Zermatt to Bellinzona
I was on the move this morning, so of course I woke up way earlier than I needed to. That gave me time to worry about things.
I had a message from SimCorner support. The first one asked the questions that were clearly answered by me already in my original post. I replied and asked them to see my early comments. The second one was more to the point but provided no solution.
I had decided the night before that I was done worrying about my train connections, but of course I immediately began searching again. I thought about backtracking along my previous route, doing a transfer from Andermatt to Göschenen to head south to Bellinzona. But I had problems finding trains since most were Glacier Express, the tourist trains I was avoiding. Then a bit of logic filtered through my sleep deprived fog and told me that I was being silly. So, after worrying all night and then into the morning, I again decided to stay with my original plans. Travel and lack of sleep does funny things to your brain.
I ate a quick breakfast and returned to my room to get my bags. I came back down and found Lorraine waiting at the reception, wondering if I had already checked out. Since I was in a hurry to do my train rides, we said a rushed goodbye.
It was a fast walk down the hill to the station, but I managed to miss a turn and ended up in the middle of town. It meant a longer walk, but I still arrived just as the train pulled in. It was starting here, so there were several minutes before its scheduled departure.
This first train was a 1.5-hour train to Brig. It was a yellow car like I had ridden two days before. I was joined by a couple on the upper level. There were two couples in the bottom level.
One of the couples in the bottom section were East Indian. I saw that the man was using the Eurail train app, so I spoke to him and found out that they are from St. Louis and had been travelling for several weeks. They had an AT&T locked phone so had no internet at all. Two days earlier I could have told them about how well my data plan was working. We discussed the transfer at Brig that would require a walk between the two stations.
He showed me his photo of the tip of the Matterhorn that he had taken from their hotel room just before sunset. I left Zermatt without seeing that.
It was a much nicer ride this morning than when I had arrived two days before.
The two stations in Brig are right next to each other, but since we only had seven minutes between our trains, my new friends and I had to hurry.
We then shared sideways facing seats in the first-class compartment. They explained that they were only going to Domodossola to get a customs stamp, something she needed for some purses that she had bought. I assumed that the purses were not inexpensive but did not ask for more details.
It was a short 30-minute ride. I left them at the Domodossola station and hurried downstairs to board my next train, the Centovalli Railway, the one that had me worried about a seat. It was leaving soon, and most passengers were already on board.
I climbed into a car and found the first-class section was full. I turned to find a seat in second class and saw that most were marked with little stickers to show that they were reserved. Others were blocked off with a rope, which also blocked me from checking the seats further down.
I finally found a window seat, or more exactly, a seat with a bit of window. I was soon joined by a South Korean man. He was huffing and puffing. He had run to catch the train.
The scenery was nice, but I had to work hard to get my photographs through the little window space. I had really been spoiled with my empty compartments on my Swiss trains.
At one point my seatmate walked to the back of the car where he was able to stand. I followed him back and saw that there were empty seats in the first-class section at the rear. I could have sat there in the beginning but had been blocked by all the second-class seat reservations. I thought about moving now, but I would have needed to get my pack, and my suitcase was still at the very front of the car. I returned to my seat.
I think I was supposed to pay a small supplement for my seat, but as a small consolation, no one ever checked my pass.
It took almost two hours to cover the 52 kilometres to Locarno, where like in Brig, there are two stations. This train arrived at the Locarno FART station, a most unfortunate acronym in English.
I had planned to have a quick look at Locarno, but that would have meant dragging my suitcase in the opposite direction from the second train station where I would get my next train. The board showed a train leaving for Bellinzona in 15 minutes. I went to catch that train.
I was happy to be back on Swiss trains, riding in an uncrowded car. It was a short 25 minutes to Bellinzona.
Bellinzona, a little city of just over 40,000 inhabitants, is quite charming.
My expected 15-minute walk from the station to the hotel took much longer than that as I struggled to pull my stubborn bag along the brick streets. I vowed to take a taxi the next morning.
The entry to the Locanda Marco was an elevator. The signs did not show reception but referenced the restaurant and terrace. I tried those and walked out at the reception. I was greeted in Italian. Then the man tried German. I asked, “English?” No. “French?” Oui. We did everything in French, including my time for breakfast and a taxi for 7:30. It was not a high-level conversation, but was still fun for this guy who grew up with one language.
My room was minimalistic. Everything was ultra-modern.
My original plan had been to carry on to Lucerne, but I added this night in Bellinzona after reading about the city’s castles. They are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
I first walked to the closest one, the Montebello Castle. It was built in the 14th century.
I was offered a discount. “Senior?” Then the credit card machine did not work so the woman just waived me in.
The castle offered great views of the town, surrounding hills, and the larger castle down below.
There was a man with an old-fashioned camera.
I planned to walk up to a smaller castle on the hill, the Sasso Corbaro, but the clouds were quite threatening.
I walked down the hill. I loved the old buildings.
My destination was the Castelgrande, the original castle. The site has held a fort since the 1st century BC.
I then walked around the lovely city.
I found a café and enjoyed a cappuccino.
I had seen a reasonably priced (for Switzerland) restaurant. It was busy when I first passed by, but the crowds had left when I returned. It was now getting quite cool, so perhaps I had waited too long, but I still sat outside. I ordered a pizza and a glass of wine and was asked if I wanted the hot oil. I said yes. “See if you can handle it.” I could.
It was a big pizza.
I was a bit annoyed as a man smoked a cigar while the waitress puffed on an e-cigarette in the doorway near my table.
I returned to my modern room. I did not have to do any great planning this night. I had one train to Lucerne in the morning. Even my taxi to the station was booked.
This featured blog entry was written by Bob Brink from the blog Searching for Magical Moments.
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