Weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland

Badrutt Palace Hotel.

St. Moritz, Switzerland is the other end of  our train journey along the Bernina Pass.

 St Moritz, Switzerland - Elevation 2,328 m (7,638 ft) - a jetsetting Ski resort of the "rich and famous" and former site of two Winter Olympics in 1928 and 1948.

 The town of St. Moritz is located in the Engadine Valley of Switzerland and in the Swiss canton of Graubunden. Right between the Badrutt Palace Hotel and the Alps (in the picture above) is the Lake St. Moritz. During winter time,the frozen lake allows professional Polo players  to play a Polo tournament which is an event attended by International jetsetters.  This town is a luxury resort town. I mean LUXURY.  Every shop in this town are all of the major luxury fashion design houses in the world from Hermes, Rolex, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Ralph Lauren, Jill Sander, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Bally, among others. Of course, there are many Swiss Chocolate shops along the way. It is  a beautiful town to visit especially during high season-from November to April (Winter) and June to September (Summer).  Besides shopping, this town is truly for the sports minded too- both winter and summer sports from Skiing, ice skating, cross country skiing, bobsleigh, Winter Polo to the summers sports of sailing, cycling, running and even fishing! I enjoyed the natural beauty of the town as it has the lake and surrounded by the Swiss Alps all around! So breathtaking!

This street just like all around St. Moritz are lined with luxury designer shops from Cartier, Boucheron, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Jill Sander among many others.  I wish I took more pictures of the luxury stores but I was more impressed by the beautiful natural surroundings of the town.

St. Moritz Library.

 The Clock Tower.

Swiss Chalets.

View of the Kempinski Grand Hotel and the Majestic Swiss Alps

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Pilgrimage Church of the Madonna di Tirano,Italy

Basilica of Madonna Di Tirano.

During this week of Holy Week for Catholics, I would like to share the Pilgrimage Basilica of the Madonna Di Tirano. My family and I visited this town by chance on our way to ride the Bernina Pass Train which starts in the town of Tirano. The town of Tirano is located in Northern Italy in the region of Lombardy.  We didn't know that the Church in town was actually a Pilgrimage Basilica. The shrine is dedicated to the appearance of the Blessed Mother to Mario Degli Omodei on September 29, 1504, an event religious pilgrims credit with ending a pestilence. In honour of the Blessed Mother Mary's appearance, they built a Renaissance Basilica in the 1500s. One of the joys of travel is always discovering new places unexpectedly. This town was  one of the places that we enjoyed discovering unexpectedly.

Town of Tirano.

Piazza of the Basilica with the backdrop of the snow covered Alps.

Madonna Di Tirano Shrine beautiful designed with golden and marble angels.

Madonna Di Tirano Shrine where pilgrims come to visit Mother Mary to offer their prayers - both petitions and thanks.

The baroque organ and Pulpit in the Basilica. The whole Basilica was designed in the Renaissance style from the 1500s. Very intricate carvings in the walls, ceilings and the dome.

The Renaissance design  of the ceiling and dome.

The Main Altar.

The Main Altar up close. So beautiful decorated. Behind is the Golden statue of St. Michael the Archangel.

The Town of Tirano is the start of the Train Ride on the Bernina Pass.

A house in the town of Tirano, Italy with the backdrop of the Alps.


May you all have a peaceful and blessed Holy Week!

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The Bernina Line: Train Travel in the Swiss Alps

The start of  the Bernina Line in Tirano, Italy.

One of the things I love about traveling around Europe is riding Trains especially the Speed trains.  So it was not a surprise that my family and I tried the Bernina Line Train travel  to see the beautiful and majestic Swiss Alps from Tirano, Italy to St. Moritz, Switzerland. It has always been my dream to see St. Moritz, Switzerland. I read about them in books, in Vogue Magazine and Hello Magazine as the favourite ski resort town of Royalty and the Jetsetters. So when I read that this train travel takes us all the way to St. Moritz, we didn't miss the chance to experience it when we were on vacation in Milan, Italy.

The Bernina Line was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. But the actual train operations started since 1910. The Bernina is the highest altitude railway in the world. Start of the Train ride along the Bernina Pass - UNESCO World Heritage-is a high mountain pass in the Bernina Range of the Alps, in the canton of Graubünden (Grisons) in eastern Switzerland. It connects the famous resort town of St. Moritz in the Engadin valley with the Italian-speaking Val Poschiavo, which ends in the Italian town of Tirano in Valtellina.The Bernina Pass is situated at almost 7,400 feet above sea level, down to Tirano which lies at an altitude of around 1,400 feet. The train ride travel along gently sloping train tracks without the use of cog wheels - despite having to tackle gradients of up to one in seven! Truly an amazing train journey of a lifetime!

Town of Tirano, Italy.

Start of the train journey, passing by some vintage cars driving along the road.

The route taken by the line is so beautiful and majestic. The train ride travels through many various Swiss towns with the backdrop of the Swiss Alps in Switzerland's Graubunden region- along with its ancient glaciers and beautiful mountain valleys. This area is just north of Milan,Italy and Southeastern part of Switzerland.

The train has the scenic roof  which is perfect for viewing the majestic Swiss Alps, towns and valleys during the train journey.

Such a scenic and peaceful lake!

The waters to the north of the Bernina Pass naturally flow via the Danube and into the Black Sea, while the waters to the south of the pass end up in the river Po and the Adriatic Sea.

We are going up,up, up! More Swiss towns along the way!

Passengers can open the upper window of the train cabin to have a better view and take great photos!

Marvel at Swiss Engineering and efficiency!

One of the many tunnels along the way. The whole trip passes through 114 tunnels.

Out of the tunnel. The train journey travels gently along sloping and zigzag train tracks.

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