Finally, a few days after we get home, the laundry has been done, I've cleared off some of the major stuff on my work desk, and now, the trip report.

We had a relaxing vacation, and did a speedy sort of slow trip, if you can wrap your mind around it. Anyway, as far as last minute trips go, this was by far the most expensive last minute trip I've ever put together. A lot of it can be chalked up to too much to do, not enough time to do it all in. I know Switzerland can be expensive, but wow. Just wow. Not only that, but the American dollar kept dropping in value, from $1CHF = $0.91USD the day I started putting my plan into place 2 weeks before my trip, to $1CHF = $0.98USD the day I leave for Heveltica. I would see $1CHF = $1.02USD while I'm there...

Our schedule, as I had planned it, was:
Day 1 - Zurich to Zermatt
Day 2 - Zermatt
Day 3 - Zermatt to Wengen
Day 4 - Wengen
Day 5 - Wengen to Zurich
Day 6 - Zurich
Day 7 - airport home

And now...the adventure.

Day 1
We arrived in Zurich relatively safe and sound. All were jarred awake during flight when the flight attendant crashed her food cart smack into the dividers. No one dared sleep again after that. Then, our plane almost ran out of runway space while landing. But that would be the only real adventure we'd have that day.

Getting our 3 day Swiss Flexi Pass validated was easy, if you didn't need a reservation for any of your trains. Because we had arrived even earlier than the airline promised (no complaints!), we decided that instead of going from Zurich to Zermatt, direct, we'd take the roundabout way. So we went off to get our reservations (20 CHF total for 2 reservations on the Glacier Express), and found our way to Chur as our first destination. This was great on 2 fronts. It kept us awake, and we got a chance to visit the ATM and get food.

Our visit to Chur was brief. Basically, a stop to walk, roam around and found Merz for delicious pastries, found Coop for drinks, and then off to find the Glacier Express.

Our ride on the Glacier Express was relatively uneventful. We ordered the 3 course meal on the train (no prior reservations required, at least for us, during the time we went), which they served at 12:30 pm, directly to our seats. I thought it was quite tasty, but it's definitely something I wouldn't order again if I find myself on the Glacier Express. Potato soup, pork shoulder with a pasta-like substance and peas & carrots, the latter 2 items which you could get a second heaping of if you wished, and a slice of apple tart.

Our view from our panoramic train was pretty, but at times, especially at the Oberalp Pass, was a near complete white out. We did get to see the rail workers clearing the path for our train at the Oberalp Pass, and boy, are their jackets bright orange against all that white!

Throughout the ride, a bell would ring, which would prompt you to put on your personal headsets at your seat, and listen to the narrative being given about the area you were passing. After a while, it felt like a Pavlovian response. Hear the ring, and your hands automatically go for the headsets, which were tiny earbuds, and were for you to take with you once you left the train. The long ride on the Glacier Express served another ulterior motive for us - a way to sleep undisturbed if we wanted, instead of worrying about missing our stop for our next transfer point. We would take a few power naps during our trip, with our kind neighbors waking us up whenever something of worth popped up through the various precipitation.

Dreary rain greeted our arrival in beautiful Zermatt. It took a while for us to find our way to our hotel, the Testa Grigia, but with the help of all the kind gentlemen drivers at the station awaiting their customers, we were able to find our hotel in no time. A 5 minute walk from the Bahnhof, the Testa Grigia is a cute place. We were given a shared balcony with a view of the Matterhorn, which appeared on a good day. We would take advantage of that balcony whenever we could during our short stay. This would also be where I'd learn about old keyholes (you can peek through them! just not very well), and where we'd sleep like babies. But only after we'd gone out to walk Zermatt as we foraged for food.

Zermatt wasn't as small as I thought. It's at least a 4 horse town at any given moment. It was completely walkable, even though there were many electric taxis to take you anywhere you wanted. I had seen a map of Zermatt beforehand, and it seemed the church was far far away. Little did I know, the church was no more than a 5 minute walk from my hotel, if that. I felt the town to be very cozy, with many watering holes. Plenty of bars and clubs were around. And there were lots of steep hills depending on where you veered.

So, our first night in Zermatt, we ate crepes from Stephanie's Creperie. Expensive, since the US and the CHF were on par, but nonetheless good enough to fill our tired stomachs. I'd recommend the butter & sugar crepe, but would stay away from the ham & cheese crepe, which had no taste to me. The 2 crepes, with a bottle of water, came out to a total of 20CHF. We'd discover throughout Switzerland, a bottle of water would be at least 3CHF, unless you went into Coop, Avec, or Migros, where you could get a bottle of water for between 0.60CHF to 1.50CHF.

