Savognin

For the second time this year I spent some time in the snow and the moutains. Together with our neighbours Antonia and I went to Savognin, a little village in the Grisons alps. It had been a while since we were on skis, but it all worked out fine.

I only took my camera to the slope only once, it's not super comfortable on the chairlifts and I was a bit scared to fall with it and either break the camera or my back (both didn't happen fortunately). We had a stunning week in the snow and I enjoyed skiing so much. I don't know if the skis I rented were particularly good but I felt amazing speeding down the snow again and again.

Tschiertschen 4.0

Last week we went back to Tschiertschen for the fourth time in as many years (See 2015 and 2016 as well). Our holiday feelings already started down in Chur when getting on the bus. That's when we saw the first familiar faces and we knew we were in for another week of that cosy feeling of staying at Hotel Gürgaletsch.

By dinner time we had settled into our rooms, had rented our ski stuff in the village and had met more friends from the years before on the sofas downstairs. At six o'clock the bell was run and everybody sat down in the dining room for our first meal together. We were happy to find out that the cook from last year was still there and dove into the soup and the salad. Not everybody was a fan of the gorgonzola on the pizza, but there were other toppings to chose from and the desert made more than up for it.

After dinner, some guests stayed on to talk about their plans for the next few days and to catch up on the past year, others helped with the washing up and sooner or later everybody ended up somewhere in the living room; starting a 500 pieces puzzle, picking up the knitting needles, reading or talking or teaching each other new games.

Apparently it's true that the mountain air is responsible for wild dreams, there were a lot of intense stories told at breakfast. Also the weather looked really promising, it was still a bit cloudy but with enough snow on the slopes and we were promised more sun in the afternoon.

As usual we came back for our lunch at noon. We try to eat outside on the terrasse if the weather allows it and this year the temperatures were almost spring like. I really love taking off my boots for a while and sometimes this feeling is just too good, so I don't go back skiing in the afternoon but decide to go for a hike or to use on of the hotel's sledges for a run down with a stop at Furgglis (it's important to drink a lot of hot chocolate or tea in winter ;-).

Shortly after 4 o'clock the hotel started to get full again. This year I found another yoga afficionada and we managed to do a practice in our room every single afternoon before dinner.

Falling back into the familiar rhythmn of Gürgaletsch, so different from my usual life is one of the reasons I really love going to Tschiertschen again and again. I was quite tired and a bit burnt out when I arrived but it only took me a couple of days to feel so much better again. The kids love it as well, because everything is so small there that they can be totally independent and I often only see them for meals or maybe from far away going down a slope at high speed. And yep, we already booked our rooms for next year ;-)

Skiholidays in Tschiertschen again

It's already been a week since we came back from Tschiertschen where we spent our skiing holidays for the third time in a row. As usual we stayed at Hotel Gürgaletsch. It was fun seeing all the regulars again and as always it was just lovely. The food was amazing this year, the new cook made such interesting dishes with lots of salad and veggies and the desserts were sooo good.

The weather was interesting. We had snow a few times, rain during the first night (which ate up most of what had fallen down in the hours before), there was sunshine and blue sky, fog and wind, pretty much everything. I really liked the diversity of it even though nothing beats blue sky and fresh powder. On the bright days we went skiing all day long and on the other days it was still beautiful enough to be outside for a few hikes or to go sledging.

 

I went back to the stones on Jochalp which is one of my favourite places ever, it feels totally magical, especially when everything is covered in snow and there are just no sounds apart from the wind.

Sadly we had to leave again too soon, but we will be back next year. Because "our" week was already booked out we only have to wait 51 weeks which is a little comfort because we won't be able to go with our favourite family next year.

Ski holidays in Tschiertschen

Tschiertschen

Last week we were in Tschiertschen in the Swiss Mountains. It was our third time there, second time in the winter. Like last September, we stayed at Hotel Gürgaletsch, which is probably my favourite hotel ever.

Hotel Gürgaletsch on the right

The hotel has beautiful views all over the mountains but the real reason why I love it, is that it just feels so right to be there. The food is great, the hosts are lovely and in the evenings it's a melange of kids running around playing and adults knitting, puzzling, playing cards and talking. It doesn't feel like a hotel but rather a very friendly place to be (and no, nobody payed me to write this ;-)

early morning view from my bed

 This year we were very lucky with the weather, there was so much sunshine and the temperatures weren't too cold. There wasn't too much snow, away from the prepared slopes there was no powder and sometimes it was rather icy in the afternoon, but it was enough and all that white and blue made more than up for it. My kids had a lot of fun skiing too, it was much easier this year, because they aren't basic beginners anymore.

Gürgaletsch, 2441m

I had a few rides down Gürgaletsch that felt like flying and the best moment was walking up all the way to the top of the mountain and seeing a chamois mother and its kid.

I enjoyed being with other adults - that's one thing I often miss while on holidays - and being outside all day after a long rather grey winter in Zürich felt great. It was hard to leave today, but then school starts again on Monday and next week is supposed to be grey with snow anyway.

(If you feel like seeing a few more photos from these holidays, you can switch to my flickr account...)

the clouds are coming - it's time to go home