Lyrics on Postcards

The Bernina Express is a bright red train that winds through the scenic Alps, beginning in Tirano, Italy and ending in Chur, Switzerland. The type of scenery is dramatically different depending on the time of year. In the summertime it is all greenery and wildflowers with the snowcapped mountains in the far distance. In December, it is pure winter wonderland.

It’s a sight I fell in love with the moment I saw it on YouTube. Unlike the vast majority of inspiring travel locations that I see on the internet, I ended up making this particular dream a reality. 

It wasn’t even that expensive, or difficult. Buying tickets for the Bernina Express was just like going on Trainline to buy a ticket from Woking to London – which surreal when you consider how magical the actual journey is. 

2.15pm, Thursday 28th December: Tirano, Italy

Still in Italy, Jade and I set ourselves up outside a café called Margi Bar, and order two hot chocolates which turn out to be those incredibly thick ones which you have to eat with a spoon. We’re within viewing distance of the train platform where the Bernina Express is due to arrive within half an hour. If I had this level of dedication when it comes to catching regular trains I would have a lot less cardiovascular exercise under my belt. 

2.45pm

Then the train pulls into the station, larger and brighter than life. It’s like finally finding yourself at the front of the queue for a ride in Disney World. You can’t quite believe the solidness of what’s appeared in front of you. It’s just like in the photos, pillar box red with huge panoramic windows. 

When we get on board, the windows that are so wide and clear they may as well not be there at all. 

The train pulls away from the station and we almost immediately start climbing up the mountains. 

When my mum saw footage of the journey on channel 4’s Alpine Train at Christmas seven years later, I had to assure her that there was nothing remotely anxiety-inducing about the journey at all. From an aerial view, the train does look incredibly precarious: scaling seven thousand foot mountains, crossing over deep gorges and sheer drops. But, from the inside looking out, there is nothing but wonder. And to be fair, if the train had fallen off a viaduct I’d probably have died happy. 

It is like a strange and beautiful dream. There are few moments in real life where you can truly feel as though you’ve entered a different world. If seeing mountains in the distance is like witnessing a fourth dimension, then slipping amongst them is like entering another universe.  

One view early on in the journey is especially stunning: a wide valley flanked by dark mountains, a deep blue lake in the centre of the valley. and dark green, snow-lined fir trees in the foreground. The white mountains, always there in the distance, are textured and well defined, almost muscular looking, but soft and muted as the snowy peaks blend with the sky.

At the start of our ascent there is still the occasional reminder of civilisation: houses, Graubünden railway buildings, power stations. The final echo, at least for the time being, of the world below the mountains, is the Alp Grüm restaurant. It’s an attractive stone building with red shutters, and it’s strikingly dark and solid against the white snow. It hangs over a dramatic 2000 metre drop overlooking the Val Poschiavo valley and the Palü Glacier. The train stops and allows us to get out to have a look. It’s one of the best viewpoints on the line.

Then we progress further still into The Alps. There are no other buildings for what feels like a long time. We become one with the mountains. It’s just endless snowscape as far as the eye can see. 

You’d think that after an hour or so of looking out at mountains and snow you’d be ready for a break. A few minutes reading a book, or at least glancing at your phone, but that’s just not how it works. You cannot drag your eyes away. It’s an utterly hypnotic and forever changing landscape.

It’s still daylight when we pass through Pontresina, a village nestled amongst pine trees at the foot of the Bernina massif, but by the time we approach St. Moritz, it’s growing dark, and from the distance the cluster of houses with their windows glowing orange look like a picture from a Christmas card.

St. Moritz is the penultimate stop before the final destination that is Chur, Switzerland.  

The sight of St. Moritz glowing in the snowy twilight might be the most beautiful of all the sights so far, and with night falling it looks likely to be the last. 

For the remainder of the journey, it will be nighttime, and the contours of the mountains will be hidden by darkness. It’s a shame that due to the train’s schedule and the time of year, we’ll inevitably miss almost half the journey. It’s just unavoidable. But all the same, I can’t pretend I haven’t seen enough to satisfy me. And it’ll be a bit of a relief to put my camera down, the pressure of bearing witness to such an exalted view, without missing a moment, gone.

In a couple of hours time we’ll be in Chur. It’ll be my first ever time in Switzerland, and if the first views of the Swiss villages are anything to go by, I have a very good feeling about it.