Goodbye Switzerland
Trip Start
Feb 28, 2008
1
20
27
Trip End
Sep 28, 2008
Mannedorf, Zurich,
Switzerland
Monday, July 21, 2008
To bring you up to date on the last two weeks.
Barbara and Chris have been absolutley wonderful taking me places and suggesting places for me to go.
Firstly the summer weather - days range from cold 16° to 31° hot and humid; raining to clear blue and sunny.
Week before last it rained for 3 days which basically kept us indoors reading, I have managed to get through 3 books while I have been here.
The house is half way up the hill in Mannedorf overlooking the Lake of Zürich which I can`t get enough of as the colours of the green hills on the other side and the sky are constantly changing
Flowers
.Chris is 2 IC for the Swiss Para Olympic Team and is off to Beijing so the first Sunday after I arrived I went to a Para sports meeting for all ages and was impressed to see the size and layout of the Swiss training facility in Magglingen which is the equivalent of our AIS.
Lots of people here walk, ride bikes, do nordic walking, trecking etc so the sports stores here are amazing. The choice of shoes, clothes for all outdoor activities is incredible so have been doing a spot of shopping. After having to throw out my Merrills I bought in Oz before I left, which I wasn`t happy about as they cost a heap and they wore out, barbara took me shopping to buy new shoes. It was difficult deciding from the huge selection they have here.
I have visited the Fhiehfelden which is an enormous waterfall on the border of Switzerland and Germany. They have had an extraordinary amount of rain plus the melting snow, so the water was rushing at an incredible speed over the rocks.
I travelled to Luzern on a beautiful sunny day and fell in love with the city absolutely beautiful - old buildings and amazing shops - yes more shopping
Matterhorn
. ZERMATT & the MATTERHORN
The highlight of the two weeks would definitely be the Matterhorn. We stayed in a small hotel in Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn. No cars are allowed in the village, so we parked inthe village before Zermatt and caught the train. It had been a very warm sunny day so on arrival in Zermatt walking up the main street we caught site of the Matterhorn in all its glory clear and sharp without cloud surrounding the tip.
Unfortunately the next day was a little cloudy and showery but after catching 2 cable cars up one of the mountains we managed to complete a 10 km walk passing 4 lakes with views to glaciers, waterfalls and other snow capped mountains in the area. I loved all the flowers in the fields - imagine yellow, purple, pink, white and red. I was unable to get a photo of all together so picked a bunch along the way and took one back at the hotel.
The last day turned out to be sensational weather form the time we woke up so we went to the top of little Matterhorn at 4000m where you can walk inside a glacier, see the Matterhorn and the Italian ski slopes and ply in snow. It was absolutely breathtaking and can only imagine how spectacular and beautiful the mountains wozuld be in winter.
It is with a little sadness I leave Mannedorf and my home for the last two weeks but it is time to move on.
Tomorrow I fly to Toronto, Canada via London and Reikjavik on Icelandair (cheapest at the time on the internet)
No idea what I will be doing yet but will take it as it comes and enjoy the next 6 weeks before returning to London on the 3rd September.
Thankyou to Barbara and Chris, you have been wonderful, I will miss you.
Take care everyone
Love you all
Carol
