Blogs from Zermatt, South-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 6

So I am in Switzerland, nestled at the base of the Alps. We can see the Matterhorn just outside of our hostel. So yeah, it's pretty freaking awesome! We've done some hiking, nothing too extreme because I have been a little under the weather and the high altitude isn't being nice to my lungs. But the views have been spectacular! There are mountains everywhere. And I must say that I like the weather here a lot more than Rome, it is like fall here but flowers are still in bloom! Today I did something I never thought I would do: I went paragliding! It was possibly the most amazing thing ever! Our jump point was about 1000 feet above the town. I could see for miles and miles, there wasn't a way I could look that ... read more

Ah, we have spent the past two days in Zermatt, and it has been amazing. Our first afternoon we took a small hike up from Zermatt to Sunnegga, around to Tuftern, then back down. The views were beautiful and it was a nice way to warm up for the big hike the following day. We had wandered around the town a little bit during the day, during which time Danika spotted a pretty good Italian place, so we headed back there for dinner. We both ordered the lasagna with meat and eggplant, which was nothing short of delicious. We washed it down with some Swiss beer, then headed back to our very adequate hotel room. Our second day we went on the big hike. We set off at 8:30 with our path picked. We would start ... read more

The Glacier Express! A must-do for all you potential visitors! 7.5 hours in a low-speed glasshouse, the most appalling food you’ve ever been overcharged for, and non-stop sensational scenery. Every misconception you’ve ever had about Switzerland is true and you can see it all without leaving your seat. Tips for those thinking of indulging: 1) BYO lunch. Even if it’s only bread and cheese. Don’t be fooled by the nice-looking menu or the gourmet words. The “breaded filet hake with salad” was a fish finger hammered flat with a mallet and served with a bowl of French dressing and three pieces of lettuce. And the food is even slower than the train. 2) The train changes direction several times, which means you can get stuck going backwards. I think we avoided this by booking two ... read more

Wednesday May 2, 2007 - I arrived in Zermatt at 8:30pm Tuesday night. I made it to my hostel just in time to check in. The guy at the desk was typing up a note for me as I walked in the door, so that was lucky. It was soooo good to be back in Zermatt. It was the one place that I knew I absolutely had to get back to while I was in Europe. I loved it so much before and there was still so much there that I hadn’t done or seen. It has been almost 6 years since I was there last, and not a whole lot has changed and I loved it. Once I arrived I just got cleaned up and went to bed pretty early because I wanted to ... read more

Would Love to Ski…but Just Plain Can’t Today’s plan was to hit the slopes and we both really wanted to spend most the day skiing because it was officially our last day in snowville and in Switzerland all together. But in the immortal words of John Steinbeck “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.” The day was clear and cold, without a cloud in the sky. Seemed like the perfect day to ski. After getting up to Sunnegga Paradise we strapped into our skis and set off. First of all, all the slushiness from the day before that made the slopes easy to ski had become ice over night. After the grating machines had come through everything was a solid patch of ice. Not fun! Secondly, my legs were really hurting ... read more