May 27 - Tom and Val arrive and we all had a long, busy day

Breakfast wasn't included in the hotel, so we left about 9:00 AM, thinking we would get a salami brotchen or something in the airport. However, we frequently seem to run into dramas. Switzerland used to be so well organized, but now the airport does not seem to be well sign-posted. There were no signs for Arrivals, and the parking garages were enormous. Ron dropped me near an elevator bank on Parking Level 2, and said he would park and be back. My parting words were "Don't forget where I am and leave me stranded here".

There was absolutely no place to sit and hardly a place to lean against. The minutes ticked by, and no Ron. My phone battery was about dead, so I doubted he could even text me. Waited and waited, getting more and more of an aching back. The airport is huge, so I didn't dare leave, and was getting worried. About 20-minutes elapsed, and I was beginning to think I would have to proceed to locate Arrivals Area 1 on my own, and hope that Ron did the same. Momentarily, one of the elevators opened and he peered out and said, "There you are!" He had to park on the 5th level, and the garage was very convoluted with twists and turns, and he wasn't even certain he was in the same building. He KNEW I was on Level 2, but when he pushed 2 on his elevator he went down to the shopping area below the Arrivals Area. He went up and down several times trying different options, and eventually someone else pushed 2 and when the door opened that is when he spotted me - and was greatly relieved. He said he was beginning to sweat like the time in France when he "misplaced" me in a gigantic grocery store!

We made our way to Arrivals and by now it was almost 10 AM. We walked down to the Meeting Bar and ordered cheese, sandwiched on a large pretzel, to share. By then our shaky nerves thought it would be a good idea to have a wine and beer. The bill for this snack (and the wine was TINY) was about $20.

Ron consulted the Arrivals Board and found that Tom and Val's flight from Frankfurt had arrived about 10-minutes early, so we walked down to that area. They came out from luggage claim and we made our way to the car, pulling all their suitcases. Ron was afraid to leave us and try to pick us up after the experience of not being able to find me!

Tom and Val and all the luggage squeezed into car without an inch to spare

We set off toward Chur, which requires driving through Zurich, a beautiful city itself. I wanted to stop on a small peninsula in the lake at a restaurant in the town of Hurden.  I hadn't made a reservation, as I was hoping to find a restaurant we had visited previously, and also with flights, you can never depend on the times.

We found the beautiful area, but the Rossli Restaurant had a group occupying the terrace and couldn't accommodate us. We didn't even ask at the Adler, as it is a Michelin-starred restaurant and even more outrageously expensive than the ordinary expensive Swiss establishments. We did stop for picture taking.


Our next stop was Bad Ragaz, a beautiful spa town. We went to the Gasthof Lőwen. Sat outside on the terrace which was on the river, but the railings blocked the view. Val had spargelcremesuppe (white asparagus soup); Tom had saibling (char or brook trout) which was a whole fish (head and all); Ron had snails and salad; and I had prawns pil-pil (in a chili oil). I expected something like the Spanish tapas, Gambas Ajillo, but these were large and still in the shell. A lot of work, and rather strong. Ron told Tom how in Asia the cheek of the fish is considered a delicacy and always reserved for the guest of honor. Tom had never been served a whole fish before, but he bravely ate the cheek - Val and I couldn't watch.

Saibling

Prawns Pil-Pil

Leaving Ragaz, Ron drove up into the Schloss Ragaz (a lovely hotel in an old castle) where we have stayed numerous times. It is a challenge to drive in through the narrow gate, and it was even more of a challenge to exit. You have to drive through an archway in the building, and a car was improperly parked which made the approach to the arch almost impossible. The side of the car was a fraction of an inch from the stone wall. Val was closing her eyes!

Because it was getting late, Ron drove us up to Arosa instead of taking the train. As always, it was interesting to see what is new and what construction is underway. The first thing as we came into the village was that on the site of the old Valsana Hotel, a huge development by the 5-star Tschuggen Hotel Group is going up. It consists of three buildings with 40 hotel rooms, and many luxurious apartments. The complex will include a grocery store, sports shop, restaurant with terrace, and even doctor's offices. I looked on-line for information and discovered that even the smallest apartment will be over $1,200,000. Another very interesting sight to see was the rubble where the old Post Hotel burned to the ground. I had read about the fire some time ago, but didn't realize there was NOTHING left of it. It was most unfortunate, as it was a beautiful hotel with several restaurants (where we have held many a get-together), AND it was always open year-round, so would have been a nice stopping off place. We drove all through town and absolutely nothing was open. When we got up to the top where three hotels look over the valley, we discovered that, unbelievably,  the Arlenwald Hotel (Bure Stubli) was open. We went in for beer and wine, and it was a fine place for me to sit in the sun with a beautiful view while Ron, Tom and Val walked down to his bench.

My locale at the Arlenwald while everyone else walked

Praetschlistrase at Ron's bench

Tom and Val on Ron's Bench

They continued down to the Bahnhof (train station) and took a taxi back up to collect me. We then chatted with the owner, Herr Schwendener, who at one time had lived on Islesboro in Maine. He explained why everything was closed. The schools had changed their vacation policy, and instead of giving short time-off at Easter, February, and one other time, they decided to close for the entire month of May. This gave the local business owners the chance for a month-long vacation and a time to close their businesses. When we mentioned that Tom and Val were going to Santorini, he said he had been there last year and really bashed it. Said there were thousands of cruise ship passengers clogging the streets, and that they all gathered for sunset, and clapped when the sun went down. He said, "The sun sets every day, why this applause?" Later, Tom told us that tourists do the same in Key  West.

We had to got our conversation short, as we wanted to catch the 4:48 train to Chur. Earlier, Ron had gone in to check on times and had bought us first-class tickets. So, Tom, Val and I boarded the train - the first car right behind the driver. Ron drove down to Chur. The train takes 1 hours and 2 minutes. He made it in about 35-minutes.

Langwiess Bridge we had just passed over on the train

Ron met us at the station and we drove to the Hotel Ambiente Freieck at the beginning of the pedestrian zone. There was a parking space in a lot opposite the hotel, and the owner of the hotel gave us a sign to put on the dash that would allow us to park there overnight (for free). We had cute rooms on the fourth floor looking out at the church steeple clock. Val wondered if we would hear the bells in the morning. In fact, we heard them into the late evening, and then because it was Sunday they were pealing like crazy from about 7 AM. From Tom and Val's window we could see into a large window in a building on the pedestrian street, and there we could see a mummy.

Part of our view in Chur (the bells always told us the time)

About 7:45 we walked around the corner to the Obelisco for a light dinner. Ron had suppe de verdure (vegetable soup) and a charcuterie platter. The rest of us had pasta - Val had ravioli, Tom cannelloni, and I had paglia & fiena gorgonzola (hay and straw), which is fine noodles both white and green.

Chur is the oldest city in Switzerland. We walked briefly in the old town and went to investigate why there was a mummy on display. We saw it, but no explanation of why it is there.

Walking in pedestrian area near our hotel

Mummy in antique store window (Tom & Val could see from their room)

It has been a long day, especially for Tom and Val, who had been up for about 30 hours. Val said she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow around 9:30 PM. We had all of our windows open and were bothered by noise - very loud people in the streets for quite some time.