Jane and Kristi Travel Europe 2012: Zermatt

This is one of our mom’s favorite places to go…and for good reason. Today (Monday) we hiked in the Swiss Alps!

We arrived here a few days ago by train and checked into our apartment which was the first place this whole trip that had a full kitchen. So, we went to the grocery store and bought makings for… beef and bean burritos! There was a tiny tiny section of Old El Paso products (clearly not too picky, we're very excited to have a Tex-Mex option!) So the first night we cooked dinner, made wine spritzers, and stared forever at the Matterhorn. Heaven!

The next day (Sunday) was a day of rest. We caught up on grading, crossfit video watching, reading, laying on couches (with the views of the Matterhorn of course) – and didn’t leave the place until 3 p.m. With a few sprinkles of rain and clouds, we walked through Zermatt town uphill into a gorge/canyon called Gorner Gorge (see photos below). Then we had a lovely dinner and beer at Derby’s (mom’s suggestion). It turns out, everything closes at 7 p.m. here so realizing it was 7:10 we rushed across the street to a little chocolate shop called La Petite Royal; they hooked us up with makings for hot chocolate, kahlua, coffee for the morning – they rock. We came back to the apartment, watched the sunset over a now clear-skied Matterhorn, and drank our hot chocolate wrapped up in blankets due to the descending temperatures. (It feels like fall here – good thing we brought a warm fleece!) It was a good day.

Today/Monday was our big hike day. It was a crystal clear and cold morning – Kristi was up and took no less than a zillion pictures of the sun rising on the Matterhorn. After breakfast, we took a fernicular railway – an underground very steep railway up the side of the mountain to an alpine lake. We spent an hour or so trying to recreate an old high school photo of our sister Sara sitting at the lake in front of the Matterhorn – and I think we found that very spot! It was cold, blustery, and clear – see photos of this unbelievable scene below.

From there we walked all the way back to Zermatt through lovely scenic views, dense forest and mountain meadows - stopping of course at an open ski lodge restaurant to take in the scenery and sample a brew while we had our sandwich picnic. Loved this hike!

We came into town pretty tired so we only had energy to stop for our favorite coffee-liquor-sweet cream drink called “galleano”, soup, more beer and of course…since we had gone 3 whole days without it and were experiencing withdrawal symptoms…gelato…thanks to the trusty La Petite Royal ladies!

Thank you Zermatt for such a lovely experience! See you again sometime soon.