Hotel Simi Zermatt

... control recently has broken down, this was the perfect sign to follow, where I planed to cross the border to Switzerland.<br><br>Just arrived in late afternoon to Aosta, I was not only already entered to the italian part of the alps but also to the point of good bye. Here I decided not to spend another night in Italy and crossed the border to my homecountry Switzerland a hour later at Calle del Gran San Bernardo. <br><br>BIENVENUE EN SUISSE - WELCOME TO SWITZERLAND

... the casualties of the Matterhorn.<br>Zermatt itself is tiny, with only electric taxis. It is much colder than Lauterbrunnen even though it's on the border of Italy.<br>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 ...

... We enjoyed an ok meal considering, and asked for our bill. <br><br>At the same time this guy that was sitting behind us got his bill and started carrying on in Italian at the owner. We think he may have been a bit drunk and Witek could understand a little bit of it and said that he was apparently complaining that his wine had cost him 8 euro for the glass! He was creating quite a scene and the waiter invited him inside to discuss the matter further. As he stood up he ...

... town of Seez. We must have taken some wrong turning around here, because the GPS went a bit mad. So we found a place to turn round (not easy on those roads) and went back until we could agree with the direction the GPS wanted to take.<br><br>We'd sent a text to Tom to say we'd arrive about 2 p.m, and could he arrange for some food to be left for us from the barbeque which had been arranged. He confirmed, and said he'd come down for us at that time.<br>

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 ...

Went to buffet. Checked out. Owner tried to charge me extra on confirmed and guaranteed reservation. Wanted to charge me extra for Parker, clearly stated that only for kids over 12. She redid bill.<br><br>Walked around some more. Kids convinced me to get a walking stick to use when I have my foot surgery. So, we went back and I got one too with my first name and Zermatt ...

... skier! Tonight started off as a normal night, well so I thought anyway but it finished very differently. On our way back to the hotel after dinner John very unexpectedly proposed! Of course I said yes even though I was nearly speechless. So now we are engaged! 25/12 - Merry Christmas!! It was even snowing for my Christmas morning for the first time since arriving here, so yes I got my wish for a White Christmas. Well after still ...

... they don´t even use street signs, rather each building has its own name. the town is very pretty and the cemetery below the church has big flower beds in front of each tombstone so it is very cheery for a graveyard. two rivers run through the city. it´s raining now so we are inside for the night. it might snow in Zermatt tomorrow which would be awesome to be in snow in the end of August!

... us saying that we were staying overnight there for it was much too far to go for a day trip. Huh? The drive was3 ½ hours there and 2 ½ hours back and we spent about 3 hours there. I guess that could be seen as a bit crazy, but in Alberta, we are used to that kind of travelling. Again, we enjoyed a nice quiet night and headed to bed quite early. We were excited to meet up with the rest of the gang tomorrow and knew that Iain's birthday may be a late night.

www.elodie50a.com<br><br>Here is a video (sorry for the very bad quality)<br>http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=R5_9hODsqgs<br><br><br>