Euro Bike Tour: Day 4: Scuol to Prutz (Crossing to Austria)

We left the hotel at about 10 after a bit of drama with my phone and Three, the company I got my phone SIM from. Danny, my friend in Northern Ireland (with whom I did the Camino) had been very kindly helping me out with renewing my phone plan (the money has to be paid from a UK account) but the credit he’d added had somehow disappeared while I’d been asleep – Luke thought maybe the hotel wifi had dropped out and apps had been updating. Luke used their online chat to fix it and the company renewed the plan for a month with unlimited data.

You just don’t realise how important internet access is until you don’t have it. We only have one UK phone number between us and it’s on my phone – something to rectify for next time. The delay made me feel a bit anxious as this was our longest day of cycling yet.

On the way out of Scuol was a very scenic bridge and no cars allowed, which makes any path more pleasant to ride!

So picturesque.

Snow melt makes the rivers such an unusual colour with all the minerals washed down from the mountains.

I didn’t take a lot of photos today. Switzerland has experienced really bad storms and some landslides. Trails that were probably fairly smooth a couple of weeks ago were very potholed and rough. Or maybe they were always like that. The day before we had been detoured due to a big landslide.

There were several parts of the ride early on where railings seemed to be missing or edges were more precipitous than they should be. I really don’t like coming down steep and winding gravel roads that have a sharp turn at the bottom and no railing or fence. It made me very tense and I’m surprised, after so much white-knuckled riding today that my arms and shoulders aren’t sore.

The other thing that was making me worried was that my most powerful and fast-acting hayfever medication is getting very low as the bottle has leaked a bit. I’d tried taking it in two half doses the day before with middling success but today I thought I’d wait until I felt the symptoms before I took it. With the wind in my face and a great deal of pollen in the air it didn’t take long for my eyes to become extremely itchy and feel swollen.

We stopped in a tiny hamlet and I felt really overwhelmed by the terrain and how my face felt. It was hard to see with such itchy red eyes and I had a bit of a cry. Luke tried calling the Eurobike help line to see if the bag transport vehicle was anywhere near us. It took them half an hour to get back to us and then they said no, the driver’s van was too full to pick us up.

We had deliberately booked through a company called Natural Adventures in order to avoid Eurobikes as their reviews weren’t good. It turned out that Natural Adventures use Eurobikes anyhow and that their promises of support to riders did not extend to picking us up, knowing anything about local transport services, connecting us to taxis etc or offering any help whatsoever.

After being the very definition of useless, the person at the other end had the temerity to say ‘have a nice day,’ and I replied with ‘unlikely,’ and hung up in a rage.

Since there was nothing for it, I took some of the remaining fast-acting hayfever meds, waited a bit and then kept going.

The next part of the path was pretty dreadful (short, steep, very rocky climbs and narrow paths next to steep edges) but eventually became a decent road which then turned into us riding on the side of a highway.

Initially we were on a bike path next to the highway but after some roadworks the bike lane disappeared and it was just us and cars and trucks all using the same lane. Fortunately due to the roadworks the traffic was slow and Swiss/Austrian drivers all moved over and were very polite. I didn’t feel in any danger and there were other cyclists on the road.

We had to ride through several tunnels. Partway through one I could see what I initially thought was my hair curling around the front of my hat, which was weird because I had put my hair in braids that morning. No, it dawned on me, it wasn’t hair, it was the legs of a huge beetle reaching under the brim of my hat right in front of my face. It was big enough for me to hear the thump as it hit the road when I brushed it off. Ick.

The highway riding was very fast (for us) – we rode between 30 and 40 kph for quite a while and made up for all the time wasted by the call to Eurobikes (world’s worst bike company?). After the highway the rest of the ride was along pretty quiet and well-sealed country roads through small villages until we reached our hotel.

Today’s ride was about 50km. Tomorrow is more like 35km and hopefully the high quality roads continue as we get closer to Innsbruck. The final day is 65km but if my hayfever is worse there’s a train line along that stretch so we can cut some of it out if needed.

Luke has been really supportive and kind about all my suffering and lets me set the pace and take rests when I need them. Technically I guess this is our honeymoon holiday since we’re on our own for a stretch and, even though it hasn’t been perfect, having Luke be so considerate with my challenges and severe discomfort at points has really reminded me what a wonderful human being he is and how lucky I am to have him.

Our hotel for the evening was on a busy road and didn’t look super fancy but the staff were really lovely and our room was a good size as well as having an enclosed balcony.

