Schweizerhof Zermatt Hotel

... 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!’

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 ...

... 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.

                                                 

... in an American hotel chain means you will be treated like you would in America. Granted, any stray backpacker who is reading this will rightly state that this is cheating-and I fully agree. But who would turn down a few relaxing, clean, and quiet nights amid the chaos and independence of hostels?

                The room was great, and it was nice to see a familiar face. (Dana). I was introduced to Munich's beers with a light Weissbier (wheat beer) which ...

... we need to share. After my hike, I rewarded myself with an "eyes bigger than my stomach" purchase at a local sweet shop. I bought a carmelized walnut tort (or pie, it was huge) and a chocolate muffin. Weird combo, but I downed them both. Tonight, if we are able to roll our tired bodies out of bed, I'm going to guess that there is a high probability that we eat at the pizza place again. It was really good. I'm looking forward to a cold ...

... strangers. Roland works for Zern, which is the worlds biggest nuclear research center and told me all about the particles that make up electrons and positrons and the immense costs and energies involved in the research being conducted there in switzerland. All a littel over my head, but still.... Add to that impressive views over geneva whilst climbing, i had another great day and top finish to my time in the switzerland and northern france.

... doh, forgot his name). I didn't get a photo either... but yeh, on our last night we went drinking... er... that's about it. I met this chick, Minnie at the Ice-Dorf bar on one of the mountains. Err... she was the chick behind the bar, and she was cool. I asked to buy some stickers, to do with the Ice Hotel she was marketing, but they ran out of stickers. She took down my details and said she'd send a few personally selected stickers for free ($2 AUD ...