Zermatt

I wrote this post ages ago and didn’t get around to posting it because I am obviously horrible at keeping up with this blog. Here it is though!

One not so nice thing about Swiss weather is that it’s a lot like Irish weather, often changing and unpredictable. Though, in my two months since I’ve arrived in Switzerland, I have actually developed a nice tan…well, nice by my ginger standards. While I was packing for my trip to Zermatt, it was beautiful weather outside, and considering it was about the turn June 1^st, I packed warm weather clothes. I did check the weather report and it didn’t look that great, but I guess I was feeling optimistic that day….oh how mistaken I was. 

One really nice thing about Switzerland, is that they have a card that you can buy that will give you half off train fairs, or if you ride after 7:00 p.m. IT’S FREE! Since Shayna and I are on Au Pair budgets, we intend to take full advantage of this, so we took a late train to Visp, and then another one that slowly climbed into the mountains around Zermatt. We arrived around midnight and walked through the snow past hotels and chalets to The Matterhorn Hostel.

The Village

We decided to spend the first day exploring the town, and getting some souvenir shopping out of the way because there was still snow on the ground and it was FREEZING. Cars aren’t allowed in Zermatt, which cuts down on noise and air pollution, so the village felt peaceful even though it was a holiday weekend. I picked up a vintage poster of the Matterhorn, and Shayna and I both grabbed some 80’s-esk Zermatt sweatshirts. The village has an incredible ‘Old Town’ where you can find houses that are a couple hundred years old. They are constructed with wood and have slate slabs to support the weight between the two stories, as well as a slate roof. The first floor housed the animals and storage, the second floor was where the family lived. They were so weathered I couldn’t believe people still lived in them!

We LOVE our sweatshirts

Shayna

Old Town

We also visited the Matterhorn Museum, where we learned about the history of the mountain. It’s one of the most dangerous for climbers, about 12 people die a year and over 500 people since the first accent...I guess Teddy Roosevelt summated, in addition to a cat and dog, both of which were following their owners up the mountain!! For those of you chocolate lovers, you may have seen it on the front of a Toblerone wrapper :)

Outside Matterhorn Museum

The second day we took a small train up to the best viewing area of the mountain, seeing a Marmot and beautiful scenery along the way. The mountain wasn’t to be found so we grabbed a seat at the café and waited for a glimpse. Eventually it showed its face and I was able to get a few pics. I guess we were pretty lucky to see it during this time of year, and believe me it was incredible!

On the Train

View from the top

Me and the Matterhorn

The last day I spent in Zermatt wasn’t that exciting, Shayna and I spent most of the day fighting colds in the hostel lounge. Ahh brings back memories of the dorms. Too many people, too little space. But. It was a great trip anyways :) 

~Emer