Appart Hotel Hemizeus Zermatt

... used my final day of my eurrail pass for this trip only to find that the trip from Visp station to the Zermatt was not valid despite being told by two train operators that it was. I also couldn't get through to the girl at the station that my eurrail pass allows me discounts for the train but she kept telling me, 'no, no, you can't use anymore days it's full'. Today wasn't the first time I have been stuffed around by the Swiss. It's hard to believe that Einstein was educated here.

... for tea and a bottle of wine and sit on the rooftop terrace of our hotel and admire the view.

I left Witek to nap and went and got the pizza and wine as well as some cold and flu tablets for him. When I got back we set ourselves up on a couple of deck chairs facing the Matterhorn on the roof top terrace. It was a bit chilly but not uncomfortable and we enjoyed a nice night up there. There was an Australian family there at the same time as us and we had a bit of a ...

... to the Gonergrat, another lookout point. While there we spoke to the guy who takes the photos with the dogs... he suggested we stay at the Gonergrat for a night as then we could see the sunrise and get good photos... using the train we couldnt get to the Gonergrat before about 8. Thought this was a great idea and booked for the Monday night.

Monday

Tom's Big Jump!

On Monday morning we met Phil at 9 and headed back to the Klein Matterhorn... Me to take photos ...

We had packed up the Landy by about 8 a.m., and were ready to plan the route to Val d'Isere. With no roadbook to follow, the GPS was put into use, and a quick check against the maps verified that the best route was probably down towards Milan to join the motorway, and take motorways towards Aosta.

So, not much in the way of navigating to be done, except to check the road signs now and again, so the hunt for bingo photos was driven hard today ...

We woke "late" (8am) and were the last to leave our bunk. Skipping breakfast, we began our 5 hour journey back to Zermatt. We chose a route that would give us a different view of the valley, but involved 1800m of decent. We paid for it for the next few days. We arrived at our apartment and ...

... to climb the Matterhorn the next day. If we had said yes, we would have been awoken at 4:30 for breakfast and began the 7+ hour ascent at 5am. Needlessly to say, we declined. 

Instead, we took the Gondola/Tram/Tram route to the top of the Klein Matterhorn (little Matterhorn) at 3800m for a short ...

... Gondola, we took a Tram to the top. Each stage of our journey had its own playground! The zipline at 2600 took the cake for the most over-the-top experience. Tom took Tyler home for his nap and returned 1/3rd of ...

... exciting stories about those who have summated the Matterhorn. The summits seem to take place in July which seems so late in the year for a mountain that is 4,478 meters. It guess it is location, location.

In town we visit the church and look at the museum and Goat and Marmot statues as we go by. It sure is a pretty town right now, and will be even prettier when they put all their flower boxes out. In the Mammut clothing store the clerk tells ...

... run by a couple of Aussies from Canada! We had dinner at Walliserkanne again and it was fabulous as usual- I had Rosti and Sausage and Galia had Pasta and Shrimp- both too much but so good!

... more hits and decided to drive... well did we mention what maniac drivers the Italians are... they are just as bad as the Czech's and their roads are just as bad!!. It was all rather stressful trying to cope with getting Misty down very narrow streets and putting up with maniacs who drive on the wrong side of the road and nearly cause head ons (they even overtake in tunnels that are one way on blind corners). We have decided that the Italian's drive like they play soccer... they cheat ...