Weekend #1 of European Living: Visit to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn

Weekend Adventures: Zermatt and the Mattherhorn
(June 11-13, 2010)

Friday began with yet another apartment search. Elisabeth, our character of a relocation specialist (she loves the word “merde,” drives like she’s on the autoban and has pointed out seemingly every cabaret in Geneva), took us to a lovely apartment with an incredible balcony, amazing wood floors, lots of space and light. We put in an application only to learn within five minutes that it was already accounted for – such is life with trying to find an apartment here.


We tried to not allow the apartment let-down ruin our day and headed to the Geneva train station to plan our weekend adventure to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. After three trains, we arrived and the long trip was well worth it. Our hotel made an amazing impression before we even checked in; we had to enter through steel gates (a la Wizard of Oz!) and walk through a cave cut out through the base of the hotel’s hill and take an elevator up to reception.

We checked into our room that overlooked the Matterhorn (the weather changed very quickly so one minute you could see the peak and the next it was fogged over) and ventured into the lovely town. The people are incredibly friendly (they speak impeccable English) and it reminded us of locals living in Whistler -- they are there for sport, fresh air and amazing views. We toured the climbers’ chapel, the little shops in Zermatt, loved the electric cars and stopped at La Dolce Vita for a great dinner.

Saturday morning we got up early and hiked all day. We took a gondola to Sunnegga paradise (2288 meters). We stopped for some photos and continued up to Blauherd (2571 meters). From there we hiked the rest of the afternoon to the Rothorn paradise (3103 meters). Aside from the mountain goats that looked like they'd never seem Americans before (Preston showed them some dance moves!) and a CRAZY guy riding a bicycle down the glacier, we felt like we had the entire alpine valley to ourselves. 

By the time we stopped hiking, within 10 minutes, the snow rolled in. After some rotti and a much needed drink at the summit lodge, we descended the mountain via gondola. From there we hit the spa at the hotel. They had multiple steam rooms and a view of the Matterhorn from the hot tubs. That night we watched the U.S. vs England World Cup match at Grampi’s pub and people watched.

Sunday we had breakfast at the hotel and wandered around to the gondolas to take us to the Klein Matterhorn. We found this random trail that had the stations of the cross along it and Preston loved the architecture of homes build on stilts of stone and wood.

I was petrified of the heights the gondola scaled and when we got to the top there was about three feet visibility! We walked through ice caves, took some pictures and had hot chocolate at the top. As you can see in this photo, ice storms are not rare during June in Switzerland!

We boarded the 4:30pm train back to Geneva. Great weekend ... our half price Swiss rail passes will surely be coming in handy!

Complete photo album here: Zermatt album

*******
Weekend Trip to Zermatt
Dates:
Friday – Sunday, June 11-13, 2010

Excursions:

• Saturday hike: Inner-mountain train and gondola to Sunnegga paradise, hike up to Rothorn paradis, visit to the Zermatt hikers chapel, shopping in Zermatt
• Big U.S.A. versus England World Cup match (spectating only!) at Grampi's in Zermatt
• Sunday gondola rides to the top of the Klein Matterhorn

Where we stayed:

Schoenegg Swiss Q Grandhotel, Zermatt

The Walls' Review:

Hotel review: An amazing hotel with a friendly staff and incredible views of the Matterhorn. Stay there just to go through the underground cave that leads to reception! The free wifi in the rooms is fabulous too.

Other comments: Visiting Zermatt this weekend was a first for both Preston and I. Zermatt is definitely a town you can see in a weekend but it's a place we'll surely visit again. Between the hiking, undoubtedly amazing skiing, the spas and the scenery, it's a place we'd visit during any season. We also saw people zipling as we approached town descending from the Klein Matterhorn.