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Home , Lago di Poschiavo, Landwasser Viaduct, Lower Engadine, Poschiavo, Rhaetian Railway, Val Poschiavo

144 DISPATCHES train trip 145

Rhaetian Rhapsody ’s most scenic train journey traverses a riveting landscape of high mountains, glittering rivers, and valleys strewn with historical treasures. By Adam H. Graham

Knowing what lies ahead, I ready my a scenic 240-kilometer passenger route that camera. I’ve ridden this railway many times stretches from in the easternmost Swiss since moving to Switzerland a few years ago canton of Graubünden to , . Cutting

and the thrill of the upcoming segment never Thusis through the Rhaetian Alps, it stops in St. Moritz gets old. After snaking around one final curve and several lesser-known villages of Switzer- on its way to , the train leaps out over the land’s Valley, known for its posh ski Viaduct, whose six 65-meter-high areas and the sparkling natural light called “di- limestone arches span the bridge’s namesake St Moritz amond dust” beloved by writers and musicians river. First-timers pressed up against the win- from Rainer Maria Rilke to Friedrich Nietzsche dows fixate on the unfathomably aquamarine to Richard Strauss. If that weren’t enough, the waters below, but veterans like me keep their Rhaetian is one of only three railways inscribed italy eyes level. The viaduct is so tightly curved that Tirano on UNESCO’s World Heritage List (the others from my seat in the rear car, I can see the loco- are in and India) for its ingenious late- motive plunging into a rocky cliff face on the 19th-century engineering and routing. far side of the gorge, where a pitch-black tun- From end to end, the Rhaetian takes in 84 nel barely wider than the train itself pierces the tunnels and 383 spectacular bridges that cross mountain. Click. The sheerness of the drop, the Above, from left: Like many a lacework of glittering rivers and glaciers. It y ett y z e /G P rot villages in the Lower Engadine apple-red of the train, and the surreal turquoise also passes Roman-era churches, Celtic archeo- y I m ages ett y /G valley, boasts grand water below make this a money shot that never old houses decorated with logical sites, therapeutic springs, and several

I m ages sgraffito, a style of drawing disappoints. The whole experience lasts just 45 in plaster that dates from the mountaintop castles, some crumbling, others seconds, but it’s as thrilling as any roller coaster Renaissance; a train passing renovated with a precision that’s inherently Alp Grüm, the last station ride. on the line in the Romansh- Swiss. Riding these rails is not just a mode of

; O laf I m ages ett y h a m/G Tim G ra : The may be a one-of- speaking part of Switzerland transit, it’s a privilege. a-kind marvel of engineering, but it’s just one before the railway descends to Make no mistake, the Rhaetian is no tourist Val . Opposite: The Vi sta . O ppos i te : Bu e n o I m ages F ro m left of many wonders on the , dramatic Landwasser Viaduct. line, though sightseeing trains like the Glacier

DestinAsian.com – april / May 2017 april / May 2017 – DestinAsian.com 146 DISPATCHES train trip 147

Passing through Ardez.

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Express and the run along seg- The Details Though it’s possible to ride the entire length ments of the same track. It’s a regular passenger Whether you plan to ride of the railway in a day, I’m taking my time on the length of the Rhaetian service connecting the remote communities of Railway (rhb.ch) or this trip. So when we roll into in the Graübunden. The benefit of this is that travelers make your way by public Upper Engadin, I disembark for the 10-minute can hop on and off hourly trains at all sorts of transport to other parts walk to the village’s tiny 12th-century plaza and of Switzerland, the Swiss one of my favorite thermal baths, the Mineral- interesting stops along the way. You can even Travel Pass (available upgrade, as I do, to a panoramic car for an addi- online at myswitzerland bad & Spa, designed in 2010 by husband-and- tional five Swiss francs. It’s worth every rappen. .com) is a terrific deal. wife architects Quintus Miller and Paola Ma- Coming from the direction of , the Starting at CHF 216 (about ranta. Inside, a warren of watery caverns and US$214) per adult for a railway’s first segment (which includes the three-day first-class ticket, tiled tunnels flicker with light while an oversize Landwasser Viaduct) is a scenic two-hour the pass not only gets silver tea kettle rattles in a relaxation room stretch from Thusis to . It’s one of my you unlimited trips on paneled with fragrant Swiss pine. Eventually I the Swiss Travel System’s favorite parts of the route. The twists and turns 29,000-kilometer work my way up to the spa’s open-air rooftop offer wide-open vistas where waterfalls cas- network of train, bus, bath. It’s nestled discreetly under the clock cade beside lonely, high-perched castles, each and boat routes, but also tower of the 400-year-old Reformed Church, gliding by your window as if they were specifi- complimentary admission so close that the glockenspiel bells ripple the to hundreds of Swiss cally placed there by Swiss Tourism for the sole museums as well as water when they chime. While I soak in the pleasure of passengers. From my seat, I count free travel on premium steamy 38°C pool, glints of sunlight dance on at least five hilltop fortresses. These include the panorama trains like the spine of the Rhaetian Alps. the . 12th-century Schloss Baldenstein, used to ward I catch the next train two hours later and off Baron von Rhäzüns and the Habsburgs, and push on to Silvaplana, 11 kilometers down the the 10th-century Schloss Ortenstein, home track. Here, I’ll be spending the night at the to the noble Werdenbergs, pillaged by insur- Nira Alpina, a glass-and-timber ski lodge over- gent peasants in 1452, and instrumental in the looking a turquoise lake. Silvaplana may not be

