bustling cafe and tucked into the tasty local risotto with porcini mushrooms, speck and Parmesan cheese.
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| “Luna” – Room of the 2nd Chakra (!?) |
The Hotel Lac Salin is one of several “wellness” hotels here in the region, specializing in spa treatments and rooms with a “zen” atmosphere. We are in one of the “Feeling” rooms, called ” Luna – the 2nd chakra ” . We haven’t been inspired to start meditating, and I’m not entirely sold on the bright orange colour of the bed, but the bath is lovely and the view down the valley was spectacular, particularly as I just managed to capture a rainbow over the village.
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| A raimbow over Livigno |
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| Colour changing bar |
Our dinner this evening was in a room that looked like it had come straight out of an illustration of “Heidi” , it feels a lot closer to Interlaken than Rome here and our waiter spoke perfect German as well as Italian. We enjoyed a drink before dinner, in the bar, which goes through colour changes from blue, to pink, to red in turn. I’m not sure if this is meant to be good for our “aura” or just meant to mesmerise us into buying more drinks – but it was pretty! 🙂 We had a wonderful meal of Steak and Venison washed down by the local red wine (a grape that was totally unfamiliar, but tasted great!) Neil enjoyed putting the Merc through its paces on the roads today but tomorrow is the big test on the Stelvio Pass…
Stunning photos – love the rainbow photo.