We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, where the food was easily half the price it would’ve been in St Moritz. We had pork schnitzels with cranberry sauce (a great combination) and they served wine in a 240ml carafe for 6€, which cheered me up even more.

We finished the evening drinking our duty free gin and watching from our balcony as the clouds changed colour and listening to music inspired by the restaurant’s playlist of 20 year old trance classics.

12Jun2023

Eurobike Tour: Day 3: Zernez to Scoul

by Miss Penny Black

I’d like to say we slept well but for no good reason that I can think of, the church in Zernez rings the bells on the hour 24 hours a day. I definitely heard the 11pm, midnight, 2am and 4am bells. Also the pillows were terrible, which we are coming to expect. Complain complain! I know, but travel isn’t all fun and I think the bad bits are often more memorable or notable.

Anyhow, breakfast was not newsworthy at all (basic Scandinavian breakfast of cold meats, cheeses, yogurt etc), apart from seeing Jane and Rutherford in the breakfast room and learning that they too are Wordle players.

Goodbye Zernez, with your excellent pool and your terrible church.

The church bells rang for 9am just as we cycled out of Zernez.

The morning’s ride began with gravel, some steep ups and downs that were made much easier with the e-bikes. Rutherford had pointed out that all the gravel would be much easier going if we’d had better tyres and I couldn’t help thinking about this as I juddered along. It was nowhere near as bad as the previous day though.

We saw our first covered bridges, which were difficult to photograph in the bright sunlight.

Initially our ride was fairly low in the valley and close to the river.

We rode through very picturesque little villages and along quiet roads. Usually I have to angle my camera to get shots without people, but that hasn’t been a problem since we left Zürich – the Engardin valley seems almost deserted. There’s the Swiss version of the Tour de France next weekend – for those who find the original too easy perhaps? So it will no doubt get busier soon. We’re very lucky to have the paths and tracks almost to ourselves.

Halfway through the morning we were very much not on the valley floor but halfway up the side. In most places there were no rails or fences and having to ride on the right side and close to the edge made me quite anxious. It’s very strange to be somewhere so beautiful and dramatic but not be able to look at it without stopping.

Of course we did stop quite frequently to take photos, and only having to travel 30km meant we didn’t have far to go. I was glad of the early start though as my hayfever wasn’t great and my eyes were watering quite a bit.

The third last village we went through, Ardez, was so beautiful! The houses were very traditional and had some amazing art painted on them that seemed very Gaelic to me.

The whole town was lovely, if completely silent. Switzerland has frequently reminded me of Japan and the quietness is another of those attributes. The others are the proliferation of natural springs, wood-based architecture and high prices. Both also suffer from frequent and devastating natural disasters (earthquakes and avalanches) as well as warmongering neighbours. Also both are places where you’ll regularly see everyday people in traditional costume. The more I think about it, the more similarities there are!

The church was perhaps the most plain building in the place.

The best part of the day was between the third and second last villages. It was a pristine stretch of asphalt that didn’t allow motorised vehicles. Only bikes and hikers! It also had a barrier between us and the vertical drop down the side most of the time so I could relax a little.

We stopped at a cafe at the second last village and had a drink, trying to delay our arrival at the hotel until a reasonable hour.

Cafe in Ftan and no, I do not know how to pronounce it.

The last stretch was great quality road but steep hairpin bends and more traffic, including a number of trucks. I sat on my brakes the whole way down – sitting on the right again meant being on the edge of a drop. I didn’t love it (I hated it) but the hotel wasn’t far from the end of the descent.

The hotel was lovely, the staff were friendly, the immediate surrounds smelled like a mound of freshly-produced cow manure. Not a small amount of manure either, like a herd of a thousand cows had all gathered here to poop for a month. Still, the place did have an indoor pool.

But first, our room. It was magnificent.

If you’ve been to my house or followed our renovations, you’ll know how much I love wood panelling.

The quilts (you always get one each) were in a heart shape! Aww!

We even had a little lounge area. The views from the windows were excellent too.

It was delightful. Also we had places to plug in all our devices, which we hadn’t in the last hotel. We did some hand washing of undies then headed to the hotel’s pool.

We had it to ourselves for most of the time and it was 27 degrees, very nice!

I wasn’t keen to go outside in the late afternoon and reignite my hayfever (also… manure smell) so Luke went for a walk while I had a rest. He discovered that everything was downhill from the hotel, which made walking back a bit exhausting.

