Perien to Celerina - July 2001

A few miles above Landeck

Leaving Perien, I followed a bike route into Landeck and rode through town. I found signs for a bike path at the edge of town; which I followed. The surface was crushed gravel and dirt, which required caution. For several miles I alternated between the main road - 315, and community roads paralleling the highway.

Vicinity of Tsoens

Crossing the river, I came upon other bicycle tourists stopped on a bridge for photos. A group of four was headed towards Landeck and a solo cyclist was headed toward St. Moritz. We took pictures and I departed riding with the young man for Switzerland. He was from Cologne in Germany and would be starting his final year at the university. An engineering student, he was hoping to work for one of the automobile companies. He said he competed in cross-country mountain bike racing. He was riding his mountain bike heavily laden with camping gear. We rode together crossing the road onto a bike path that merged back to the road N40. I had planned to pick up N27 and didn't notice the divergence until half way up the climb to Nauders. We continued on to Nauders and split up looking for food. His pace was slightly faster than mine and I was missing photo opportunities. He would continue on N315 and head through the national park on the way to St. Moritz.

View from the road

Museum below Nauders

Looking back down the climb to Nauders

Nauders

After coffee and apple strudel with vanilla sauce in Nauders, I took the turn off to descend into Switzerland. I had climbed an extra 1000 feet by missing my turnoff. Now I had a big descent.

Swiss Views

Another Swiss View

I stayed on N27 exiting at Ardez. Here I climbed the hill to find a restaurant with a view of the valley. After pizza and coke, I was restocked with calories for the road. Sometimes I could see a bike path along the main highway. It was difficult to spot where the path would start. More frequent paths appeared after Zernez. I ignored these and stuck with the highway. The paths seemed to wind back and forth along the valley and were being used mainly by families out for a ride. I could see a storm building in the west and wanted to make good time to find lodging. Outside Celerina I picked up a bike path and headed into town. I hoped Celerina would be less expensive than St. Moritz and an occasional raindrop was hitting me. I found the Hotel Posthaus located across the street from the railroad station. I checked in, put my bike in the storage shed and showered. I walked into town to look around. Here I found a bar and asked if they would accept Italian lira. The bartender agreed and I ordered a beer. The storm moved in and the wind and rain picked up. I jogged back to the hotel and called home. The rain was really coming down with occasional lighting. I went downstairs for dinner at the hotel. The dinner was absolutely delicious. It consisted of a salad with butter lettuce so tasty, it really didn't need the light vingarette dressing. Cheese and a unique bread that was very tasty. I'm at a loss to describe the bread. The main dish was pasta with pesto and bread with unsalted butter. A Swiss burgundy wine complimented the meal. Desert was vanilla ice cream with pistachio. I felt that if I never enjoyed a better meal I would have no complaint. Back to the room to write post cards and watch TV.