Following the enforced cancellation of the planned Basel Hausmänner hike of both the Grosse- and
Kleinescheidegg, 8 of us ventured to the far eastern part of Switzerland in search of
more favourable conditions.
We were not to be disappointed. The skies were almost cloudless throughout the day,
with a touch of rain only at night. The temperature was kind to us, too,
despite the sun bearing down on us.
The only downside coming to this area at this time (and especially on May Day)
was that just about everything was shut for their holidays. Not only were
the shops and restaurants shut but the Gondelbahn we were hoping to take had
been dismantled! In addition to that, the old railway track to Scuol had been
lifted for some much needed renovation work. This meant that we had to take
a replacement bus from Ardez.
However, given there has to be equals and opposites to everything,
the upside to all this was that whatever was open was great - on Friday and
Saturday at least.
Firstly, we were lucky to find a Hotel that could take 8 of us and we really
landed on out feet with the one we found, which was welcoming, comfortable and
reasonably priced.
Secondly, the lunch we had in the restaurant we found in Vnà was exceptional.
Quoting Bruce:
"That's the best Calves Liver I've ever had in my life!"
It's only fault was it took over an hour for the food to arrive and the place
wasn't that busy, until we got there. I guess a protégé of Chef Ramsey or
Chef White was out the back making sure all the food was perfect before sending
it out.
The line-up this time was Ken and Lionel, both interlopers who work in an office(!),
Mike (who flew in from Sevenoaks and promptly lost his passport), Jake, Philippe,
Bruce, Peter N. and Norval.
On Saturday we headed off up through Sent to the Val Sinestra before turning
back at the (shut) Kurshotel Val Sinestra where we had hoped to have lunch.
Instead, we turned south and made our way to Vnà. Finally getting on
the way we encountered the little Post-Bus that goes all the way back to Scoul.
While two of our number took the easy way out the rest of us continued down
to Ramosch where we caught another bus back to base.
On Sunday we headed east to Lavin. As the lift had been taken down and there
was little prospect of finding a restaurant open on the way we didn't go all
the way up to Motta Naluns but took a lower route to Ftan. Once through the
village we continued on the usual route through Ardez, Bos-Cha and Guarda
before descending to the station at Lavin to catch the train back to Basel.
Enjoy the pictures.
