Varenna, Lake Como

On the eastern shore of Lake Como, I tried to rob a bike. But I couldn't reach the pedals.

Just hanging around, waiting for a train

Cascate dell'Acquafraggia, Chiavenna

Shortly after leaving Switzerland, we made a surprise discovery of the Acquafraggia waterfalls, once admired by Leonardo da Vinci on his travels. They lie in the Chiavenna Valley between the Swiss border and the town of that name.

Soglio, Graubunden

Do you remember how I got cruelly photo-bombed at the Stelvio Pass in Italy?

Well, at the incredible mountain village of Soglio, just before the border with Italy, I got my revenge......

Muottas Muragls, Graubunden

Early one morning, myself and the male half of my travelling companions decided to climb up to Muottas Muragls, a restaurant on a peak looking southwards over to St. Moritz. We would have taken the funicular, only it wasn't running.

After a lot of puffing and panting on his behalf - but none on mine - we got to the top and took in the spectacular view. Lake Lej is bottom left. We had passed that a few days earlier, walking from Pontresina to St. Moritz. The lake and town of St. Moritz is partially obscured by my right ear. Behind that is the small Champferer Lake, then Silvaplana Lake and at the back Lake Sils, which we also visited previously.. By my right paw is the funicular station at the bottom of the hill.

M.U.M. is Meters Uber Meer or Meters above sea-level.

The Pass of Stelvio, Valtellina

After a long, curvy, hairpin-strewn journey up the Valtellina, we arrived at the Pass of Stelvio and were surprised to discover cafes, shops and stalls doing a roaring trade after seeing precious little habitation for the previous ten miles. And the snow was thick on the ground. The Giro d'Italia had passed by here a couple of days previously, God help the poor buggers.

Arrrgggghhhh!!!!! Photo-bombed!!!!! Revenge will be mine!!

St. Moritz, Graubunden

Ah, St. Moritz, playground of the rich and famous. Well, in wintertime, anyway. Not so much in May, when most of the Bundners take their annual holidays, when the winter season ends and before the summer season starts.

St. Moritz lies in the Engadin, the valley of the River Inn. The waters from its lake therefore empty out into the Black Sea, flowing from the Inn into the Danube. Naturally it is surrounded by mountains and still plenty of snow about in May.

Here I am on the famous red train which rides one of the most scenic train journeys in the world from St. Moritz down to Tirano in Italy.

Ah, the Palace Hotel. If only my travelling companions could afford it....

Vaduz

Another new country for me. Well, country may be stretching it a bit. This is the Royal Castle, built on a cliff, overlooking the town of Vaduz in the Principality of Liechtenstein, famous for its banking prowess and exorbitant prices. Neither the Prince nor the Princess came out to meet me but I quickly played down the snub on social meedya.