Sunday, September 16
After a delicious traditional Swiss breakfast provided by our gracious airbnb hosts, we collected the white Yeti from parking and set off on the 2 hour drive to Davos. The roads, as with all roads I've experienced in Switzerland and Italy, were well maintained and smooth sailing.
We checked into our hotel first, which was a basic private accommodation with a shared bathroom (although it didn't appear we were sharing it with anyone for the duration of our stay, the hotel felt pretty quiet).
Our plan for Davos was simple, we were going to rent mountain bikes and enjoy biking down the mountain trails. Our devilishly laid out plans were thwarted when every rental store in the town was closed by noon on Sundays. While deciding where to go next, we randomly drove as high as possible within the town limits, and stopped at the highest point to eat our Coop sandwiches.
The plan became to take the gondola up the top of one of the mountains for a hike. It's really tough for me to nail down which mountain we went to and which gondola we took - there's a few in the town - and honestly we struggled to locate the gondola departure point from town while driving around with the car. I imagine all of the mountains are just as beautiful though, so I really don't think you can go wrong.
We followed a trail that wound around the mountain to a second gondola station that would return us back to town. We forgot to bring water so had to buy the overpriced water at the top of the mountain. I feel the photos are self explanatory for this part of the journey. We did see cyclists on mountain bikes, and, having walked the trail, as amateurs to mountain biking I am very glad we couldn't get bikes that day - there were some parts of the trails that were unexpectedly dangerous if you don't have the experience to look for them. One wrong move could be very tragic, though the idea of mostly downhill slopes sounds fun.
We consulted the concierge at our hotel about where would be best for dinner. He indicated that most places in town will be touristy and nothing special, and suggested that we take our car to a small town Monstein which was a 15 minute drive away. We reached the town just before sunset, and spent a good 20 minutes just walking through the one-street town and soaking in the vista of the valleys below.
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| Monstein |
We went to Hotel Ducan for dinner as advised. Again, the mains were pricey but food was incredible. This restaurant, and the town, was a great surprise after being in Davos which overall has a bland feel to it in comparison. We were impressed with our second dinner in Switzerland. The restaurant offered some game meats and Mike ordered the venison while I got the steak frites. My only slight annoyance with the restaurant, was that because my main came with frites, they brought a giant bottle of ketchup to the table which made the meal feel a little cheaper and made me feel like an out of place foreigner. Most people would probably find it considerate, but for that price I guess ketchup should come in a little side bowl. Maybe I'm just being picky.
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| Monstein |
Anyway, I'd strongly recommend visiting Monstein if you are ever in the Davos area, and it's worthwhile arranging dinner at Hotel Ducan - which probably requires reservations during the peak season.
We drove back to Davos in the dark, and took a randomly selected unpaved road uphill into a forest, until we found a clearing to stop the car. We used this opportunity to watch the stars, in perfect darkness.
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