July 2018

Pelting rain greeted us this morning as we awoke for our 2nd last day in Switzerland. The hotel was still hot from yesterday’s heat (we haven’t come across too many hotels in Switzerland with air conditioning) so the cooling rain was welcomed in a sense.
The exit from Montreux was again straight forward thanks to Cynthia our GPS lady and before too long we were on the motorway, speeding towards Zermatt – well not exactly; we were speeding towards a place called Tasch, which is about 8 or 10 kilometres from Zermatt. We needed to park the car in Tasch as Zermatt is a car free area, so we couldn’t drive into there. The last stage of the drive was quite picturesque , as we headed closer and higher into the mountains. Fortunately the rain had also stopped so the visibility factor was good.
Once we dropped the car in the carpark in Tasch at about 11:00am, it was a simple task to pick up the shuttle train that takes you into Zermatt itself.
The shuttle train ride was only about 20 minutes long, but it again was climbing all the way. Once in Zermatt, we had to find our hotel, so luggage in tow and aided by Google Maps, we set off on foot to our hotel, which we reached in 10 minutes or so.
With check in complete and town map in hand we set off to find some lunch and do some exploring.
Zermatt is definitely an alpine village on steroids. It is wall to wall hotels, chalets, B&Bs, and all other forms of infrastructure that caters for tourists. It is positioned in a valley surrounded by the majestic mountains of the Swiss Alps and is at the base of the famous Matterhorn, which we were able to spot at different locations from the village.
After a cursory walk around the town and the old historic village, we took a train ride up to a peak called Gornergrat, approximately 3000 meters high. The journey up was pretty spectacular with fabulous views initially over the village, then opening up to the surrounding Alps.
When we reached the peak, the views were initially spectacular, but then the weather closed in with fog and misty rain prevailing, which of course killed all possibilities of good vistas. The most unfortunate part was that we never were to have a complete view of the Matterhorn, it was always partially shrouded in a shifting mist. You could make out the shape of the pyramidal peak but could never glimpse it in its entirety.
We caught the train back down to Zermatt at around 6:20 and reached the village just before 7:00, in time for dinner. The weather was still cold and wet so we opted for some hot soup at a local bistro.
Another busy day on the trail – a bit disappointing with the weather conditions but what can you do some things just are not in our control!