Day 35, 36, 37, & 38 - Switzerland (St. Moritz style)

Well, current activities in Turkey with Russia and Syria have put our Turkish travel plans on hold indefinitely (sorry Ines!  No turkish delight and zataar toast for you this time!).  We took this opportunity to pull out our world map and pick a new destination.  As the travel planning occurred while we were feuding (see previous post), Ines took the lead to pick our five day diversion and settled on a ski-cation in the Swiss Alps!  Seven travel hours later we found ourselves checking into our Swiss Chalet set on the edge of a beautiful lake in St. Moritz.  Little did we know Ines’ pick of ski towns is the most visited, most skied, and of course, most expensive ski town in all of Switzerland (possibly the world).  That said, Ines did manage to pick the time of the year that has plenty of snow and was just before their high season, which meant that we had the ski mountains, the Chalet, and the sweet town of St. Moritz pretty much to ourselves (in our last few days there we shared this place with about 200 Italians - more to come on this).

We spent the first day of our ski-cation wandering around the sweet Swiss town of St. Moritz, where Ines discovered her new favorite afternoon beverage, the latte macchiato (although still not enough caffeine in this to keep her awake - Korey is not sure many people know this about Ines but she is the only person he knows that can drink an espresso and then take a nap).  We unknowingly received a clue regarding the relative cost of St. Moritz.  Upon checking in, we were asked where we were headed and we responded that we were planning to spend the day shopping and walking around.  Our Chalet staff member then simply laughed and told us to have fun.  As we ascended the longest heated escalator in Europe to climb the distance from our Chalet on the lake to “downtown” St. Moritz, we realized why the laugh was delivered.  St. Moritz can best be described as the winter playground to the rich, with street after street lined with high end stores (Gucci, Harry Winston, Salvatore Ferragamo, Rolex…..and on…and on….and on).  After Korey peeled Ines away from drooling over a gold beaded 2015 resort collection Escada evening gown, we settled into a little local hole in the wall hunter styled Italian-owned bar, where over an Aperol Spritzer (Ines would like to include the recipe for future reference- Aperol, Ginger Ale, Champagne) and a Calanda Swiss-made brew, we pondered over what we had just got ourselves into for the next few days.  

The next day we were early out of bed and off to the downhill ski mountain, with over half of the runs open and plenty of snow for the taking.  The St. Moritz ski mountain is just up the steep sloped mountain of the town, and we ascended up the mountain in a tram with only about a dozen or so other skiers/snowboarders.  After being outfitted in the newest and most advanced ski gear (only the best for skiers of St. Moritz!  Actually, were are here about a week before the high season season, which meant nobody has had the chance to use the gear yet - lucky for us!) we studied the run map and were off!  Well, sort of off, anyway, as Korey was already halfway down the mountain when he looked back to see Ines hadn’t yet started.  As he yelled words of encouragement, Ines examined the steep drop off the face of the mountain and the fact that she could see our Chalet at the bottom.  After her initial hesitation and fear factor was overcome, we skied the afternoon away, with very few other skiers on the ski-hill (Ines states for the record it is better described as a ski-cliff).  In fact, we closed the place down, with the last latte macchiato of the evening being served to Ines.  We then took our weary bones and stiff ski boot walking feet back to the Chalet and enjoyed a fondue dinner where we cooked our own meet in hot oil with plenty of delicious accompaniments!  

The next ski adventure day was not as successful, as Ines discovered there was also a cross-country ski mountain close by (actually, as the Europeans call it - Nordic ski mountain).  We opted for the skate skiing option, and proceeded to bruise and batter ourselves on the nordic ice learning to skate ski on it as children and older women skated right past us.  Korey states our technique was all off and we tired ourselves out unnecessarily.  Ines, after picking herself up off the ground for the fourth time and wiping away her tears, opted to stick to classic cross-country and downhill back in the US.   This is also where Ines glared at Korey for stating that at least they burned tons of calories exercising and could enjoy a guilt-free dinner of traditional Swiss Rösti, Engadin Style, which is basically a deep-fried skillet of hash browns covered in swiss cheese melted over mushrooms and herbs.  Ines agreed it was worth the pain, but only after the fact.

That night, we discovered that the weekend was an Italian holiday, observed in St. Moritz by the annual “City Race”, where dump trucks of snow are brought down from the mountain and used to turn the winding city streets of St. Moritz into a ski-racetrack.  Sponsored by Audi (of course), the race brings hundreds of people from around Switzerland and nearby Italy to enjoy live music (Gotthard rocked!) and team ski-racing through the windy city streets.  We had so much fun!  By the way, Ines would like to take this moment to state that Italians are everywhere in Europe, adding that not only do we watch them consume five course meals with adult beverages at every sitting, they are also all young, extremely thin and extremely tan (a rash generalization, for sure but seemingly true).

All in all, Switzerland was a great experience and a great trade-in for what was supposed to be a week in Turkey.  And because we were there just before the high season, we got to enjoy a not so expensive trip in the most expensive place in the world to ski (Ines is taking credit for this - even though she had no clue prior to booking).  

Things we learned,  1) Yay for us, for luckily visiting a place just before high season (Korey will be doing more research on how to recreate this in the future)  2)  Korey has learned not to take Ines to towns where the starting cost of a “souvenir” might very well be in the thousands, however Ines wants to remind him that he is taking her to Dubai next, and 3) Skate skiing - do not try this at home without professional guidance, and muscles strong enough to take a beating.

St. Moritz celebrated their 150th year of Winter Tourism last year.  Trust us, they know what they're doing!

St. Moritz also featured the longest escalator in Europe, because, why not? (it keeps going, hard to tell from this view)

A beautiful day and reflection in St. Moritzersee (Lake St. Moritz).  You can see our chalet on the other side of the water

Hitting the slopes!  But don't worry, the falling comes later during skate skiing...

Just one of the breathtaking views from the top of the Corviglia mountain where we started our ski adventure.  Not much snow on this side, but wait...

...Ines making her way down the mountainside, all to herself.  It was unbelievable!

A little lunch break at the top of the mountain

Closing the cafe down with the new favorite, latte macchiato

Downtown St. Moritz the night of the City Race!

Teams race through the city streets, craziness!

Rocking out in 30 degree weather in the street!

Ines looking like she knows what she's doing skate skiing

 Korey showing everyone neither of us could figure it out...