We had dinner booked in the hotel at 7. I had carbonara but Luke had schnitzel, which he’d been looking forward to since we got to Switzerland. And it was only $70 AUD (ouch) but cheaper than Zürich prices and a very generous serve.

Not pictured: a bowl of chips. Which I ate half of because I like to help Luke out when I can. Yes, I’m a Samaritan, guilty as charged!

I splashed out on TWO glasses (100ml each, wtf) of wine that at $12 each were almost at Melbourne prices.

Now we’re lying in bed watching YouTube videos and sending thoughts and prayers to our washing so it dries by morning.

A few more photos of the day to finish.

Beautiful buildings with charming detail.

I’m hoping tomorrow will be less hectic than the last few days… it’s a 51km day so fingers crossed for us and our sore hindquarters!

Goodnight!

11Jun2023

Eurobike Tour: Day 2: St Moritz to Zernez

by Miss Penny Black

Today is a 36km ride along the Inn Way, a mostly flat route that goes along a valley north from St Moritz.

Goodbye St Moritz, I hope Zernez, despite being smaller, is a bit more lively. It’s like everyone in St Moritz is competing to be the quietest. I’ve never been in a hotel breakfast room that was so hushed.

We had the Nutella-filled crepes this morning and Luke had the scrambled eggs as well. He liked them but they were a bit mushy looking for my taste.

And before we leave the hotel, here’s the shower, with more nozzles and dials than I’ve ever had in a shower before. Full disclosure: I couldn’t get anything but the top one working. I am useless with working out how foreign plumbing works. Luke seems to have more success.

Although I am generally not a fan of baths, with all the hiking and cycling on this trip it has been nice to have some long soaks when a bathtub is available.

I prepared myself for today with two kinds of hay fever tablet and three nasal sprays. Hopefully that will hold it at bay until at least lunchtime!

We set off around 10:30am, once again walking our bikes down to the lake, somewhat fearful after yesterday’s brush with the local constabulary.

Goodbye St Moritz, you were pretty, weird, and expensive.

The first part of the ride was quite a steep bit of uphill then downhill through the forest.

We stopped at a pond to take some photos.

I was trying to capture some reflections of the trees but it didn’t really work.

There’s lot of picnic spots with pre-chopped wood, bins with rolls of dog poo bags hanging beside them and a variety of designs of fireplaces. The bins are never filled to the top or overflowing.

The bugs were out in full force and I had my hair band as a mask today. I am surprised that no one else wears anything over their mouth, I definitely heard at least one person go into a coughing fit after swallowing a bug. The thought of getting one in my eye or mouth on a steep or busy stretch makes me nervous.

We passed a large group of riders and horses. Some of the horses were massive. Maybe it was because it was a Sunday, but there seemed to be a huge number of people out riding.

Finally found a good spot to capture some mountain reflections.

For about three quarters of the way the route was concrete or tarmac and the hills weren’t too bad and our choice of e-bikes really paid off.

There were super cute villages and plenty of springs where water bottles could be filled.

This bit, which was straight, downhill and smooth was one of our favourite bits.

But then disaster struck in the form of a closure of the route. We had to take a very rough gravel track, which was both steep and alongside a deep ravine.

We followed it for a while and, after many stops to check the map and double back, we decided to turn around and head to the nearest train station, not too far behind us. The road we were on looked to be heading towards the highway, where we would have to ride on the side of the busy road. We turned our bikes around just as two people rounded the corner on eurobikes identical to ours and, like two guardian angels sent straight from New Zealand, we met Jane and Rutherford!

They were more confident than us and assured us that we would be fine to keep going. We hadn’t realised that Google maps doesn’t show all the bike paths, so we wouldn’t have to ride along the highway after all. They offered to ride with us and were so kind and encouraging that we decided to keep going.

Rutherford was obviously the most experienced rider of the four of us so he went ahead. Jane was definitely leagues ahead of us but they stopped with us to take photos and we had a lovely chat.

At one point I said I’d go ahead and Luke followed behind while Jane and Rutherford had a break. The track from that point to the bottom of the valley was the most terrifying I’d ever done. The surface was extremely rough, steep, winding and covered in fist-sized rocks. I sat on my brakes for much of it and went very slowly, juddering and bumping all the way. By the end our wrists and shoulders were aching from bracing against the handlebars, we were exhausted!

Fortunately after that the path flattened out and we could enjoy the scenery again.

We saw a lot of vintage tractors as got close to town, there must have been at least 20.

