More adventures in the Alps

If the name Davos rings a bell (not a cow bell) it might be because that is the location of the location of the annual World Economic Forum held there at the beginning of the year and attended by dozens, maybe hundreds, of the world's movers and shakers in politics, finance, economics and business. We began to look for the actual site of the forum, a ski resort known as Davos Klosters, but gave up on that to see if we could find a gondola lift that would take us to the top of a local mountain. We found a couple of such lifts but they apparently only operate in winter for skiing. At any rate there were none operating while we were there.


Instead we decided to move on in the alps to seek a place to spend the night, which is how we wound up at La Cascata (The Cascade) in Augio-Rossa, about which Cam has already reported. The hotel has an interesting story attached to it. It is both a hotel and a local cultural center operated by an association, apparently as a non profit foundation. The building was built early in the 20th century by an immigrant from elsewhere. Long after his death the foundation which now supports it raised the funds needed to begin restoring the dilapidated buildings then there. Today it is a very comfortable hotel with modern facilities and a very attractive dining room that doubles as a performance center where a variety of cultural events are held. It's hard to envision how the small population who live in the vicinity can support it. Perhaps the visitors to the area in summer and for skiing in winter contribute to that.


In that region of the Alps Italian is the language spoken, but the woman who seems to operate the place is either English or an Australian/New Zealander. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union and thus the Euro is accepted merely as an alternative to the Swiss Franc which is the official currency. This was to prove a problem the next day when we had a lunch after Cam's climb up the mountain at Fluela Pass.  


The restaurant there didn't take credit cards and we were short about 13 Euros on our bill. Fortunately I also had some U.S. dollars and one of the workers there was willing to exchange dollars for Euros, so we were able to get away without having to wash dishes -- or being arrested.


We continued on from there to Innsbruck and took a room at a hotel near the airport that was under construction or being remodeled. We woke up the next morning to the sound of jackhammers nearby, had breakfast, and headed off for Germany and our next planned stop, Dachau, location of one of the first concentration camps set up by the National Socialists in 1933. More on that later.