Day six – Vitznau to Pontresina
| Distance today – 286 km | Journey time – 5h 05m |
| Total trip distance – 2,002 km | Total journey time – 1d 06h 00m |
After the best shower so far, and breakfast that didn’t need to be weighed, a route replan was necessary.
Travelling into the mountains at this time of year carried a significant risk that early snowfall would close some of the passes, and unfortunately a couple on our route had been shut for this reason. So we headed south from Vitznau, missing our turn at Wassen, on to Andermatt from where we picked up the planned route again. Sustenpass will have to wait for another trip!
The weather was really bad – heavy rain and freezing temperatures kept us inside the car, but first on the revised route was Oberalppass which took us up to 2,044m altitude and just above zero celcius. We saw the red lighthouse which marks the source of the Rhine but didn’t stop.
Then lunch. We needed a stop for fuel, so found a supermarket which had a nice looking café, serving soup and cake, so Jo had what she says was a conversation entirely in German (I’m doubtful, and suspect a lot of pointing was involved) to order.
Onto the next pass, which was a lot more exciting mostly due to the road being less than 2 cars wide for a good proportion! Albulapass is 2,312m at its highest point, and when we were at its peak it was snowing and very, very wet. We were lucky for most of the drive that we didn’t follow anything (a VW van was trying, and failing, to keep up), but those we did catch were passed very carefully.
Once safely at the bottom we then continued on to Pontresina, for our next hotel stop. The best hotel so far, but then it was considerably more expensive than all the previous stays. The view from the bedroom clearly added some CHF to the bill.
We had a short wander round the town once we’d unloaded the car, and it was clear a lot of the hotels were relatively old and owned by generations of (rich) families. The view of the mountain came and went as the clouds rolled in.
It turned out that it was very cold outside, so we were glad to get back to the hotel, and sat in the bar and had a glass of wine whilst it got darker and the snow began to fall. Heavily.
Onto dinner. We decided to stay in the hotel since a) it was snowing and b) it was cold outside and c) the menu looked good. And it was. We had two local dishes: a meat and cheese platter, and a sort of pizza. It came with a bowl of what Jo thought was apple sauce, which she spread thickly on her bread, loaded her cheese and took a bite. It was fig mustard. For dessert we had ice cream. The smallest pot in the world, yours for only CHF 6.00 – about £5.70. Oh, and the tap water cost CHF 3.50. Thieving Swiss.