Our trip up over the mountains from Chur to Campocologna.

MAY 31, 2010 MONDAY

We were up at 5:30 to catch the bus at 6:47 to get to the bahnhof for our train to Zurich. Our train should have arrived in Zurich at 7:48 which would have put us there twenty minutes ahead of schedule. The best laid plans of mice and men........ Our train entered the long tunnel just before we got to the Zurich bahnhof and then it stopped. We waited in the dark tunnel for about five minutes before an explanation was given us over the loudspeaker. Something went wrong with the electrical system between us and Zurich and we were stuck until it got repaired. Most of the people took it in stride, but a few were frustrated and unhappy at the delay. It wasn’t long before Elder Porter called on our cell phone to ask if we were coming. We told them our problem and they said they’d wait for us. Finally after a twenty-five minute delay, our train started to move. We called Elder Porter and told him we were on the move and would get there as soon as we could. Our train arrived and we hurried off and to platform 5 where we met Elders Porter & Morris and Charlotte. The train we wanted to take had already left, but we found the next one to Chur that left fifteen minutes later and got on it. There’s always another train.

We traveled to Chur which took an hour and a half and then switched trains and continued on to Samendan where we changed trains once again. From there it was a slower train that traveled up the mountain through many small towns including Pontresina, Bernina Diavolezza to Ospizia Bernina, the Bernina Pass, and then down the other side through Alp Gruen, Poschiavo, La Prese, Brusio to Campocologno where we had to stop because we ran out of time. The train ride was up from the valley where it was lush green grass and forest up through the winding canyons and snow-covered mountain peaks and then down the other side. We went over many bridges and through tunnels, over ravines and through valleys, up above the tree line and down, sometimes sunny, sometimes raining and sometimes snowing. The higher we got the colder it was and we even traveled through a snow storm or two. The snow was melting which created many waterfalls emptying into the river and small lakes. We saw a couple of glaciers in the distance as we traveled along. We never tire of seeing the small towns with the ever present churches and steeples that nestle in every open area between the forested hillsides. Scattered along the mountain sides were buildings that look like castles perched on high places where it looked like they’d be easy to defend. We see all these things as we ride along, but it would be neat if we could stop and explore some of them, but we never have enough time. We have to be content just to observe and enjoy the view.

We had to stop one stop short of the end of the line and turn back and when we got off at Campocologno, our return train was sitting right there to take us back to St. Moritz, the famous resort town. When we got there, we had to wait for almost an hour before our train was due to arrive to take us back to Chur through Samedan. During the hour Charlotte took us to the longest escalator we’ve ever seen. St. Moritz is famous for all of the rich people who live there and it’s the holiday destination of the rich and famous from all over the world including our own President, Barack Obama. The rich and famous don’t like to walk so they insisted an elevator be built from the train/bus stop level up into the center of town. The buildings and hotels are built out of the finest materials and workmanship. We didn’t get to see much, but we found a souvenir shop and bought a couple of small things and then returned to the train station.

The trip from St. Moritz to Chur was slow, winding, but beautiful. At Chur we boarded a fast train that got us back to Zurich in just over an hour. It’s always fun to travel with Charlotte and we’ll miss her a lot when we go home. It was good to get to know Elders Porter & Morris a little better. We said our goodbyes and finished our trip back to Schaffhausen, arriving home just after 9:00.

We listened to a message from Sylvain on our answer machine saying he is doing okay and will call us back tomorrow. We got out the frozen hamburger to thaw for Sloppy Joes tomorrow and then wrote our journal. At 10:30 we got a call from Elder Bentley who informed us that we could expect two more for lunch tomorrow, Elders Talley & Anderson, our zone leaders. We had to get two more packages of hamburger out to thaw, but we already had enough buns, thank goodness.