Hotel Mirabeau Relais Du Zermatt

... 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 ...

... to them. The father and daughter had just completed a 200km trek through the mountains so our little effort that day seemed very insignificant!

We sat and watched the sun go down and the lights of the town come on as it got darker and colder. The town and the Matterhorn looked beautiful as the sun set and the moon came up. We really didn't want to go inside, but when it did get too cold we eventually climbed down to bed, and every muscle in our bodies said ‘thank you!’

... So I was keeping an eye open for a policeman, and spotted a whole police station( or should I say Carabinieri)!! There must be one in there, we thought. And it's definitely worth stopping. We got a place to park (probably not very legal, but we were following the Italian rules of the road by now), grabbed our Landy Rally T shirts, and went on the hunt for points. It lookead bit locked up, but as we poked around the gate, a couple of people came out ...

... Sunnege Paradise where we started our hike. Again, I am so frustrated with myself for not bringing my hiking boots to Switzerland... The altitude really got us, and the incline up the mountains was rather brutal, but it was all totally worth it for great views of Zermatt, the Alps, the Matterhorn, glacial lakes, and waterfalls. And the occasional marmot. We were trekking for about four hours, and it was great. On our descent, we were not exactly sure where we were ...

... 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.
 
                 

Farmor agreed to watch Evie and Tyler for 2 days while Sue and Tom hiked to Hornlihut, the refugio at the base of the Matterhorn. Hornlihut is at 3200m directly below the Matterhorn (4400m) and serves as the base camp for those ascending the Matterhorn. When we called for reservations, they asked if we were ...

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 ...

... giggling (oh, I forgot to mention they were guys). We got up bright and early to head out skiing. Erin and I were the only beginners in the grad group, but we joined 5 others and one of the school's "professors" who was going to "teach" us to ski. We took the lift all the way to the top, where we had heard the bunny slopes were located. Our "teacher" showed us how we should put our skis and then pushed us down ...

... wonderful things about Zermatt is that the town does not allow gas automobiles so every cab or bus around town is electric. Hmm, I wonder why that can't be everywhere else? From what I have seen of Zermatt so far this evening, the town is very quaint and different from any town that you would see in the U.S. I really can't put it into words but the architecture and overall vibe of ...

... town, Zermatt, close to the base of the Matterhorn is a vehicle-free town. This meant that we could only drive as far as Trae? where we parked the car and hopped on the train. Hmmm, how come we cannot see that mountain from here? Following Lonely Planet's recommendation, we sat on the right side of the train. Around each bend, we kept craning our necks to catch our first glimpse of the mountain. Finally, we could just see the peak before heading ...