St Gallen and Poschiavo

As the second camp started, I took off to St Gallen to stay with very long-term friends, Hampi and Ruth, 

I have to admit I was in need of a slightly easier programme, but we did start two days swimming in the lovely outside pool at Teufen, only minutes away. I will definitely get back to aqua jogging when home.

We then did a very gentle walk through the very attractive, though touristy town of Appenzell. I must have been there before, but don't remember just how beautifully decorated the houses and shops were. Tour buses  are back and the little main street full of tourists once more.

The colours are so vibrant and yet the colours don't appear to clash. The oranges and reds were fantastic under the blue skies. 

It was great to catch up for a fantastic brunch with Brigitte, Ruth's neighbour, who once visited me in NZ, and to have a big family reunion and dinner with Ruth's children in the evening, and a meeting with the recent additions to the family. What a great evening it was with a delicious meal, great conversation and spectacular views from the window of The Alpstein.

My journey south to Poschiavo was longer than expected due to a problem with power through one f the prettiest parts of the trip. Never mind, the Swiss are super efficient and quickly off- loaded a trainload of passengers into postbuses and minutes later dropped us off at the end of the problem track. Incredible organisation, apart from the fact that the conductor announced we had to wait 15 minutes for the driver to arrive. He had been left behind and came by taxi! Nice to see that such things can happen!

Hours later I was in the little red train heading over The Bernina Pass. I love that trip and never tire of the amazing colours, mountains, glaciers and turquoise lake - Lago Bianco ( it is white in winter).

It was pleasing to see that some glaciers there still look as they did three years back, but others are disappearing fast.

The lake is very low, like ours in New Zealand.

I don't usually take photos from the train, but who knows when I will be back.  Alp Grum - how magnificent!

Then, after 6 hours of stunning scenery, unbelievably winding tracks, tunnels and  viaducts, I got the first glimpse of the fabulous Puschlav valley and the town of Poschiavo - my destination, with Lago di Poschiavo in the distance, my planned trip for tomorrow!

What a picturesque little town this is, very Italian but still a popular destination for Swiss Germans, so there is a great mixture of languages.

Of course, I had to sample an aperol in the Piazza. Great people watching. 

Knowing rain was forecast later, I took the train down to Miralago to start my heavenly walk around this incredibly beautiful lake. I guess if it is windy or raining it might be less attractive, but the colours and reflections today just took my breathe away. Tekapo in NZ is a wonderful turquoise, but this lake is even more spectacular. 

I decided to start on the train side and return on the shadier side - a good decision. It is pretty impressive to have a very long red train suddenly appear round the bend, the whistle echoing  in the mountains.

What a colour - I have not altered this at all!

I made fairly slow progress because there were so many wonderful benches to stop and take it all in.

The clouds added an extra bit of magic to the reflections on the lake.

I was lucky enough to see this gorgeous butterfly on the banks of the lake. He or she was obviously very tired and posed for ages!

I felt incredibly grateful towards those who had made this fabulous pathway around the lake. A series of small tunnels means you can walk with ease around this fantastic lake.

In fact, the pathway on the far side of the lake is undoubtedly the most beautiful part of the walk, with amazing views at every corner.

It was definitely one of the easiest, loveliest walks I have ever done.

As the clouds rolled in, the colours changed dramatically - still stunning.

I was sad to reach the end of the walk and hope perhaps that Dennis and I can do it again tomorrow!

What a brilliant day! 
Was great to see Dennis's cheery face as the heavens opened in Poschiavo. We found a good place under cover for dinner

And of course, a selfie!
And, as hoped, we did walk around Lake Poschiavo, still with beautiful colours, but with strong winds creating whitecaps on the blue waters, so no reflections today. I realise how unbelievably lucky I was yesterday!

This time I noticed other things of beauty, like the little waterfall amongst the flowery banks

And the beautiful dappled light through the forest

Perfect once again. 

Our trip to Tirano for lunch was a bit disappointing in that Tirano is nowhere near as beautiful as many other local towns and villages, and although we chose a lovely restaurant in a shady corner, the pizzas, which looked delicious, turned out to be very salty. I don't think I have ever returned half a pizza! However, we had fun there chatting and I am pleased to have at least once been up the Bernina Pass by car. I do prefer the train, but you see other views from the car.

Anyway, it was a great 24 hours with one of my best friends who I have not seen for so long. Thanks Dennis for coming to meet me in Poschiavo!