The sky is as blue as if it were a lie. A lonely cloud sticks like an UFO over the imposing triangle of the Piz Roseg and reminds me a little of the Lhotse in the Himalayas. I went up to the middle station of Piz Corvatsch and made my way to a mountain hut called Fuorcla Surlej. From here you get a first feeling for the perfect mountain panorama.
A small lake is kept alive by permanent water supply, only to provide the numerous day tourists with a photo-motive of the extra class.
The mostly Asian tour groups stay here or go straight for the Corvatsch mountain station, where you can go for a glacier walk at 3,300 meters. Only a few hikers follow me on one of the most beautiful panoramic trails in this region. It always leads along the huge glacier-valleys with the names Tschierva, Sella and Roseg to the hidden Chamanna Coaz hut. I can hardly feel my steps and feel like in a trance at the sight of the snow-capped peaks. When, the Lej da Vadret, a turquoise shimmering glacier lake emerges, it has happened to me.
I have fallen in love with Switzerland and its magnificent mountain world. The trail always winds along the mighty slopes of the Piz Corvatsch. Even if you hardly gain in height, you need a little physical condition for the approximately 4 hours tour, because the Coaz hut is located somewhat isolated at the foot of the Roseg glacier. They are provided by helicopter, as there are no gondolas or access roads.
I can really recommend the original Swiss rösti with bacon and the freshly baked chocolate cake, which is calculated here per centimeters. As a result, I probably had a 4-cm long bit. With the last gondola, I go to the summit station and enjoy a 360-degree view.
Such a wonderful day, needs a perfect accommodation. And if there is a symbol, yes even a temple for exclusive Swiss hotel architecture, then it is certainly the Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina.
„Can we guide you through the house?“, The director of the hotel, Marc Eichenberger, welcomes me and gives me his assistant, Carlotta, to the hand, who leads me with passion through the splendid halls and facilities of the Kronenhof. Starting with a nostalgic bowling alley, followed by a cigar lounge, a card room where international bridge tournaments have taken place, and the spacious lobby with its red sofas and epic panoramic windows.
A piano man delivers the right sound. During the day in the lobby, in the evening in the restaurant, at night at the bar. It goes downhill and into the nostalgic wine cellar, where two large oak barrels recall past epochs. The nearby bar with its hundred chandeliers now serves as an event location. Afterwards, I was taken to the gourmet restaurant Kronentübli and the grand restaurant.
The Neo-Baroque vault from 1872 is decorated with paintings by Otto Haberer, and serves a mix of international specialties and Swiss cuisine every night. At 8 pm I stand full of expectation before the entrance, only to be discreetly attentive to the prescribed dresscode. Jacket and cloth pants are mandatory. So back to the room and pure in the fine wardrobe, because even the kids look like small Wall Street broker. My improvised summer collection consisting of Armani jacket and blue jeans cannot keep up completely, but no one moves more elegantly at the dessert buffet as I do. I only say chocolate-strawberry-meringata and strawberry-rhubarb gratin.
The Kronenhof consists of three areas called the Pension Rössl, the old schoolhouse and the Bellavista. This is exactly what makes this hotel so special. It is always a mixture of pompous tradition and spectacular modernity. Proof of this is the spa area, opened in 2007, which includes a wonderful steam bath and a huge panoramic pool. Finally, I give up, wade through the wonderfully heated water to a „bubbling station“, glide over the much-cited Alps panorama and I think with appreciation: „really a class of its own, this Grand Hotel Kronenhof“.
This article was published with the friendy support of Grand Hotel Kronenhof.
Read also my article about Grindelwald in Switzerland.