We planned the trip at the last minute and were able to get a pretty good "all in one" package deal through the Swiss railway, which has an extensive travel and tourist office. We stayed at an extra fancy hotel (The Ginabelle) with a Halb Pension (meaning breakfast and dinner included) and ate way too much good food there in their fancy diningroom.
The Matterhorn, which we could see clearly from our hotel balcony, is the second highest peak of the Swiss Alps. (below: by daylight from our balcony; by the early morning light; from the hike up to Rot Horn). 
We spent one full day hiking in the Alps. We took the tram up the mountain partway and then hiked up to Rot Horn. About halfway up we encountered playground (!), complete with swingset and chess set, and played there for quite awhile. Omi and Elliot encountered some goats that seemed to find the wall of a nearby Gasthaus very yummy.
At the top of Rot Horn the boys built a big circular structure out of rocks while Omi and I did the "adventure hike" from the playground to Rot Horn. It was just the right amount of adventure for us, but paled in comparison to the crazy mountain bikers that we encountered coming DOWN the steep mountain path that we were hiking up. 
Other pictures: Omi with a snowball; Brian on the hike down the mountain; Apline horn players performing in Zermatt; old slate roofs that are common; the multiple forms of transit in Zermatt, which is auto-free (but they have these very cool, very small taxis and hotel buses that zoom around).
No comments:
Post a Comment