Hotel Mountain Inn Saas-Fee

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 ...

I am only stayin the night just to see the Matterhorn. The sun is out and I took a hike up nearby hill. It was about an hour and a half uphill walk with regular short stops to catch my breath. I think I have had enough of hiking now, I did 4 hours of it at Montreux as well, I must have the best **** at the moment. Spectacular view of the mountain at the hilltop though. It's less of a mountain and more of a giant pinnacle of rock. It looks menacing, to prove it there is a nearby graveyard full ...

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 ...

... to go UP it in 20 minutes!! Unbelievable!

On our walk back to the hotel we had our first of what would be many encounters with cows and their bells in Switzerland. There was a guy walking his cows into town and they all had bells around their necks making a clunky tune as they walked. It was so charming!

Back to our room and Witek was feeling a bit worse for wear seeing as he wasn’t 100% well before our 5 hour hike. We decided to just get take away ...

... 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.

                                         

... way up to meet Evie and Sue at the playground (after a 5 euro hot chocolate) and we all walked down through some delightful traditional Swiss towns.

                                                 

... 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.

                 

... as everyone just got pelted! After about 45 minutes, of course we decided we had to get in the action. Anyone can fling oranges, after all. So we moved to a smaller, but more lethal piazza, and watched team Tuchini del Borghetto battle. Now, this team's colors happened to be red and green. So everyone had a red hat on, there goes the spectator protection idea. But we didnt care, because the Tuchini welcomed us, even handing us oranges to throw! When ...

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