Our destination wasn’t too far along and we were extremely relieved to reach our hotel for the night.

After putting our bikes and bags away, I realised the hotel did not have the pool I was anticipating… darn it! However the local pool was just a few steps down the road so I cajoled Luke into an excursion.

Well, it was $18 to get in and closed in an hour, but the outdoor pool was amazing! It had a whirlpool end that pushed you around in a circle, a row of lounging racks over jets and a wall of intense jets at different heights so you could move along and have different areas massaged. So good!

The guy at the front desk was really nice too and they had a popcorn making machine by the entrance. What more could you want? I mean, apart from a reasonable price and longer opening hours?

Unpopped kernels at the top of the machine.

When we walked back to the hotel, Jane and Rutherford were having dinner and it looked really good so we told ourselves we deserved a nice meal after our harrowing afternoon so we got changed and then went out to the restaurant.

We had a celebratory (commisoratory?) drink first.

The meal was marginally more reasonably priced than those in St Moritz, so that was something.

The little tube is mustard. This meal looks small but the sausage was quite large.

We even had dessert – the local specialty, apple strudel with vanilla sauce.

We are both hoping tomorrow is less of an ordeal! Here’s a few photos from the day to finish.

One of the more unusual flowers by the road.

10Jun2023

Eurobike Tour: Day 1: St Moritz

by Miss Penny Black

Let’s talk pillows. In the hostel in Zurich we had square (‘European’ in Australia.. do they call them that here?) feather pillows that, when you lay your head on them, squashed completely flat. Even doubled over they barely had the thickness of a sandwich, and not a decent salad sandwich either.

In our current hotel the pillows are marginally better but seem to be stuffed with marshmallow-sized chunks of foam that gradually migrate to the corners, once again leaving the head unsupported. Have Europeans not heard of polyester filling or memory foam? In the words of an irate London bus driver, it’s 2023!

Anyhow, rant temporarily over, let’s talk about our first cycling day!

To say Luke and I were filled with trepidation would be putting it precisely. Neither of us had cycled in the last few years and we had booked e-bikes which are are a little trickier to use and heavier to push. Still, we had the hotel breakfast to enjoy first.

Back to the restaurant room which was much quieter and cooler than the previous night. Would the hotel redeem itself with the breakfast on offer? Yes, yes it would.

There was excellent coffee, a selection of cheeses, cold meats, salmon, fresh fruit, Bircher muesli, and also omelettes and pancakes could be ordered at no extra cost. Marvellous!

We stuffed ourselves to the gills in anticipation of skipping lunch and managed to not be hungry until dinner.

Next was setting up the bikes. Now, before I go into anything else I will say that we did not have helmets as we were supposed to bring them and forgot. There is nowhere in St Moritz to buy a reasonably priced helmet and so we decided to go without. Don’t bother commenting that we should get them, we ride at a snail’s pace and tomorrow’s Sunday so we literally can’t. Just be aware that we both feel bad about it and know that we should be wearing them.

We wheeled the bikes to an empty (and, more importantly, level) car park and rode around in circles practicing changing gears and using the power assist functions.

Marginally more confident, we walked the bikes down to the lake and set off.

The sun was out but thankfully it wasn’t too busy on the track. The route we were supposed to go followed the valley and wound around four lakes. There were some small hills, some steep enough for us to get off our bikes and push, but all in all we managed well enough.

The problem with riding is you can’t take photos on the fly. We had to stop, which was fine but I probably would’ve taken many more if I’d been walking.

The fields were filled with flowers and the mountains felt almost close enough to touch.

We rode through a few tiny villages too.

Of course, the mountains make everything look small.

The trail was about 12km in one direction then a return back the same way. We got almost to the end when my hayfever really flared up. I’ve brought six kinds of medication with me – three nasal sprays and three kinds of tablets. I had fortified myself well for the morning but by early afternoon it was all wearing off so I took more and we sat in a cafe for over an hour to let my symptoms calm down and medication take effect.

This is what a $9.82 hot chocolate looks like. To be fair, it was excellent.

I felt a bit anxious about the hay fever when we left the cafe but it subsided. My hay fever is not so much a runny nose as my eyes itching and swelling. It’s properly debilitating and I’ll be better prepared tomorrow.

The only other annoyance of the day was the hoards of bugs. No biters or stingers but lots of ones the size of flying ants. Not terrible when standing still but to avoid inhaling any while riding I wrapped my scarf around my face. Luke used the band given to us by eurobikes but it was too small for my gargantuan cranium.

