Zermatt - Matterhorn

Last weekend my parents came to visit Linda and I in Switzerland and I thought a good way to introduce them to the country would be to meet them in Zermatt, halfway between Vevey and Milan where they were arriving from.

We were extremely lucky with the weather, which was clear and warm and very little wind. We were also lucky with the timing - between seasons so the town was relatively quiet. [not so lucky for Linda, she was inundated with work and spent the whole weekend in the hotel room working.]

The first thing that strikes you in Zermatt is, of course, the Matterhorn, which looms large over the town.

On our first day there we caught the little train up to Gornergrat, which supposedly has the highest shopping center in the alps (or something like that) at 3089m altitude. Of course we were more interested in the view than the shopping, and the view certainly was amazing, taking in the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa.

You could also see the Gornergletscher glacier flowing down from Monte Rosa.

I introduced my parents to the famous Swiss Rôsti for dinner. Delicious and heart-attack inducing as it should be.

The next day we caught multiple lifts all the way to the top of the Klein Matterhorn (or Matterhorn glacier paradise in marketing-speak), which has another incredible view of the surrounding mountains. The altitude of 4100m meant we were all a little light-headed at the top and actually felt happy to descend one stop back down the mountain for lunch.

We then walked down from one of the lower lifts, through the forest back into Zermatt.

By the time we were back in town it was time to jump on a train and head into Vevey. I think my parents were duly impressed by their first exposure to Switzerland.

One year on

I looked at the calendar the other day and realised we had now been overseas for a year. We had set out on the 3rd of April 2007, landing in Italy soon after, and since then we have been very busy indeed. I guess changing countries and languages 4 months in didn't help in that regard.

In fact sometimes it has indeed seemed like hard work being overseas, and sometimes we have to wonder if we wouldn't be just as happy sitting on a beach in Coogee. But then we remember we're here for an adventure and adventures generally involve taking risks and overcoming obstacles to reap the rewards.

The weekend closest to our anniversary here happened to be a spectacularly clear day and we picnicked by the lake, eating home-made hot-cross buns made as a delayed easter celebration (amazingly they don't seem make them over here).

Looking out at the view of the mountains rising up over the lake made us remember that here we were, living overseas in an amazing place, and how lucky we were to have this opportunity.

Verbier

It is almost the end of the ski season so I thought I should take it out with a bit of a bang, particularly since we missed most of it, having bought our own skis late in the season. Plus Linda was in Barcelona and I wasn't going to stay home feeling sorry for myself.

It is only about an hour and a half from Vevey to Verbier, making it actually one of the closest resorts to where we live, and it is certainly a major resort.

Having never been to Verbier it took me a while to find the right route up the mountain, taking multiple bus-sized ski lifts to the top of Mont Fort, at over 3300m altitude.

They had a speed skiing track set up, and there were skiers wearing the shiny suits, silly helmets and with skis that must have been about 2.5m long, but they didn't get to do their 200km/h runs because of the 15km wind (apparently a big deal at 200km/h).

Anyway the good news for me was that this meant the track was opened to the public so I got to ski down the track (turning the whole way of course). Now I'm even more convinced these people are crazy.

I had an incredibly unhealthy looking croute au fromage et lardons for lunch which was, of course, delicious, and I skied the remainder of the day on the resulting calories.

Anyway today I am sore all over from the very full day of skiing and will happily sit out the spring waiting for the snow to melt so I can walk the same mountains in the sunshine.