THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014 - "GOOD-BYE" TO SWITZERLAND, A LOST WALLET, & A 15-HOUR TRAIN RIDE

When Joy had put together this portion of our adventure she mentioned that the day we transferred from Switzerland to Italy would be long.  But, not until we looked closely at the finished schedule did we realize it would be 14 hours 57 minutes on and between trains!  Add to that 8 train changes and it wasn't necessarily a pleasant day.  We took a last look at our beautiful lake and Brienz and departed from there at 7:25 a.m., arriving at the train station in Lucerne at 8:55 a.m. for our first train change. We had 15 minutes before our next departure for Zurich at 9:10.  The suitcases were heavy and it was a long walk.  During some of that walk I remember being aware of a tall, well-dressed man (wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase) walking a few steps behind me.  I assumed he would want to walk faster than I was (I had 2 rolling suitcases, pushing one with each hand, and on my back I had a full, heavy backpack).  Anyway, this man didn't pass me for quite a while, then I noticed that he went past on my left side and walked very fast, soon disappearing from my sight.  I continued with our group on to the next train platform and we made the transfer, loading all the bags--12 or 13 of them--which seemed like 50, and getting settled in our seats.  We were traveling first class which allows for larger seats and more luggage-storing room.  Anyway, with about 20 minutes having passed after departure I suddenly became aware that my wallet was no longer in the front pocket of my jeans.  After some frantic searching I had to accept the premise that I either lost it or it was taken by a pickpocket, perhaps during our hurried train change in Lucerne.  I called back to the Brienz and Lucerne train stations making inquiries.  I was told that it had not been found/turned in.  I contacted the owner of the chalet in Brienz, and finally I reported to the train company lost & found department that the wallet was missing. 

I tried to remember for sure everything that was in the wallet.  I knew how much money, 50 Swiss francs (all we had left of the Swiss francs we had brought from home); and a little over 200 Euros.  Early that morning before we departed from the chalet I had loaded the Euros in the wallet thinking that we would need Euros once we arrived in Italy.  On trips abroad I always wear a money belt and carry major amounts of money in it.  Usually I will have less than 100 Euros in my wallet and the rest in the money belt.  But, for some unknown reason (by the time of this writing) I had loaded the extra 100 Euros into the wallet. Also in the wallet were two major credit cards along with my drivers license, health insurance cards, etc.  Initially, I was devastated and for awhile thought the trip "was over" for us. 

We arrived at Zurich at 9:56 and departed for Landquart at 10:07.  I was in a "fog".  I don't remember anything.  The next train change came at 11:11 where we departed for St. Moritz at 11:20.  It was after the departure to St. Moritz that I relaxed enough, "shook-off" the feelings of doom and began to once again enjoy the time.  And, I started snapping a few pictures.

Near St. Moritz we passed construction sites.

With beautiful snow-clad mountains in the background. 

This sign for St. Moritz in the pictures helped me (today) to establish where I came out of my "fog".

The next two pictures of buildings are located in the St. Moritz area.  At 5,978 ft altitude, St. Moritz is considered a "summer altitude training center".  We arrived in St. Moritz at 1:20 p.m. and departed at 1:45 p.m. for Tirano, Italy; with Tirano arrival scheduled for 4:21 p.m.

I saw this Japanese owned railroad engine.

 

 

The mountains got higher;

The snow got deeper.

And, the passengers got more sleepy!

At some point during this part of the day I decided that I must call the credit card companies and report that my credit cards were lost and the accounts should be closed.  So I made the calls.  (They showed up on the phone bill when we got home, $70).  Unfortunately, (and I hope we'll learn this lesson) Sylvia was carrying her version of those two credit cards.  So with the accounts closed for reissue of cards, her cards were no longer valid.  We had only one other credit type card with us, a debit card that was connected to a "travel" savings account that, prior to leaving home, we had almost depleted with "pre-payments" for this trip.

The snow seemed to be deeper...

 Look center and behind the tall power line tower.  Perhaps that's a barn or house.

 

Note the  thickness of the snow that was packed beside the train tracks.

 

And then we saw this beautiful, frozen lake.

Here, I caught the last car of a train on another track or on a loop off of the track we were traveling on.

The name of this place (sign in picture below) is also shown as "Schmittenhohe".  Here's what I learned about this place:  The Schmittenhohe is a mountain, 1,965 m high (6,446 ft.), on the eastern edge of the Kitzbuhel Alps.   It is the local mountain of the district capital of  Zell am See,  from where a cable car was built in 1927 by Adolf Bleichert & Co. that runs to the summit. The cable car system has been renovated several times since.  From the summit of the Schmittenhöhe there is a good view of over 30 three-thousanders (see #1 note below) as well as the lake of Zeller See,  the river basin and the whole Saalach valley.

The Schmittenhöhe has pistes (see #2 note below)for winter sports. From the Schmittenhöhe numerous long-distance flights may be made by paraglider into the Pinzgau region whose straight, east-west orientation enables long flights to be made

 

Note #1 - "30 three-thousanders" refers to 30 peaks that are a minimum of 9,843 ft. high

Note #2 - word "pistes" - A piste is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French ("trail", "track")... 

 

I think I will "pass" on the suggested long-distance paraglide flight!!!!!

And, this next sign means:  Automatic passing loop

Shortly after seeing the above sign we came upon this trestle which, I assume, must be a portion of the passing loop mentioned.

 

 

 

 

 

And now we've left the snow and frozen lakes behind.

A village

 And the base of the mountain with a road leading to it from a highway.

We arrived at the train station in Tirano, Italy at 4:21 p.m. The enchanting town of  Tirano in Lombardy northern Italy hugs the mountains on the border of Switzerland.  In Tirano we had to make a 5 minute walk to the regional train station (with bags, some of them shown below) and, purchase tickets for the regional train from Tirano to Milano (Milan) Centrale.  Sylvia remembers that the ticket from Tirano to Milano Centrale train station cost  9 Euros or 16 Swiss Francs.  The regional train to Milan Centrale departed at 5:10 p.m. and we were all hungry.  Joy & Tim mentioned when they were in this town 2 years ago they were able to purchase a very tasty hamburger at a restaurant nearby.  That sounded really good to everyone, so we left a couple of people with all the bags and then the others of us walked a 3-4 block area looking for a restaurant where we could get a hamburger "to go" and found no such place.  We returned to a snack bar that was very near the train station and made some snack-type purchases.  By that time we needed to board once on the train we "made do" with our snacks.

 

A portion of the "12-13 suitcases that seemed like 50".

 

We bought 2nd class tickets for the regional train so the storage was cramped.  We arrived at Milano Centrale train station at 7:40 p.m. and made our last transfer of the day to a train taking us to Reggio Emilia.  While waiting to board it, we located a Burger King and Tim & Tom went to it and got hamburgers for everyone.  We arrived in Reggio Emilia at 10:22 p.m. and used 2 taxis to get from the train station to the Hotel Posta.  After quickly checking in we quickly went to bed!