Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Zermatt and the Matterhorn

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I wanted to write about last weekend while it was still fresh in my mind. Then i plan on back tracking and telling you a little about what the last couple of months have been like for us.

Last Saturday we decided to take a little trip to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn with some friends of ours whose husbands all work with David for the same company here in Geneva. We are all in very different stages of life, but i know we will be life long friends with these other families because of the experiences we will share while living here.

Zermatt is such a pretty little town. It's full of tourists and ski shops. It took us four hours by train to get to Zermatt. I hadn't been feeling well since Wednesday of last week and by Saturday morning I started feeling pretty miserable. I wasn't about to miss out on this trip though, especially since they had already bought our train tickets. So I decided to tough it out and off we went.

The views were amazing from the train. The ride goes along Lake Geneva, through vineyards, and then into the Alps. Once we got to Zermatt we walked around the town, to get the lay of the land, and got our first glimpse of the Matterhorn. Pictures cannot do it justice. After touring the town we decided to go to a restaurant called The Pipe. It was an African fusion restaurant and it was really good. The owner was British (i think) and it was probably the closest thing we have had to American food since we have been in Europe. Pretty funny since it was African fusion.

After we ate, i started feeling even worse. I had a terrible pain right underneath my ribs on both sides of my stomach and radiating to my back. I kept telling my self to "suck it up"!! I really didn't want everyone to leave because of me. Even though I was uncomfortable most of the day, I was glad we didn't leave. Zermatt is such a great town and the views are amazing. At over 5,000 ft in altitude, it provides 360 degree views of some of the worlds tallest and most recognizable peaks.

We found a great place in Zermatt to take pictures of the Matterhorn and put our cameras to work. I could sit there and look at the views all day, but we decided to continue our tour of Zermatt and walked through a cemetery where they buried many of the climbers who tried to climb the Matterhorn and didn't make it. One interesting thing we noticed is that it seemed more people died on the descent than ascent. I guess the way down is just as dangerous as the way up, if not more. Summit-ting the Matterhorn is an extremely difficult feat, even for the most experienced climber.

You can take a train or cable car up to another mountain to get great pictures of the Matterhorn but it was really expensive so the group decided not to go. I think we will try and go back sometime and go up. I was in too much pain to have spent money on it and not enjoy the view. The views where we were sufficed for the time being.

After that, we shopped until our hearts content in all the cute little shops throughout the town. They have tons of ski shops, chocolatiers, and other boutique shops throughout the town. When you think about Switzerland you imagine the little houses and shops being like something right out of the book "Heidi." Zermatt definitely fit that bill. It was the quintessential Swiss Alpine ski village and really gives you the feeling of being in Switzerland. After a great day it was time to head home. We had a long train ride back to Geneva, but thankfully i started feeling better!!

All in all, it was an amazing day. Even though I wasn't feeling well, seeing the Matterhorn is something I'll always remember.

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