Aug 13 Chur Altstadt, Says, and Misc.

Friday we visited the Ratisches (history) museum in Chur and then drove a remote road to Says.
When we left Trin for Chur, we stopped at a self service blumen (flower) garden on the east end of the villge. You can cut your own flowers and leave your payment in a locked kasse (cash box).

Sign with cash box

The sign says

"Flowers to yourself cut

Price

Sunflowers (pollenfree) 3 francs

Sunflowers 1 franc

Gladiolas 2 francs

Dahlias (each) 0.80 francs

Chard (for capuns) 1 franc per 100 grams"

A wood sculpture by the flower garden

(by a noted Swiss artist)

In the cities, we can sometimes find a quiet 

place for a picnic lunch.

We noticed a table in the Ratisches

museum courtyard so had our lunch there.

Miscellaneous Altstadt (old city) views

Some on the back streets totally free of people

It's a fire plug

Old home on a narrow street

PLaza with sidewalk cafes

(there are several throughout the old city)

A wedding reception in one of the plazas

Colorful city security

A green space within the old city

Looking at the map, we found a country road

5 miles north of Chur leading up the mountain side

to the small village of Says.

The wavy road on the map indicated lots of 

switch backs which proved to be true with 

high views over the valley.

View of Says

The road continued beyond Says even though

it was not marked on the map. Even here, if you 

wanted to park and walk, you had to buy a parking 

ticket at a pay station by Says.

Above Says looking back at Chur

The road started to peter out.

Next phase

Time to turn around

Aug 12 Flims, Lake Cauma, and the Swiss "Grand Canyon"

Flims is a ski and summer resort 10 minutes up the valley from Trin (3,300 feet above sea level). There is a walking trail from the village that passes a turquoise lake (Lake Cauma) and after about 45 minutes of walking reaches a viewing platform that looks out over the valley to the Rhine. The signs along the trail indicate that several 1000 years ago, one of the largest land slides to ever take place in the Alps blocked the Rhine forming a lake in the valley, but over the years, the river washed away the dam. The Swiss refer to this as the "Swiss Grand Canyon" (fully recognizing it does not compare to the Grand Canyon in Arizona). Still, the viewing platform provides a unique view of the valley and the scars left from the land slide.

Lake Cauma from the walking trail.

The lake is fed from underground springs

The water temp is 68 to 74 F

There is an admission fee to swim or boat
The lake is a 10 minute walk from Flims

There is a modern dual cable lift from the trail to Lake Cauma.

As a counter balance, one lift goes up while the other goes down.

The lift is free but there is a fee to swim or boat at the lake.

The viewing platform overlooking the valley

(45 minute walk from Flims)

The view west from the viewing platform

showing some of the scars from the land slide

Looking down to the Rhine from the viewing platform.

A railroad bridge is visible on the left.

Another view looking away from the valley

not far from the viewing platform.

There was a restaurant nearby with a terrance 

busy with people having lunch.

A final note.

This is the private home we are staying in in Trin.

There are 52 steps from the car to our room

(37 to the house, 15 more to our room).

The lower windows to the right are next to the dining table.

When our hosts (Rob and Ingrid) leave for work

they leave a breakfast for us on the table (see Aug 8 post).

How many of us would be comfortable leaving 

total strangers alone in our home?

Aug 11 Lenzerheide and Lake Cresta

Yesterday, we drove to Lenzerheide (about 30 miles) mainly for the scenic drive through the valley from Chur to Tiefencastel. Then returned to Trin and walked the forest trail to a small emerald forest lake called Crestasee (lake Cresta), one of the local gems we stumbled on (through the advise of our hosts).

The Swiss take advantage of summer weather for walking and relaxing on restaurant terraces which are frequently located at strategic spots along the walking trails. 

To get to lake Cresta, we drove for 10 minutes from Trin to a forest parking lot and then walked a service road through the forest for 20 minutes to the lake. The day was overcast and I could not capture the lake color very well so I borrowed an image from the internet. There was a restaurant with a terrace overlooking the lake where we enjoyed a coffee-cream and a piece of apricot pie. We splurged . . . two small coffee-creams and one piece of pie = $16 (the normal price for any restaurant here). But we have to do it the "Swiss way" once in a while.

