Thought I'd take a little break from packing in Ireland - looked at last minute deals on airfares and hotels - and off I went to Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. Davos is one of my all-time favorite places in the whole world and has been since 1968 when I went to summer camp here (but that's a subject for another posting).
The trip took almost 12 hours from the time I walked out the door of my house in Shankill, Ireland at 7:15 in Tuesday morning, to the time I actually arrived at my hotel in Davos. The journey involved one airport bus, one plane ride, three trains (one of which was delayed by 45 minutes), and one funicular ride up to the hotel.
Yes, I'm staying on a mountain above Davos in a former TB Sanatorium called "Hotel Schatzalp." It was built in 1900 and rennovated in 1963 -- their motto is (loosely translated from the German) "Yes, so - the way our grandfathers lived." It's a beautiful and historic Art Deco hotel with amazing views to the mountains on the other side of the valley, and a wonderful peaceful atmosphere. I've only been here a short time, but it already feels like heaven.
In fact, the local beer (Monsteiner) has a saying printed on their labels: "Last beerstop before heaven." No kidding!
Tuesday night when I arrived, I had too much fun at the dinner buffet (included with the room) -- but it was all wonderful -- soup, salads, cold meats and cheeses, warm pork, lamp, beef, fish, etc. -- I didn't even make it to dessert.
This morning at breakfast, same problem -- too many choices, not enough willpower. So I figured I'd walk it off by going around the trails above the hotel. Whew - I was out of breath pretty quickly! I got worried that I was getting old and decrepit, but then remembered that the altitude probably had something to do with it. Davos is just over 5000 feet altitude, and the Hotel Schatzalp is at 6100 feet.
The "Davos Marathon" is happening this weekend in the mountains above Davos, and is billed as "the hardest alpine ultra marathon of the world -- a real challenge." I'll be cheering from the sidelines, even though I should be participating, to work off all of the good meals I've been enjoying here.
There's plenty to do here even if you're not into punishing youself in a marathon run through the mountains. Wednesday morning I saw three older German women having a great time -- on a mini toboggan run. That's right - they were all wearing skirts and sensible shoes, and got onto their respective toboggans and away they went! Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get their picture, but I did get a nice shot of a grandfather with his grandson shooting down the run. Thursday morning I did it myself -- it was fun!
Thursday night's dinner was a special event dedicated to the memory of Thomas Mann who wrote the book "The Magic Mountain," set in Davos in the early 1900's. It was fun -- the hotel manager read exerpts from the book (in German) and I got some of it, but not all. That's OK - I'm still reading the English version of "The Magic Mountain." It kind of bogs down in the middle after the main character had been at the TB sanatorium for several years. But now I'm motivated to continue reading it. Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow -- on my sunny balcony overlooking the mountains.
Tuesday night when I arrived, I had too much fun at the dinner buffet (included with the room) -- but it was all wonderful -- soup, salads, cold meats and cheeses, warm pork, lamp, beef, fish, etc. -- I didn't even make it to dessert.
This morning at breakfast, same problem -- too many choices, not enough willpower. So I figured I'd walk it off by going around the trails above the hotel. Whew - I was out of breath pretty quickly! I got worried that I was getting old and decrepit, but then remembered that the altitude probably had something to do with it. Davos is just over 5000 feet altitude, and the Hotel Schatzalp is at 6100 feet.
The "Davos Marathon" is happening this weekend in the mountains above Davos, and is billed as "the hardest alpine ultra marathon of the world -- a real challenge." I'll be cheering from the sidelines, even though I should be participating, to work off all of the good meals I've been enjoying here.
There's plenty to do here even if you're not into punishing youself in a marathon run through the mountains. Wednesday morning I saw three older German women having a great time -- on a mini toboggan run. That's right - they were all wearing skirts and sensible shoes, and got onto their respective toboggans and away they went! Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get their picture, but I did get a nice shot of a grandfather with his grandson shooting down the run. Thursday morning I did it myself -- it was fun!
Thursday night's dinner was a special event dedicated to the memory of Thomas Mann who wrote the book "The Magic Mountain," set in Davos in the early 1900's. It was fun -- the hotel manager read exerpts from the book (in German) and I got some of it, but not all. That's OK - I'm still reading the English version of "The Magic Mountain." It kind of bogs down in the middle after the main character had been at the TB sanatorium for several years. But now I'm motivated to continue reading it. Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow -- on my sunny balcony overlooking the mountains.The scenery here is absolutely amazing -- it's impossible to take a bad picture here. So I've included just a few just to give you a flavor of Davos -- and watch for more in the coming days. Davos is truly heaven on earth!
2 comments:
I am going to tweak the motto from "Yes, so - the way our grandfathers lived"
to
"Yes, so, the way Mark taught us" for my students!!!
"Ja, so wie unserer Grossvater gelebt" = "Ja, so wie unserer Professor Mark hatte uns gelehrt" -- or something like that!
Post a Comment