Let me take you for a ride. For an unusual one.. We will go to places unexplored, unknown and secret to average tourists. Somewhere between green pastures of Switzerland, there are true historical gems visible with the right kind of eye. Places forgotten in time and space. Houses older than other countries. Churches and ruins reminding us some of our recent history... Both good, bad and the ugly.
It was Sunday. Pretty damn annoying day if you ask me. Somebody somewhere once said that nothing will works on this day, nobody shall buy and sell, only leisure and wellness services to be provided on such a holy day. What a bunch of nonsense this is. Well, Vatican rules over this country, so Sunday worship is to be expected and needs to be well counted on. Sunday's can get costly around here, but I will show you how to squeeze your buck a little further. Let's go and visit beautiful Graubunden (German/Romanch speaking kanton in Switzerland) together.
One of the best ways to explore Switzerland is by bike. Neverending trails and paths awaits you on every corner.
I finally got a decent bike together - which involved buying three old crappy bikes and building two functional out of them - so I was more than motivated to go out exploring my exciting surroundings.
My journey started in Laax, a popular all season resort, but most popular for it's winters. Taking on a steep climb up to Falera - the very last town considered a tourist destination in the valley - to than disappear in surrounding forests. Small waterfalls and occasional wildlife appearance with awesome views was my food for thought as I was moving forward, towards unknown goal.
Well, to be precise I knew kind of where I am going, but the mountains are steep, the weather can change any minute and you hardly ever know if you're gonna make it to your desired destination.
"Get ready for some very steep hills" the map was saying.
This is where I started to notice how old and beautiful some of the local houses are. Probably due to great political stability of this mountainous country, for centuries, families were able to pass the house from one generation to the other and protect otherwise old building from becoming a ruin. Some of the examples are even older than many other European countries. Which is not hard to do considering the political "instability" the rest of Europe was always going through...
Ruschein in Graubunden as an example of a village still wearing an old coat...
Of course, Switzerland is no backward little Romanian region and these houses are quite rare, often already surrounded by modern built vilas and holiday homes. It is needless to say that this combination of new and old goes well together and I've never yet seen a total "punch in your face" scenario, where the two neighbouring buildings wouldn't somehow fit well together.
After reaching a place called Siat, it was time for the road to take a deep dive back to the valley and its capital Ilanz. Just slightly bigger village, but with decent historical and regional significance. One can immediately see the bourgeoisie or rather feudal style fasades. Resembling the old times, which - who knows - might be still present to this day.
Ilanz was a highlight of my day, so I've celebrated my successful arrival in this medieval center with two bananas and a beer on a local gas station, as it is often the only thing you can afford on Sunday in Switzerland :)
All the best,
Global Local