founding of the Swabian League. as ritzy as St. Moritz, two stops away, but it is im ages ett y /G nd o T ravel A ltre

DestinAsian.com – april / May 2017 april / May 2017 – DestinAsian.com 148 DISPATCHES train trip 149

charming, and the Nira Alpina’s kitchen turns a 17,000-hectare preserve (the country’s old- out the best gipfeli (croissants) and buttery zopf est and largest) that harbors ibexes, chamois, bread in the canton. That said, St. Moritz is cer- marmots, and other Alpine wildlife. The road tainly worth a look for its spectacle of fur-boot- eventually takes me to the scenic Ofenpass, ed, Moncler-clad visitors and vaunted hotels so used as a byway for thousands of years before elite they border on obnoxious. Roman times and named after the Iron Age From here, the railway splits. I’m first head- ovens excavated nearby. Then it’s on to the hal- ed for the rugged and low-key Lower Engadin cyon Müstair Valley, which offers views of Italy, valley, home to Switzerland’s Romansh-speak- , and Austria. The late-afternoon light is ing communities. The train slips past sheep- so fragile it feels as if it could shatter. Müstair’s and cow-dotted meadows crisscrossed by stone Benedictine Convent of St. John was founded walls. Churches and homes are painted with in the eighth century when Charlemagne ruled colorful murals in a regional style called sgraf- the region. Witnessing its vaulted roof and deli- fito that’s found across Switzerland, but is espe- cately frescoed apses glow in such brilliance cially noticeable here. Like the language itself, would no doubt have converted even the most it’s a tradition that stretches back to Roman wicked. times. I leave the train at the tranquil, moun- The least-traveled segment of the Rhaetian tain-flanked village of for an hour-long is the 60-kilometer Bernina line from St. Mortiz walk around its historical sites—among them, to Tirano, which takes two and a half hours to the medieval San Luzum church, with stained- Below: The Langwieser travel. As the train leaves St. Moritz, it chugs up Viaduct provides another glass windows designed by Swiss neo-impres- spectacular river crossing on through fragrant wooded valleys before crest- sionist painter Augusto Giacometti—before the way to ; completed ing at the and the ice-blue, glacier- in 1914, this was the world’s continuing to . There, I hop on a bus that first railway bridge to be built choked . Here, the altitude reaches takes me past the wilds of Swiss National Park, from reinforced concrete. 2,250 meters, making it one of Europe’s high- est train crossings. On the descent toward the Italian side, at , the track curls around a nine-arched viaduct, forcing the train to coil like a snake. Farther down is the sun-kissed Val Poschia- vo, still in Switzerland but Italian-speaking and positively Italian in spirit. The village of Poschi- avo has cobbled streets, open piazzas, and cor- ridors so true to Renaissance style that I expect to see Romeo and Juliet milling about. It’s also a great place to sample Swiss-Italian cuisine, and local shops are stocked with regional specialties like polenta and anise-flavored rye bread. One of the train’s last stops in Switzerland brings me to , a grand old perched on the scenic shores of . I disembark for a lunch of pizzoccheri (buckwheat pasta), farm-fresh burrata with tomato tartare, and beef simmered in local truffles before walking around the manicured property and soaking up the Alpine peacefulness. But crossing the border into Italy is the ul- timate pilgrimage, and I hop aboard the next train a few hours later. One minute I’m sur- rounded by Switzerland’s dark green valleys and clock-watching train conductors, and the next there are palm trees and platforms filled with gesticulating passengers and insouci- ant sash-wearing polizia. It’s as if I’d passed through a time-and-space portal and stumbled into a Fellini film. There couldn’t possibly be two more contrasting neighbors on this planet, separated only by a five-kilometer threshold of granite, and of course, the coolest train ride in y im ages ett y gost ini/G

the world. De A

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