Looking stupid is worth it, many bugs bounced off my face.

Oh I guess we were an annoyance of the day – Luke got told off by the police for riding on the footpath on our way back into St Moritz.

We got back to the hotel at about 6 after a trip to Lidl for cheese and bread. Now we’re doing holiday homework – the blog and recording expenses. Fun!

Supermarket picnic served on the plastic shoe tray covered in a towel. We’re sharing the one mug to drink our duty free Bacardi and soft drink. Classy! This whole meal cost less than 100ml of wine in the restaurant downstairs.

Tomorrow we ride twice as far to a village along the trail to Innsbruck. Woo!

Goodnight!

9Jun2023

Zürich to St Moritz

by Miss Penny Black

Before breakfast we did a quick run to the supermarket for lunch and snack supplies. I don’t know what food on Swiss trains is like, but if it’s any more expensive than supermarket food we don’t need it.

We packed our bags and headed to the station early, keen to try to get seats on the best side of each train.

Our journey from Zurich to St Moritz is in two parts and for the first half Luke had read that it was best to sit on the left, for the second half on the right.

We managed excellent seats for the first half, having four to ourselves. The first section of the trip was along the side of Lake Zug. It reminded me a lot of the train to Interlaken. Bike paths, parks, people on stand up paddle boards and sailing on the lake. It all looked very idyllic but the lady in the hostel told me the water was around 14 degrees at the moment.

Then the train headed into farmland and alongside a milky aqua lake surround by high peaks.

We changed trains at Chur and got to sit on the right side but facing backwards. Fortunately the girl who was sitting across from us got off only a few stops along and we could move across.

There is a more expensive and luxurious train but why bother when the normal trains are spotless and have huge windows?

This is the third ever UNESCO protected train route and the rails were laid over 100 years ago.

If you’re reading this because you’re planning on going to St Moritz by train, work out where your hotel is. The walk from the station to some of the hotels is up a steep hill. There is a bus that meets the train at the second last stop and then goes much further up the hill. We would’ve saved ourselves quite a slog.

The tour company had booked us into the Hotel Arte. The staff at reception were lovely and our package for our seven night bike tour includes baggage transport and breakfast every day. The first two nights are in St Moritz, which is just as well as we’ve both only ridden electric bikes once and that was five years ago.

Our room has an Egyptian theme, including a 3D (ish) frieze of the pyramids, which had an LED strip to light it up so… that’s a thing. I’d love to see some of the other rooms!

We checked in and then decided, after looking at the menu of the downstairs hotel, that we could afford their very cheapest item, a margarita pizza. So we booked a table then went out for a walk.

On the way up from the station we passed a strip of boutiques – Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes etc. Every store in our part of town is the very height of luxury and the people walking around the extremely clean and perfectly landscaped streets are dressed in clothing that probably costs more than our entire holiday.

Behind the shopping area is a hill with some beautiful houses. Here’s one that’s brand new.

There’s a real mix of modern and traditional but they all use wood, stone or are decorated like Wes Anderson hotels.

The tower below leans more than the one in Pisa, although it is shorter so it’s harder to tell.

Is it possible for a place to be too clean? It kind of feels like a Disney set of Switzerland.

I can’t tell if we’re out of season or if there’s always no one about in summer. There is a lot of construction and renovation work being done, which makes sense I guess. Can’t do it in Winter!

After a mooch around we went back to the room and got changed for dinner. The restaurant is in the same building. The interior was all wood and they do pizza and also Swiss food like fondue and schnitzel. We had one drink each (the wine was $18 for 100 mls! The beer was 300ml and $14) neither was of particularly exceptional quality. The pizza, which we shared ($30) was mediocre and nowhere near as good as the ones we bought at the supermarket in England and cooked in the oven at our apartment. Even the bain-marie pizza from the coop the other day was much better quality.

The restaurant was also boiling hot and we both felt we would be happier eating picnics in our rooms from now on. I did Google why food is so expensive here and it seems to boil down to ‘because they can’. The supermarket food is cheaper now because Aldi and Lidl (German chains) were allowed in. Thank goodness!

It did occur to me that the exceptionally pristine environment of Switzerland, both in the cities and in the countryside, is at least partially to thank for these high prices. We can barely afford to be here and we make reasonable money – Switzerland will never be accessible to most holidaymakers. I have mixed feelings about this but I’ll enjoy it while I’m here and, to be honest, this will probably be our last visit.