Today we drove from Canazei in Italy to Scuol in Switzerland. And what a drive. Along the way there are many local cheese shops to discover and the most delicious apples you have ever tasted in the Val di Non in Trentino. Drive up and over the Sella Pass and into Val Gardena, through Oretesei before heading down through Bolzano, up to Merano past a medieval church tower that’s been submerged by a dam before crossing into Switzerland. The Engadine Valley in the Swiss Alps is like a dream, and just off the main road through Scuol is a fantastic little horse ranch called San Jon. It offers simple accomodation for horse lovers that includes warm bunks, a typical regional dinner and breakfast and many unbelievably breathtaking views.
The Swiss may be famous for chocolate, but a lot of their chocolate is really not that great. Our breakfast offered a range of typical, Swiss chocolate focused products. The first was the hot chocolate made using a sweetened cocoa powder called Caotina made with sugar, 19% cocoa powder, 7% cocoa mass and a very long list of additives from salt to vanilla, vitamins, glucose etc. You can also spread Caotina Choco Creme on your toast, made from 7% cocoa powder, rapeseed oil, sugar, milk powder, vanilla, hazelnuts and different oils and emulsifiers (not it says Choco because I’m guessing there isn’t enough chocolate in it to be allowed to be called chocolate). From here we will be travelling to the land of gianduja (chocolate and hazelnut spreads) in Torino so we decided to save ourselves.
But apart from the sad chocolate offerings, everything else about San Jon is amazing. The goats outside the main window offer non stop entertainment and the selection of cheeses at breakfast offer a tour around this cheese loving country. You can wander out to visit the many horses living here, or arrange to ride them through the forests around the property for an hour through to several days. This space is open for visitors regardless of whether you are staying there or not for coffee, food or a drink.
Reitstall und Saloon San Jon, Scuol, Switzerland www.sanjoon.ch
