Riding the REAL Matterhorn!

After a week in Switzerland, I feel like I have done so much already! I have come to know the family pretty well. After the first few days here, we all went to Zermatt, a very small town in the Alps, by the Matterhorn.

Getting to Zermatt was an adventure in itself! We drove for a couple hours, then took a train...in the car. Yes, we drove the car onto a train and then went THROUGH the mountain. We continued to drive for another hour or so and then parked the car in Taesch. From there we loaded all the gear onto passenger train and went up, up, up into the Alps to the town of Zermatt. There are no cars there except the bus and very small electric taxi bus things!

We spent the first day walking around town. I got to hear some Swiss men playing horns, which is pretty rare! We ate at a beautiful Italian restaurant sitting outside and drinking wonderful wine. The town is full of people and horse wagons. There are so many shops and all of the buildings have spectacular geranium planters hanging from balconies.

We spent the next three days skiing! This too was quite an adventure. We took a bus to a main gondola at the bottom of the mountain. Then we took a gondola and 2 cable cars up to the top of the Little Matterhorn (12,200ft)! We went from summer hiking and bike riding to skiing and ice climbing in a few lifts! From there we were on the glacier. You could take an elevator to an observation deck on the Little Matterhorn with great views of the Alps and the big Matterhorn (when it was clear, only on Saturday!)

You then skied down a long cat track to the wide open glacier where there were runs and lifts. There was SO much race training...teams from Switzerland, Russia, Austria, Poland, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, and even Canada. There was a huge terrain park and a long, open run, like Buddy's Run. The lifts to the top of the runs were all t-bars. Because it is on a glacier, which moves all the time, they have to be able to move the lifts, which they can't do with chair lifts.

We ate lunch in Italy and the food was UNBELIEVABLE! The top of Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (the area we were skiing in) is on the border of Switzerland and Italy. If I went down the wrong run, I would end up in the town of Cervenia, Italy! The view of that town was great. Being on a glacier in the middle of the Alps was amazing! We had views of SO much; We were usually above the clouds at 12,300+ feet above sea level! And the snow was fantastic! I thought glacier=ice, but it snowed every night making for beautiful groomers, and warmed up quickly making great mashed potato snow! I even tele-skied one day! Boy am I a clumsy mess on skis!

We had to be off the runs every day at 1:30 so we spent the afternoons in Zermatt walking around, eating GREAT food and drinking great wine and beer. I played with the girls in the pool at the hotel and relaxed a lot too.

After getting back, Monday I went to the girls' schools to meet their teachers. Tuesday I went to Freiburg, Germany. Norbert is from Freiburg and his parents still live their. The girls call them Oma and Opa, German for Grandma and Grandpa. We did some shopping, rode the tram and saw some of the sights, including the cathedral, which was the center of a great plaza, and the beautiful towers that are still standing even after the war. Unfortunately we faced a huge downpour and ended up in a cafe getting a snack and rushing to the tram with all three kids, trying not to get soaked!

What an amazing first week! The girls start school tomorrow and I will begin my routine...