Hotel Astoria Leukerbad

So Borgomanero isn't actually where I was, but the actual place I was is so small I couldn't find it on the map. Borgomanero's close enough. Besides, I don't want to give away this adorable little town because then you'll all go, and then you'll all tell your friends and family, and it'll pull a Woodland Park-next thing you know it'll have a Wal-Mart and then its "cute little town" bragging rights will go down the drain (not that I'm bitter that happened to WP or ...

... the casualties of the Matterhorn.
Zermatt itself is tiny, with only electric taxis. It is much colder than Lauterbrunnen even though it's on the border of Italy.
Switzerland is strange. It has no language of its own. In Bern, Lauterbrunnen and Zermatt they speak German but in Montreux they speak French, even the train announcements change languages. It gets confusing, so I just stick to greeting people in English most of the time. When I had arrived here I was fuming a bit because I ...

... br>We had decided to travel via Aosta, so as to get as close to the roadbook outlined route as possible. About midday, we got our first views of Mont Blanc, or Monte Bianco, as the Italians know it. As we turned off the motorway, we could still see it, until the narrow winding roads took us across the other side of another mountain.

Now we realised this was our last chance to get the police photo, as soon we
wouldn't be in Italy any ...

... out the signs and found that none of pointed to the place we were trying to get to, so we must have been going the wrong way. Very disappointing! But on the bright side (isn’t there always one?!) we had a gorgeous view from up there and the Matterhorn was peeking through the clouds at just the right time. It was the perfect moment to take a breather and some good piccies before our trek back down!

The trek down took about 20 minutes, it wasn’t as ...

... took Evie back up via the Tram to the top of the Klein Matterhorn just before the last ride at 4:30p. Along the way, they watched a parade of swiss dancers with typical accordian players as they paraded down main street as part of an annual traditional festival.
 
                 

... of the "exposure" on the hike up and while there were some sketchy sections, everyone arrived safe and sound. Dinner was surprisingly good and our 10 person bunkbed (5 on top, 5 on bottom) was warm and comfortable enough for a decent night's sleep.

                                         

On Friday, we continued to "get the most" from our unlimited passes by taking the kids up to 3100m and the top of the Rothorn. Our journey took us up a Cog Railway (entirely inside a tunnel) to a Gondola. From ...

... train to 3,200 meters and hiking some of the way back down. The glaciers were impressive, however the views were muted as the weather was a bit cloudy.

                 

... up there, small world. -Today on our drive home we stopped to see the largest glacier in Europe. Impressive. It was a unbelievable week in the Alps...I felt like it was a dream or that I was in a movie. Tomorrow I will help Sarah move into her new apartment and then be there for the rest of the week. My trip is quickly coming to an end...although I am sure there are more adventures in these next few days! Congratulations AARON AND DEZ THOMPSON!!!!!!!!

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Here is a video (sorry for the very bad quality)
http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=R5_9hODsqgs