On a back  road near Lenzerheide
Yes - this  is a road for cars

Crestasee (lake Cresta)

The lake is spring fed and the water

replaces itself every few days

Swimming is allowed

(this image borrowed from the internet)

The restaurant overlooking the lake

The sign (on the restaruant terrace) says

"(heart)-lich willkommen (a warm welcome)

Your lake Cresta Team

("rivella" at the top of he sign is a popular beverage 

here - so this is similar to seeing "coca-cola")

Having a coffee-cream and

examining the ice cream menu

(a common offering in many restaurants)

Most items (with 3 scoops of ice cream) are about $10

The apricot pie with whipped cream

(it was excellent)

Aug 10 Trin castle ruin

Switzerland is dotted with old castle ruins and Trin has one of its own (Google Canaschal Ruine). This was probably a lookout and communication tower. We took a walk down through the village and then up the path leading to the ruin. The history is uncertain but the internet says it dates to the 1400s or before.

A view on our way to the village center
The ruin is visible on the hill to the left

The ruin (above the church steeple)

(Borrowed this image from the internet)

The sign for the path to the ruin

It was about a 10 minute walk up an 

easy walking path

A spring not far below the ruin

with fresh cold water

The castle ruin looking back to Trin

We were able to step inside

(through the entry visible at the base)

The walls at the base were 2.5 yards thick

View from the castle ruin looking south

The Rhine river is faintly visible in the valley

The old Trin train station is near the river

Back in the village

The Trin ladies society made chickens that

are placed throughout the village

Just an effort to add a little local "color"

They have no special cultural significance

And finally - the ever present "blumen"

Aug 9 Arosa and reading signs in German

Arosa is a winter and summer resort at the end of a valley about 20 miles from Chur (The town of Arosa itself is similar in many respects to Vail Colorado). The road from Chur passes through several tunnels and navigating the 300+ mountain side curves and passing through the hillside villages was the main "adventure". 

Hillside village on the road from Chur to Arosa

Buildings and retaining walls are frequently

right next to the side of the road (or is it visa-versa?)

The lake in Arosa.

Part of the "challenge" for us is learning to read the signs and store advertisements. German words are sometimes similar to English (bread = brot, milk = milch) but most of the time, it is not obvious (at least not for us). Here are some pictures of signs in Arosa so you can see if you can figure out some of the words. I have written the translation below the picture.

Two signs outside of a grocery store

Fruit

Vegetables

Cheese

Milk Products

Wild - Dried Sausage

Alp Cheese

Honey

Pear Bread

A restaurant lunch sidewalk sign

Day - Hit

Ham in 

bread dough

with potato salad

17.50 Swiss Francs

Meter parking

Daily

8:00 am - 7:00 pm

max 60 minutes

We drive in Arosa . . .

VOLUNTARILY

30 killometers per hour (19 mph)

Thanks

And finally, if you have been watching the Olympic Games, you should be able to figure this out (Note: German words are often the combination of two words).

The home of

Olympic medal winners

(with Olympic medal winners listed - this was on the Arosa sports center)

So - how did you do?

Aug 8 Chur and BBQ with Rob and Ingrid

Yesterday we enjoyed breakfast with Ingrid and Rob. Then (in the afternoon) drove to Chur (20 minute drive) which is near the headwaters for the Rhine river (one of the Rhine river branches is in the valley below Trin. We decided to walk in the Chur altstadt as it would be quieter on Sunday. We stumbled onto a food festival on one of the narrow streets. In the evening, Rob and Ingrid invited us to join them for a bbq.

Breakfast

A city garden near the Altstadt in Chur

A vender at the food fair

The long table at the food fair

stretched for about 200 yards

More pictures from the Altstadt

Back in Trin - the view from the house where we are staying.

Note the crane. They are used to build houses in Switzerland.

Our hosts Rob and Ingrid

On the patio at the evening bbq

They grew up Dutch in Rotterdam but have been in 

Switzerland for 30 years.

They speak Dutch, German, and English.

He heads the X-ray department at the Spital (hospital) in Chur.

She was also an X-ray technician.