Evenings are always the most awkward time to fill for solos. So I was delighted to find tickets at Theater Basel starting from just £26; the Barber of Seville, performed with puppets and both German and English subtitles was a surreal way to be entertained for the night. I was even more delighted to find Restaurant Löwenberg, a traditional tavern that specialises in fondue, with no restrictions on solo dining.
My saucepan-for-one was brimful, the secret combination of cheeses devilishly delicious. Without anyone to share the chores, I did have to juggle eating and stirring, but I didn’t have to worry about the etiquette of not double-dipping.
My solo city stop had gone well, even down to a solid hotel choice: right by the train station and tram stop, so easy to get to and from, safely. But how about the next leg? I was bound for Chur, Switzerland’s oldest town, in order to board the Rhaetian Railway, arguably Switzerland’s finest ride.
Rather than the tourist cars of the Bernina Express, I was taking the local Albula and Bernina lines. The same route but in regular carriages that don’t require reservations. The train didn’t have panorama cars but the windows were still huge, and there were few other passengers, so I wasn’t forced to squeeze in amid couples. I also had my pick of seats.
Sure, it would have been nice to gasp at the grandeur with someone else. But I rather liked not having anyone to distract me from a view that changed with every sleeper. As the forests thickened, as the Landwasser Viaduct curved, as the Bernina massif soared, I either basked quietly in the joy or plugged into my playlist of place-appropriate music, from Phoebe Bridgers’ Stranger in the Alps to Strauss’s Alpine Symphony.