Day 11 - Bernina Express

Neither of us had a very good night's sleep, so with bleary eyes we get up to catch the 9am Bernina Express which travels from St Moritz to Tirano in Italy.

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 metres per kilometre with ease. At the highest point at 2,253 metres above sea level, there is the Ospizio Bernina. The railway line has UNESCO World Heritage status. Thanks to the modern panoramic cars, we had very good views of the spectacular scenery we were travelling through.

Only problem with the photos is there is a lot of reflection, so a lot have had to be deleted.

Oh and the train is whisper quiet.

We pass over a circular viaduct, glaciers, waterfalls, fast flowing streams and crystal clear lakes. The trip took just over 2 hours. We do end up in Italy and we had clear instructions to bring the tickets and ID or Passports. Guess what we brought the tickets but no passports. I have my Drivers Licence on my phone and John has his physical one. We nearly shit ourselves when they come through checking for tickets and then asking for Passports. When he arrives, I have my digital Drivers Licence open - he tries to scan for ticket - I said no this is ID. And that was good enough - phew not thrown off the train.

When we arrive in Tirano, you can see a distinct difference in the architecture, roof tiles are now slate and buildings are not kept up to the Swiss standard. We have 4 hours in Tirano and it is a hot 28ºc - so walking round the old town you build up quite a thirst.

First stop coffee. Una cafe latte, to which they ask Freddo or calde? I correctly say Calde - what arrived was the weakest milky hot coffee you can imagine.

We want a pizza for lunch, after all, we are in Italy, so we stroll around looking for atmospheric lunch places, the first one we go to is full. The one opposite is down and ally and very very charming. After sitting down and ordering a drink, we realise that not only is there no pizza but there is nothing on the menu for John to eat. We cannot just leave and the place is oozing charm and Italian charisma. John lives on the edge and tries a local delicacy of pasta, cabbage and potatoes. When it arrived the pasta was like spaghetti on steroids, each strand was the thickness of the old plastic straws. To John's credit he did eat half of it, he was very disappointed to only find one leaf of cabbage and half a potato. The place was definitely a local haunt and after lunch, we stayed for a glass of Italian White - it was molto bene!

We then walked off the stodge with a lengthy stroll around Tirano. Some photos of Tirano, below.

We catch the 4:06pm Bernina Express back to St Moritz - like Swiss clockwork it leaves as the clock strikes 4:06pm. We travel the same route home, this time there is a thunderstorm brewing and a very atmospheric sky.

What a great trip and a must do for anyone visiting the area.