Day eight – Pontresina to Seefeld
| Distance today – 270 km | Journey time – 4h 55m |
| Total trip distance – 2,490 km | Total journey time – 1d 16h 05m |
Today would take us to the farthest point of our road trip, an Austrian ski resort called Seefeld-in-Tirol. We decided to start the day with some exercise, however decided that -4 degrees Celsius was not the temperature for running at moderate altitude, so after breakfast opted for a walk in our big coats instead. Jo was initially quite irritated as her birding app couldn’t hear any tweeting due to the noise of the nearby river) but eventually it worked and she heard something that pleased her – probably a sparrow, or a golden eagle, or something equally feathery.
We set off a little later than normal, stopping for fuel (in Switzerland you have to donate a kidney with each tank of petrol) and went into a supermarket for fruit for the car – we’re being very good with our car snacks, only fruit is allowed. However Jo did find the chocolate aisle….
Once replenished with fuel and fruit we headed off. It was a simple route today – direct to Seefeld via a castle on a hill and a glacier, both out and back diversions from the main route. The first part of the journey took us down the Engadin valley, which was where Pontresina was and seemingly stretched a very long way towards and into Austria with the border running along the river at the bottom. There were roads either side (both Austrian and Swiss) though the other side looked slightly more precarious than ours. Another border crossed into Austria and we stopped briefly at Schloss Tarasp, a castle perched on top of a hill. We arrived too early for the daily 1 hour afternoon slot tourists could visit (we hadn’t planned to stop though).
Our next stop was the Kaunertal glacier. All we knew was that there was a road which went alongside a glacier until you could go no further, from where you’d turn around and come back. We didn’t expect a toll gate at the entrance – €28 paid. From here we wound slowly upwards, from about 1,200m at the gate to 2,750m at the farthest point, taking around 30 minutes.
After an entertaining driving road, we found a huge dam wall, behind which was a large bright blue lake. We’re not clear why the water was being retained, as there was no hydroelectric power station or any obvious sign of water coming from the dam – which was just a huge rocky barrier.
We kept going up, and up. The road became narrower and twistier until we arrived at the end. There was a ski resort! Cable cars, lifts, a big restaurant, a ski shop, it was all there! We’d met very few cars on our way up, but in the car park were probably 200 cars with loads of skiers enjoying the snow. The views were pretty spectacular too.
Whilst here we decided to get a hot chocolate, which turned into a hot chocolate and a slice of strudel and custard. Unfortunately we failed to use the correct cup for the hot chocolate…an Austrian restaurant assistant didn’t look too impressed, but removed our mess, replaced the cup, and filled a correctly sized vessel for us. The strudel was excellent…unfortunately it cost almost €10. Jo tells me she didn’t get much hot chocolate – I thought she needed to pay more attention to playing her part in the activity of sharing.
On the way back down the glacier, the views were incredible, and we stopped a few times to take more pictures.
Once back through the toll gate we returned to the route and headed on to Seefeld. The weather had begun to deteriorate and the rain came again, which probably helped clean the car a little.
On arrival at the next hotel we unloaded and checked in – unfortunately not a great start as the receptionist didn’t seem that interested in us. He didn’t explain anything about the hotel, or ask if we wanted to book dinner, or how the spa worked, or where the lift to our room was. We were on the top floor in one of 5 rooms, but only one lift took us there – something he failed to tell us, and which we found out the hard way. Unimpressed Krumers Alpin, you’ve failed the basic guest test and will be judged accordingly.
Once we eventually found the room, it was pleasant enough. In contrast to the communal areas of the hotel which were very modern, the room was very old-school hotel, like something we would have stayed in 30 years ago. The room, probably like all hotel rooms in Austria, smelled lightly of cigarettes. In fact the hotel has its own Smoking Room in the bar area – bit backward this place!! But the view from the room was excellent.
Before dinner Jo went for a swim and a sauna – but the clothed “textile” sauna, not the naked sauna. We headed to the bar for a drink, then dinner. The waitress was pushing the 5 course buffet dinner – but for us this would have been far too much food, so we picked from the very short a la carte menu. The waitress did seem slightly confused, but I explained we were eating out in numerous locations for weeks and didn’t want to eat that much. She seemed to understand. The food was good – I had wiener schnitzel and Jo has sea bass. No dessert, despite the €13 dessert buffet offered to us (it was a vast selection!!)
