Mad Dash to the Matterhorn

After we got back from our week-long trip that took us to Switzerland, Lichtenstien, France, Germany, and Austria; we took the following weekend to relax a bit and then it was off to Switzerland again. We spent the Thanksgiving holidays in the small mountain town of Zermatt, Switzerland. It is the closest Swiss town to the famous Matterhorn.

So Susan and I loaded up a rent-a-van and jumped in along with our friends, Aaron & Jess and David & Crystal. We left right after work on Wednesday. And since you can't get into the town of Zermatt by car, we had to make it to its neighbor town of Tasch so we could catch a train. The last train from Tasch to Zermatt leaves around 11:40pm, and we had about a 6 hour drive in front of us. We were cutting it close. We were running the risk of sleeping in the van if we missed that train!

But never to fear. Aaron got us through all the traffic near Venice and Milan. Jess drove the rest of the way up the switchbacks of Simplon Pass and we made into the Tasch train station with about 20 minutes to spare. By the time we unloaded all our bags onto a cart and bought our tickets, we just barely made it!

The train took about 20 minutes to get into Zermatt and when we got there we were exhausted. The cool thing about Zermatt is that there are no cars up there. All the cars are electric, including the buses and taxis. I guess they have horse carraiges there too, but we only saw one while we were there. Anyways, our hotel was only a 5 minute walk from the train station so we walked over and crashed.

You probably recognize the peak of the Matterhorn from pictures. It dominates the skyline of the town and makes for a great backdrop for pictures. I did a little reading before we left and did you know that over 400 people have been killed trying to climb this mountain? There is even a cemetery in the center of town that has at least 100 gravestones of people who died on the Matterhorn. We didn't have any plans on trying to climb it, but we were snowboarding in its shadow - literally.

You can't see it here but the Matterhorn is behind me. Really I swear!!!

As soon as we got off the lift, we saw this helicopter sitting there at the top of the run. It took off and blew snow all over us and then flew right over our heads and off over the mountains. Pretty cool.

Here is Susan at the top of the first run after the helicopter took off. This was our first day boarding and the weather was okay. The top was a little cloudy and windy, but it got nice and sunny on the way down.

Unfortunatley, the lifts were so crowded and not all the runs were open yet, so it made it pretty tough to get a good day of boarding in on Thursday. The lifts started closing around 3:30pm so we called it a day and spent the evening lounging in the cool atmosphere of downtown Zermatt. Too bad I had to do homework!



The next day of boarding was a waste. Twice as croded as the day before and the weather twice as bad. At the top of one peak the wind was so bad people could barely stand up. By the time I got to the bottom, they had already started closing some of the lifts. 3 hours in line, one run, and that was about it. So what did we do? Head to the lodge and start drinking!!!

This pic was taken by Susan from the bottom of the lift.

Saturday we figured we wouldn't go up the mouintain. I really didn't feel like dealing with the crowds and they were sure to be even worse. Zermatt is quite the tourist town. It seems like almost everyone there was American. There were a few Europeans and even some Japanese tourists too. So Susan and I chilled and tried to stay caught up on our homework.

The nightlife at Zermatt looks like it would be really cool. Too bad we didn't really get a chance to experience much of it. We just couldn't get everyone together for a night out. People were either tired or didn't want to spend the money. Switzerland is quite expensive. But there were lots of clubs and bars and cool restaurants. We ate dinner at a really neat place called "The Pipe". It was run by a South African surfer guy who has developed his own menu. A really neat blend of Indian, African, and Asian.



So that was about it for Zermatt. I woke up on Sunday and decided to go for a quick morning jog along the river. I got back to the hotel and had to hurry up and shower and do my final packing before lugging all our crap back to the train station. I pulled the driving shift for the trip home and here we are back in Italy 8 hours later.

All in all the trip was good. Even thought the boarding situation was a little disappointing, it was still cool to see the Matterhorn and hang out with our good friends in a cool little town that embodies everything good about the mountains.

From Somewhere in the Black Forest

I can´t believe its been almost a month since I´ve taken the time to blog. I can´t say I´ve been any busier than normal. But right now, I am writing this from an internet cafe in Baden-Baden, Germany. Susan and I have spent the last week travelling through 4 countries. While she is at a 2-day conference for the American Counseling Associastion, I am trying to keep myself busy with whatever I can find. I had hoped to be hiking right now, but unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with me today.

So here I sit in this internet cafe and I´ll catch you up on where we´ve been the last few days...

We left Sacile on Saturday morning and drove about 4 hours to the Swiss border. We stayed overnight in Lugano, Switzerland. A very nice little town on a lake surrounded by mountains.

The next day we drove north and into the Swiss Alps. Stunningly beautiful I must say. We passed through "Heidiland", the area where the famous film was set. There were signs on the highway and at the rest stops showing where Heidi´s house was and stuff like that. Then we took a slight detour into the tiny country of Leichtenstein. Blink and you might miss it. We drove into the town of Vaduz, and there is really nothing there worth noting, not even a place to get a stamp in your passport. Just another sleepy town nestled in a mountain valley.

After a couple more hours of driving, we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich seemed like a very cool place. Very metropolitan and all kinds of people from all over the world walking the streets. Too bad we didn´t have more time to spend there. We managed to walk the town for a few hours, have a good dinner, and relax in an Irish Pub for the night. By the way, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins game on the big screen TV as I walked into this pub! It made me forget that I was in Switzerland for awhile.

It was late Monday morning when we left Zurich and headed to our next destination: Strasbourg, France. We had the great experience of spending a good two full days here and I think it is one of my favorite places I´ve visited in Europe. Iwish I had more time to tell you more about Strasbourg, but I´ll wait until I have the pictures to share also. Basically, it is a melting pot of French and German culture. The old town is filled with beautiful half-timbered houses. Boutiques, bars, and cafes line the streets and hide in little corners. We enjoyed our time in Strasbourg and I hope I can make my way back there sometime again.

We left Strasbourg on wednesday and made our way accross the German border. After a quick stop at Vogelwey AB in Germany to buy some cheap motor oil, we headed to the real destination of the trip, Bad Herrenalb, Germany. This is where Susan is attending her conference. It is a tiny little town that you´re not likely to find on any map. It is located in the Black Forest which is in the southwest corner of Germany just a little to the east of Baden-Baden.

There really isn´t much to say about Bad Herrenalb, except that it is a nice quaint tiny little village with a handful of hotels and spa houses. I think I counted about 4 or 5 restaurants in the whole town (and one of them wasn´t open!). However, we did eat a great traditional German meal at one of them. This restaurant had the greatest atmosphere for a German place. Wooden beams, antiques and old paintings on the walls, and beer steins perched on shelves around the bar. I felt like I was in an old episode of Hogan´s Heroes!

So that was last night. This morning the rain came in and thwarted my hiking hopes for the day. I decided to drive up here to Baden-Baden and check it out. It´s a very ritzy spa town with all these expensive shops lining the streets.

I should also note that as we travel we also have to keep up with our school work. Both of us are in online classes and we really can´t let them slide for more than a few days. So what I should be doing right now is studying! I have 3 papers to write that are all due in the next couple weeks! *cringe*

It´s about 1130 now and I guess I´ll try to go find some lunch!

Pics to come eventually...

Cheers!