UPDATES AS OF FRIDAY MORNING, 2.00 AM: "BLING BLING BOOM BANG"
As many of you folks are slowly but surely making your way up to the Lower Engadin, I cannot ignore the fact that the weather looks shaky at best and that you might be considering to pack your neoprene suit, rather than your bikini. So it's time for me to disclose Plan B:
+ Plan B is like Plan A, but about 45 years younger, with a roof for shelter, 180-degree windows, and hardly any water. It's still very much a pool party though! Just forget about that ugly neoprene - and visualize a chance encounter between Hugh Heffner and Alice Schwarzer during their respective off-season Switzerland holidays in the 1980's, while taking a very chill afternoon indoor swim.
+ You're most welcome to still bring your bathing getup to take an early evening dip or two (I sure will!), but later that night, you will want to wear something BLING to fit in. Probably more Hugh than Alice. As a general mood statement, consider this: BLING BLING BOOM BANG!
+ Sadly, we're not going to see much afternoon water gymnastic or mini golf action at 15 degrees and overcast skies, so Plan B also starts later:
--> We'll start dusting off the boom boxes around 1700, but the whole thing will only really kick off towards 18-1900. We will then move from the pool party to another, more glamorous location as the evening progresses.
--> Please enter through the Freibad Vulpera main entrance, pay for your ticket(s), then follow the signs. Or simply your intuition.
+ BBQ without sun is low-level fun, so I arranged for some less weather-sensitive, more reliable food options. In other words, no need to bring food, there's plenty of everything, for everyone, catered by the wonderful Café Ajüz, Scuol. There's also plenty of liquids, but if you want to drink your special something, feel free to bring it on!
+ Also due to the weather insecurities, there will be a driving service as of 9 PM, all night long. Drives between Scuol and the location (both directions possible) are CHF 5/person per drive, flat. Cell phone number to follow.
+ Anything else, just call or text.
Much love, can't wait!
R.
***
Dear friends,
As some of you know, I'm not a massive birthday party tiger. Frankly, birthdays come and go every year, it's a very repetitive concept, so why bother?!
But every now and then, life takes me to places that I cannot quite keep to myself, and even posting about them on Instagram or talking about them non-stop to whomever might listen doesn't quite do them justice. These are the kinds of places that are bound to host celebrations, bound be shared with people in live – so birthdays sometimes do come in handy!
Freibad Vulpera is such a place. Even as a professional location scout who's looking at hundreds of pictures of the plushest spots in the world every day, I have never seen anything like it. This open air pool facility is visually characterized by the primary original colours of the 1930's and set in the extremely quiet, seemingly deserted town of Vulpera, Switzerland, tucked below the massive Piz San Jon and Piz Lischana. The whole facility and its slightly grotesque surroundings make you feel like an early 20th-century Alpinist who decides to go for a summer swim while listening to Bohemian Rhapsody on his 1984 ghetto blaster before meditating mindfully with the Headspace app on his iPhone 13. It's all very back to the future, since tomorrow, in technicolor!
To me, this funky pool is the perfect blueprint of Swiss leisure and tourism culture today - both young and old, urban and rural, elegant and humble – and it vividly represents the contrasts of my personal life in the Alps, which I have come to love so dearly since moving to the neighbouring village of Ardez 18 months ago.
I would therefore be delighted to have you join my little celebration on Saturday, 3 September, just 4 days after my 38th birthday!
The concept is very straight-forward: There will be lots of music, dancing, swimming, diving, mini-golfing, body-moving, sunbathing, BBQing, and drinking all-day around the hottest-looking outdoor pool above 1200 meters altitude as we dance the summer away and say hello to the perhaps even more awe-inspiring Engadin fall season.
Some facts:
- + Start time: 2pm through as late as the Alpine temperatures allow
- + When night falls, we'll have somewhere else to go, but that's a surprise... 🙂
- + Pool entrance: 7 francs (5 for locals)
- + The pool kiosk serves some basic drinks, snacks, and ice cream (see last picture for price list), and I will arrange for some additional food and drinks (amazing local beer!). There's also a fireplace for self-service BBQing, so feel free to bring your own fire food and maybe a bottle or two.
For those of you coming from far, far away – trust me, the place and the surrounding is definitely worth a weekend trip! Here's a range of hotel options to chose from in every price and elegance range:
+ HOTEL QUELLENHOF, SCUOL - 5m by car, 25m by foot, basic rooms for a good price (singles for 75/night, doubles for 150/night)
+ HOTEL GUARDA VAL, SCUOL - 5m by car, 25m by foot, upscale boutique hotel with a view (singles for 240/night, doubles for 280/night)
+ HOTEL FILLI, SCUOL - 5m by car, 20m by foot, nice and cosy mountain hotel set above the river (singles for 123/night, doubles for 210/night)
+ YOUTH HOSTEL SCUOL - 5m by car, 20m by foot, basic but aesthetically pleasing rooms for one, two or multiple people (singles starting at 88/night, doubles at 116/night)
+ VILLA POST, VULPERA - Right next door to the pool, slightly old-school but cute 4-star hotel with an epic garden and 2 nights minimum stay (single rooms starting at 145/night, doubles starting at 260/night)
I hope this is all clear enough, but holler at me with questions. Can't wait to see you up here!
Sing hallelujah,
Robin
PS / It's 2022, and looking at the world today, there's clearly no value in neither things nor money anymore. So do NOT bring any presents apart from edibles and drinkables – your presence is the only gift I'll accept. 🙂
PPS / Here are some random music moods that are on my mind as I type this:
+ WAXLIFE - Breathe
+ DRAKE - Summer Games
+ QUEEN - Bohemian Rhapsody
+ CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON - Summertime
