The Matterhorn

Monday I took the day off work and went to see the Matterhorn.  It
was soooooo awesome!  Why is it that if I have to go to work, I can barely crawl out of bed by 8:00am, but if I’m headed on a trip I pop wide awake at 5:30am….a full hour before my alarm is set to go off?

I went on this adventure with Stefanie.  We road the train to Zermatt which is a small village that only allows electric vehicles in it.  Here’s me with one of the buses for the local hotel.  I liked that it was mostly just people streaming through the streets. 


The town wasn’t too small to not have a Japanese restaurant.  I loved their food display.  I haven’t had Japanese food since I came here.  But I opted for traditional Swiss cuisine and had a cheese fondue (and crème brulée for dessert).

 

This is the English church.  Inside were a variety of plaques recognizing various climbers who have climbed the Matterhorn (or died trying).

Did you know that the Matterhorn is on Toblerones?  I didn’t until I went into a chocolate shop.  You can buy all sorts of Matterhorn shaped things…including macaroons. 

Me & the Matterhorn.                     Love the Jam filled smiley faces.  
 

There was a wedding in town.  The church bells peeled as the couple came out of the chapel and when the peeling stopped, two men starting playing the alphorns.

 

 

 

 

I like these ladies enjoying the show from their windows.   If I could have church bells ring and alphorns play at my wedding, maybe I’d get married too. ;)  

There are still quite a few of the old traditional homes in Zermatt.  They are raised above the ground and the animals are kept underneath.  Round rocks are placed between the pillars and the building to keep the mice out.   I saw a grouping of these old homes way up on the hill above town and thought it’d be fun to go check them out.  I wandered through the town streets making my way uphill but kept coming to dead ends.  I finally reached a ridge just below the ridge that I was aiming for.  Just as I reached the top, a helicopter came and landed in front of me kicking up the snow.  I turned around and ran back down the hill a little ways to get away from the blowing snow.  In a minute or two, the helicopter took off again so I’m not sure what it was doing.

I found some snowshoe tracks that led uphill and I followed them for a bit.  It took me to an old abandoned cabin nestled below an overhang.  I knew the houses I wanted to see where just above me, but didn’t trust myself to climb up the snowy rock (especially since I was alone at this point since Stefanie was roaming town).  So I descended the hill in true Burnham fashion by taking bounding leaps into the deep, powdery snow.  It was a great day!