Our real reason for this short trip to Milan is this tour. We got up at the crack of dawn, before the hotel breakfast was open. While the front desk called us a cab, they waiter gave us a cup of coffee and a muffin. We arrived at the tourist office, met our guide Maura and boarded the bus at 7:00 AM. Bus pictures have some glare, but still lovely scenery to look at. It is spitting rain and lots of low hanging clouds.
and we are off to the Swiss and Italian Alps and the Italian city of Tirano on the Swiss border.
We pass by Lake Como
Into Valtellina (Valley of Tellina). Valtellina is one of Italy’s most dramatic wine regions, and one of the least explored. Located in the Lombardy region, in the far north close to the border with Switzerland, Valtellina stretches from Morbegno in the west, then heads east to the main town of Sondrio and carries on to Tirano.
Historically, the valley was the southern part of ancient Raetia. It was then the object of dispute between Milan and the bishops of Como from the 6th to the 13th century and between Milan and the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the 16th and 17th centuries. It belonged to Graubünden from 1639 until 1797 and, after being dominated by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, passed to Austrian Lombardy; it was joined to the Kingdom of Italy in 1859. The population of the Valtellina within the diocese of Como is Italian-speaking and Roman Catholic. Vigorous measures have been taken to prevent inundations of the Adda, and the fertile valley supports varied agriculture, forestry, and livestock.
The region is also known for its food; and local specialties include Bitto, Casera and Scimudin cheeses; Bresaola; “Polenta Taragna”, and Buckwheat Tagliatelle. And plenty of fresh and clean mountain air!
Another tidbit of history; Mussolini was fleeing through this valley when he was captured by the Italian Partisans and killed.
Valtellina has been a wine producing area for more than 2000 years, like much of Italy, and indeed was made here by the Ancient Ligurians and Etruscans even before the Romans arrived. Over the centuries, farmers discovered that the higher altitude improved the wine including its alcohol content. Vineyards were cultivated on complex, ultra steep terraces along the Valtellina´s preposterously steep hillsides. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote about the wines of Valtellina in his Codex Atlanticus, saying Valtellina was a “valley surrounded by tall and fearsome mountains” and that it made wines that are “heady and strong”. And this observation still holds true today!
Below is one of the vineyards Negri) on a terraced hillside (Note the name in big letters on the hill). The terraces have rock walls and the grapes are tended by hand. No tractors up here. Our guide tells us this labor intensive process makes the wines more expensive, but still worth it.
According to tradition, at dawn on the 29th of September, 1504 Our Lady appeared to Mario Omodei and promised to end the plague, which at that time was raging in the Valtellina, if the people would build a church in her honor in that exact point. The residents of Tirano began the construction on March 25, 1505, and during a solemn ceremony that day, the first stone of the building was placed at the foot of the medieval church of Santa Perpetua, which is located on a rocky spur overlooking the piazza.
Church of Santa Perpetua overlooking the Basilica and piazza below.
In 1528, the basilica was officially consecrated.
in contrast to the baroque inside
Every surface to be decorated to further honor of the Madonna
the colossal seventeenth century wooden organ, around 1600. Over 1200 pipes.
The Madonna appearing to Mario Omodai
a walk through town until lunch
The Adda River on its way to empty into Lake Como
Lunch is regional specialties. We are having the local specialty Bresaola which is air-dried, salted beef that has been aged two or three months until it becomes hard and turns a dark red, almost purple color. It is made from beef (top round), and is lean and tender, with a sweet, musty smell. It was delicious and low in calories.
Our next course is Pizzoccheri which is a type of short tagliatelle, a flat ribbon pasta, made with 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. When classically prepared in Valtellina, they are cooked along with greens, often chard or cabbage, and cubed potatoes. This mixture is layered with pieces of Valtellina Casera cheese and ground Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano, and dressed with garlic and sage that are lightly fried in butter together. OK this is where the calories might be found. Ha. And red wine of course.
With plenty of calories to take us through the cold Swiss Alps, we board the Bernina Express, known as the fastest slow train. It takes two and a half hours to go 13 miles.
