The road to Ftan and a little adventure from the past

To arrive there it takes almost one hour starting from Celerina. The road is entertaining as there many turns, some of them changing their range and getting tighter as you drive through, while the best ones happen on some really old, narrow, bridges… (EvilGrin).  Of course it is a lot of fun if you are driving with someone who is enjoying the sporty ride, on the contrary, if you are travelling with the whole family the drive takes some concentration as you try to make it as comfortable as it can be by avoiding sudden accelerations and decelerations.

The first time I reached Ftan it was an evening in winter, it was snowing quite strongly and as a consequence the road was completely white. Very soft to drive on. Per se a beautiful view. The car I was driving, a Skoda Octavia, was new and being a four wheel drive I was feeling safe. Soon we started to encounter some cars which could not proceed, drivers and passengers trying to move them out of the way, while on some others cars people were installing snow chains: this was happening on the main road, imagine on the smaller ones! I remember that on one hand I was surprised, as they were local and for sure well equipped with winter tires, on the other I was happy of not having to worry as my new car had four wheel drive… right?!

It was almost at the end of the trip, when the slope of the road started to increase, that I had to recognise that something was not working as it should have: the car was struggling to keep pace, it was loosing grip. But… how come? The Skoda Octavia 4×4 is well known for its performances on snowy terrain… And my situation was not that extreme!

In the end, we almost reached our friends house, the very last piece of road was way too steep for my car to overcome. As you could imagine “the defeat of the Octavia” was the topic for the whole night (and in my mind, for many days later). Around midnight we took Arno’s Subaru Outback and challenged it with the same road… “the defeat of the Octavia” got even bigger and painful as the Subaru had not one second of hesitation, even in the worst conditions.

To make the story short, once back in Lugano, I took the car to the mechanic, which discovered the issue, and the car was repaired under warranty. Even so, it was a big disappointment for me. Really strange was also the fact that the car did not give me any kind of message or alarm about the malfunction.

After the repairs I did not have any chance test the car again: I have been in snowy situations a few more times, but not as snowy as that time. This is also why I am seriously considering a front wheel drive car for the future… but let this be a topic for a future post.

This August, instead…

…we arrived safely at Arno and Giusy’s place right in time for lunch. It was really nice to sit all together, having something simple to eat and chatting a little about everything, be it about work, fitness, future plans, kids… 🙂 Arno and Giusy are some years older than us, therefore they do have some more experience to share about kids (and of course about many other topics too).

In the afternoon we also had the chance to have a walk through the village: we would have loved to make a bigger tour, but it was starting to rain, therefore we had to keep it short.

How is Ftan different from St. Moritz?

The atmosphere that you get to breathe in Ftan is really different from the one you get in St. Moritz or in Celerina. It is much more relaxed and familiar, probably because Ftan is smaller and, geographically speaking, not as fortunate. Ftan and Scuol are in a valley which is tight, like a V, whereas St. Mortiz and Celerina are in a nice plain, the lake giving much more room and light. On the contrary once you are in Ftan, if you watch in front of you, you have a wall made by mountains. Which are beautiful, but still… On some occasions a little oppressive. Still Ftan might be preferred as St. Moritz is way too crowded for someone who is looking for some peace and nature. Furthermore the tourism has completely changed the people and the society living in St. Moritz. In Ftan this is not the case and even though the tourism is for sure important, the people are much more authentic and down to earth.

During our chats with Arno and Giusy we discovered that Ftan also has a new school: “Das hochalpine Institut Ftan” where boys and girls can learn and get their high school diploma while practicing a lot of sport and enjoying the beautiful area. I do not know if I would send my son there though, I believe it is way too much cut off from the rest of the world (although very much depends on the kid, if he/she is not interested or curious of the world around him, even if you take him in a very cosmopolitan city, he might not absorb that much).

Which brings me to think about one question which I have made myself multiple times already, i.e. about living in Engadin or in a place in the mountains. I am not too sure if I could stay in such a village for a longer period of time… generally speaking, the loneliness is something that appeals me, but for how long?

Thanks for reading and for following!

Best,

Andrea