Zermatt

Okay, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I have been having so much fun in Switzerland, I haven't had time to write at all! Just so everyone is up to speed, I will backtrack a little. My mom decided to fly over to Switzerland because it is her friend that I'm staying with and she hasn't visited for quite awhile. I certainly appreciated the idea of having a travel partner after my experiences in the beginning of my trip, so that may have influenced the idea of coming over as well. And she had a lot of frequent flyer miles to use. So free trip to Switzerland? Why not?

Our first day here we took the train to Zermatt. After filling out a day on my Eurail pass, I was riding happily along on the train. Then the ticket checker dude (that's the Swiss German name for them) came and asked for my ticket. So I showed him my Eurail pass only to discover that I was on a "private train" (a.k.a. we use the same tracks as every other train we just want to charge more because we're dumb) and my Eurail pass wasn't valid. So I had to pay 50 franks to ride the train to Zermatt and back. Does anyone know how to say "that's a bunch of baloney" in Swiss German?

Zermatt was a super cute town and it was fun just to walk up and down the streets. But it's really a ski town, so there weren't a ton of people because it's not quite ski season yet. It was absolutely freezing, so we had a hot chocolate and just looked out over the cute streets. Then we decided to take a little train up to Gornergratt so we could have a nice view of the Matterhorn. Well, guess what? Another "private train." I did get a 25% discount, but it was 57 Franks for the return trip. But hey, I'm only here once. And they seem to know that everywhere I go based on the price of everything! The train ride up was quite scenic. We even saw a groundhog running along the hills. We arrived at the top for our scenic view... and we were standing in a cloud of fog. (see pictures. it's the one where I look pretty disappointed.) So we went inside the world's highest mall and ate the lunch we packed for ourselves. We had a nice chat with Roy and his wife who were from Houston. (By the way, Roy, if you're reading, I have a wonderful picture of the Matterhorn if you'd like me to email it to you.) The weather never cleared up. On the way down I saw just a sliver of the side of the Matterhorn through the clouds and that was it. So let's see. The grand total for my trip to the "Matterhorn" (if it even really exists) was 107 Franks. Next time I will take the same amount of money and go to Disneyland two days in a row where I can always see the entire Matterhorn, the train ride is way more entertaining, and I don't have to dress like an Eskimo. Not that there's anything wrong with Eskimos. I think they are very fashionable and practical for the climate in which they live. (Trying to keep this blog as P.C. as possible. I need to remain neutral because, you know, when in Rome... Speaking of, the Romans actually did have colonies in this area. I went to a museum about it and everything. But you'll hear about that later.) :-) So anyway, the trip to the Matterhorn was a bit of a bust. But you just can't know what the weather will be like when you head off for these things. And I did enjoy Zermott and Gornergratt. And as you know from my previous blog, I got to see the Matterhorn on a perfectly clear day with no clouds in front of it or anything! And it was amazing. So in the end it all worked out. It always does. And now I don't have to spend money at Disneyland when I get back to CA.