The map below shows all the stops on the line in little red circles. The bigger circles are for major towns on the route. We are doing the first leg from Tirano, Italy to St Mortiz, Switzerland.
This map shows the route of the Bernina Express
So here we go on the fastest slow train in the Alps, the only Swiss railway to operate a line top of the Alps. The line, which started in 1910, takes you from Tirano which lies at 429 metres (about 1407 feet) to the glaciers of the Bernina Pass at 2253 metres (7391 feet). It covers this altitude change of nearly 1874 metres (6148 feet from Tirano to Ospizio Bernina over a horizontal distance just over 22 kilometers (13 miles) wthout the use of cog wheels - despite having to tackle gradients of up to one in seven. It is the highest-altitude mountain railway with all-year operation to offer a way to cross the Alps by train. It is not just a tourist train.
The route taken by the line is particularly impressive, allowing it to cope with the immense difference in altitude, while also giving passengers truly breathtaking views of the imposing peaks of Graubunden - along with its ancient glaciers and beautiful mountain valleys.
It is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites since 2008.
The railway is unique, blending ideally with the alpine landscapes around the Albula and Bernina Passes. The train negotiates the 55 tunnels, 196 bridges and inclines of up to 70 per mille with ease.
Brusio Viaduct a true masterpiece of bridge engineering on the Bernina Line. It was built to limit the gradient of the line to just 7 per mille. The view goes around 90 degrees while artificially allowing the railway to perform a rapid change of height in a very short space.
We could open the windows and hang our heads outside for pictures, so no window glare. Just make sure you weren't coming to a tunnel. They were so narrow, you could reach out and touch the wall. One could lose ones head.
We quickly passed out of Italy and into Switzerland
Lake Poschiavo
Poschiavo one of the large stops on the route
This land reminds me of Spyri's "Heidi". So beautiful and clean.
Lake Poschiavo in the distance as we climb
first on one side of the train and then on the other.
Palu Lake fed by Palu Glacier behind it
Lake Blanco (White Lake) is still partially frozen. This is an artificial lake built to trap water.
Ospizio Bernina (7,621 feet the highest point on the line) and the Lake Nair (Black Lake) still almost completely frozen (also manmade). We lose altitude from here on.
Terry once again practicing with her selfie stick. A lovely young couple from Mumbai, India sat with us when we weren't up taking pictures out of both sides of the train. They were fun.
Another express coming from the other direction. It had passengers and at the rear end was pulling a load of logs.
headed down to Pontresina
Arrived at Pontresina the last stop before St Moritz. Normally the train goes right into St Moritz; however, work was being done on the railline, so Oprando met us with the big Mercedez bus and drove us the last 10 minutes into the station at St Moritz, where we got off
it was a very steep and long escalator (thank God they weren't stairs)
The city on the hill is lovely and overlooks
St Moritz Lake
or Valetino here. Our credit cards thank us.
We decided to walk down to the lake
and of course, found the one "Swiss Chocolate" shop that was open. Nummy chocolate.
On down the hill
Note we have matching bags of "Laderach Chocolate"
Back on the bus and leaving St Moritz so the pictures may have window glare
still beautiful scenery however
Our driver Oprando is driving thru the Maloja Pass (5955 feet) to take us down to
the foot of the Alps.
I am sitting on the first seat on the right side, so I have a
birds eye view of our route out the front windshield.
This is a very big bus to navigate those switchbacks
Not to the bottom yet, but the brakes our holding up and Oprando is an expert driver. Ha No worries there.
beautiful green fields
and castles
One of many waterfalls
and lakes (may be Lake Como)
We stoped again at the same rest stop as this morning and were told we had twenty minutes, and to be back by 6:30 PM to stay on our schedule back into Milan. We got off the bus only to find the place was closed. Back on the bus we were missing two people. Still don't know where they went but they finally showed up right on time at 6:30 PM. Meantime the rest of us were beginning to cross our legs. It was another hour before Oprando found a suitable place to take a ""lets call it what it is" potty break. Ha.
However, all ended well and we arrived back in Milano about 8:30 PM
Our great guide Maura and driver extraordinaire Oprando
A long but absolutely incredible day in the Swiss and Italian Alps, and the weather turned out to be beautiful.
