Getting to the end of our vacation — we have really been enjoying Switzerland. If we could only visit one country in Europe, we have both agreed on Switzerland being the one.
Dave had really wanted to do the Glacier Express Train ride — 5 hours long — and we had been trying to figure out how we could fit it in. We “turned in Geneva” for the day and came up to Zermatt so we could start the Express tomorrow at 9 am and still get to Zurich for our trip back to the US on Monday.
The last hour of the ride was some spectacular scenery. A lot of waterfalls, and a white water river carry down the glacier melt. We gained a lot of elevation and the train was built to zig zag around the mountains on the side of some very steep cliffs.
When we got off the train in Zermatt it was amazing. It looked just like a Swiss Village full of Chalets with snow covered mountains not far away — and here it is the middle of June. Our hotel was just around the corner, and it too was the most amazing hotel we had ever been to. All the walls, ceilings and closets are carved wood — we have a great balcony, and a jacuzzi tub. Before long the rain started, and we just left the door and windows to the balcony open and enjoyed the rain. It never got very cold, but it did rain quite a while.
We walked down to the end of the main street, checking out all the restaurants along the way. It was easy to imagine what the village would be like during the winter with the snow and skiers all around.
We ate outdoors as we have most every day. This was the first time the servings were so big that neither of us could finish. Very good.
Back to the Hotel Alex to enjoy some really good internet connections and the start of the World Cup. The Best Channel we could get in English was from Britian. So naturally they were routing for England to win the match against the US. It was interesting to watch it from their point of view, including the commentaries at the end.
Here are some more pics … We’ll add more commentary when we get a chance.