Zermatt, Switzerland

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We arrived at the Crown Jewel of our adventures in Switzerland. Zermatt is everything you've ever believed Switzerland is. Alpine architecture, gondolas, cobblestone streets, flower boxes in every window, and of course stunning mountain tops! Zermatt lies at the foot of the Matterhorn and is a very popular destination for summer tourists and winter skiers alike. In 2012 Barb and I visited here and were excited to come back with Larry & Lisa in tow. The weather, through most of our Swiss trip, was essentially crappy, and our biggest fear was the clouds would obscure all the breathtaking mountain views. True to our expectations, upon our arrival we were met with clouds and rain 😞 We spent the first day wandering around the town and taking in as much of the local lore as we could, as well as dining on some fantastic schnitzel!

Day two started out with a bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds so we took the chance and boarded the first of 3 gondolas that take you to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. They were packed with skiers even though there was no snow in Zermatt, we realized that we would ascend a total of 6000' before we were done. About two thirds up the mountain we literally blasted through the cloud cover into total blue sky and sunshine! The Matterhorn loomed as majestically as we remembered it and Lisa and Larry were thrilled. The skiers all bailed out to hit the slopes and we climbed a bit further up flights of stairs to the observation platform. I have added a few pics of the same scenes from 2012 to give you an idea of the difference a couple months make with regard to snowfall (or melt).

Having checked off another item from the bucket list, we ascended back down to Zermatt and prepared for the next leg of our journey, the Glacier Express train trip to St. Moritz.

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