Buongiorno!

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Hi all,

We survived our hiking through the alps and are in Venice today. The second day of our hike in Swizterland was a little more challenging than we had expected (9 hours of hiking, summiting a 9000 ft peak, descending across snow), so we took the third day off and took a train to hang out in a small town named St. Nicklaus.

It was good to give the feet a rest and put down our packs for a day. It makde our hike from St. Nicklaus to Zermatt much more enjoyable as we hiked through a valley (18km) past waterfalls and other tiny villages to Zermatt. Zermatt is a cool mountain town at the foot of the Matterhorn with no cars allowed and tons of sporting goods stores, restaurants, and souveniers. Unfortunately, the Matterhorn was elusive for us as it remained hidden behind clouds while we were there.

Yesterday we hopped a train from Zermatt to Venice and are in the process of getting lost in the winding streets and canals here. We are staying on the island Lido, a short boat ride away which is nice, quiet, and perhaps a little more realistic taste of what living here is like.

All in all its great! We've already had pizza and gelato twice (hell ya) and are ready for our paninis and pasta next.

From here, we are headed to Ancona to visit Gianna and Benedetto, then Florence.

Hope all is well. We love you!
C&T

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Photos

Zinal Switzerland
The starting town of our second days hike in the Alps.

St. Niklaus
Another little mountain town in the Alps. We recovered a little here before trekking to Zermatt on our last day in Switzerland.

Venice
St. Mark's Square in Venice!