Off to Southern Switzerland
The second half of our youth hostel trip began with a long train journey from Crans-Montana to Locarno, even further south. We were looking forward to the panoramic train that we wanted to take from Domodossola, but it was a rather normal train without panoramic windows. Nevertheless, we were able to make good use of the time playing UNO. When we arrived at Locarno Youth Hostel, we didn’t even have to use our Italian skills, as the reception team addressed us in German.
After a quick snack of some delicious Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough, we wanted to continue with today’s plan. Our aim was to reach the Verzasca valley by bicycle to cool off in the water. However, there was a planning error and we were unable to pick up our rented bicycles. This called for a spontaneous new plan.
Alternative cool-down programme
We spent the whole afternoon at the lido & spa. Whether lake, diving boards, slides, swimming pools, steam baths or saunas – we relaxed and enjoyed an almost mobile phone-free afternoon.
A quick question for you: What’s the most important thing in Ticino or Italy? Right, the pizzerias! So we had dinner at a pizzeria. On our way back to the youth hostel we discovered the Moon & Stars Festival, so we decided to make a detour. To get an overview of the festival grounds, we took a ride on the Ferris wheel right by Lake Maggiore.The festival was the climax of our fourth day.
The food booths at Moon & Stars are put under the microscope. ©Companies
Action, thunderstorms and a happy ending
After a warm night we started our fourth day once again with train travel, now heading west. In Bellinzona we took the PostBus over the San Bernardino to Chur. After arriving in Chur, we met Katrina from the Swiss Youth Hostels and Dominic from KREATE. Together we continued towards Churwalden to Pradaschier Adventure Mountain.
Near a small hut, we had a delicious lunch provided by Katrina. Now we were looking forward to the climbing park, the zip line and the toboggan run, but the weather didn’t want to allow us this fun. Within a very short time, dark clouds appeared and it began to thunder and rain. As a result, all railways were closed and we had no other choice. We had to postpone this experience until the next day.
Disappointed, we began our journey to Valbella Youth Hostel, saying goodbye to Katrina. But the youth hostel was able to cheer us up again with its beautiful furnishings.
At the picnic we still had the best weather. ©Companies
Near a small hut, we had a delicious lunch provided by Katrina. Now we were looking forward to the climbing park, the zip line and the toboggan run, but the weather didn’t want to allow us this fun. Within a very short time, dark clouds appeared and it began to thunder and rain. As a result, all railways were closed and we had no other choice. We had to postpone this experience until the next day.
Disappointed, we began our journey to Valbella Youth Hostel, saying goodbye to Katrina. But the youth hostel was able to cheer us up again with its beautiful furnishings.
A thunderstorm came out of nowhere – the ride down was anything but comfortable and we arrived at the bottom soaking wet. ©Companies
Second attempt
The last day of our trip didn’t begin with a train ride, instead starting with a second attempt at Paradaschier Adventure Park. Unfortunately, we were also rained out this time, but we didn’t give up. After an hour-long UNO session at the restaurant on the mountain, the rain subsided. We were finally able to test the zip line and the toboggan run.
Definitely an adrenaline rush. ©Kompanen
Now we had to make our way to Schaffhausen as quickly as possible, because all the rain had messed up our schedule a bit. The original plan was to take a rubber dinghy from Stein am Rhein to Schaffhausen. However, there was no time to do so, so we started further down in Gailingen. As we live in Schaffhausen, we had the privilege of Vanessa’s mother picking us up at the train station by car and driving us to the boarding point.
Sups ready and off goes the fun. ©Kompanen
Another hurdle and a worthy conclusion
We noticed the strong wind early on that day, which made us take much longer than usual. The wind was so strong that we spread out the bath towel as a sail and could travel upstream. In the end, the wind was our undoing, as we all wanted to have dinner at Schaffhausen Youth Hostel as a farewell. Unfortunately, nothing came of it and we spontaneously went to a restaurant together.
It is with a laughing and a crying eye that the companies say goodbye. ©Kompanen
And sadly, this was already the end of our trip. The first three days went according to plan, but the rest less so. The weather always thwarted our plans. Nevertheless, the trip was an incredible experience. It was very exhausting running an Instagram channel at the same time and we had a lot of fun as a team.
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