Anyway, later in the night, I'd go back out for a walk, alone. It was pretty safe, I always kept to lighted areas, but everything had closed by 7 pm. During my exploration of night time Zermatt, I would find someone practicing their Alpine horn at the train station, check out the Gornergrat train schedule, stop into a bar or 2 and just hang, and take pictures of all the stuffed cuteness that was about in Zermatt.

I would go back into our room, close the door, and sleep, not realizing that I had yet to lock the door. Even though our safety was not otherwise compromised, I would not make that mistake again. And call it what you will, but I would plug all the keyholes with tissue for my own peace of mind, taking them out only when I was ready to check out of the hotel 2 nights later.

Day 2 - the Gornergrat!
Woke up, looked out the window, find that I could see the Matterhorn, and realized it was going to be a great day to go up the Gornergrat rail. So, after a traditional breakfast spread provided by the hotel, we went out to ride the rail up the mountain. Showing our Swiss Pass would give us a 1/2 price ticket on the Gornergrat rail, which was awesome. The site to the Gornergrat rail is http://www.gornergrat.ch/home/index.php

It takes about 35 minutes up the mountain, with about 3 stops before reaching Gornergrat. And it is indeed a beautiful ride up! While we didn't get off at any of the stops (except Gornergrat, our main destination), we noticed there was a lot of activities to be had. Tobogganing, hiking, snow shoeing, and it goes without saying, skiing.

At first, we were a bit disappointed that there wasn't much at the Gornergrat, which would perfectly explain why we ended up spending well over 5 hours there. Of course there is plenty to see and do while up at the Gornergrat! Staring straight at the Matterhorn was my favorite activity, followed by climbing up the steep snow to the very top of the Gornergrat, a scary descent back to the terrace, taking pictures of the ravens(?) which insisted I take pictures of them (they even posed!), and, of course, window shopping.

For the most part, if you could walk up a small hill, you were set. There would be elevators taking you up to the Kulmhotel and its terraces, which is where most non-skiiers hung out. It was also quite windy that day, clouds came and went, which allowed the Matterhorn to disguise itself with clouds in various ways throughout the day.

Of course, where there is a gift shop, a few of our CHFs would find their way into the cash register. And this place was no different. We'd get little chocolate replicas of the Matterhorn (2CHF a piece!) and a postcard & stamp to write to my dad, who was home with our Lucky ((&amp). We would also purchase Leatherman like Swiss Army knives for the brothers as presents, and find out that you need to purchase 300CHF worth of items to begin your ability to get tax back, which 2 of those suckers easily allowed.

After more pictures of the birds and the Matterhorn, we decided to go back to Zermatt, in time to walk around before the stores closed by 7 pm. Catching the 5pm rail, we got back around 5:40, and picked up some quick dinner (ready sliced pineapples at Coop, some kind of delicious wurst from the grill guy, who is only there from 15:30 to 19:00, and whatever was left from last night's dinner). After dropping everything off, we took off to walk the town. My mom didn't believe how close the church was until we walked it, and then it got dark, which meant it was 7pm, and the stores were ready to close. Oh, and for those who are interested in the Matterhorn Museum, it's opened only from 3 to 7 pm from December through Easter. We didn't go in, but it seemed like an interesting place. Check this site before you go. http://www.zermatt.ch/e/matterhornmuseum/

Since it was our last night in Zermatt, we had to start packing. Plus, our dinner was getting cold in our room. So, off we went to have a quiet dinner in our room, pay for our stay, pack, and sleep. But not before we turned on the TV to CNN and found out that NY Gov Spitzer had resigned as expected.

While in Switzerland, we'd have no end to late breaking news. All the excitement seems to happen when I leave town.

Delightful report, mcnyc Love all your details.

I'm glad to see someone else enjoying the Gornergrat! I could just sit up top and stare at the beauty all day. And you practically did, 5 hours! Good for you to not rush it.

Glad to hear the bratwurst guy is still there. Sure tasts good just right off the grill.

Looking forward to reading how you liked Wengen and the beautiful Eiger! (Hoping your weather held up for you!)

Hi Swisshiker. Glad you're enjoying the report. Personally, I think I kinda bored myself while writing it. So lock-step and regimented. But I guess that may have to do with the reports I've been writing at work. It transferred over to here. Sigh. Sorry if you're snoozing!

Anyway...*ding*

Day 3 - On the way to Wengen.
After breakfast, and I had roamed the lower part of town, we head off to the train station on our way to Wengen. The horses were active that morning, so no last minute horse and buggy pictures for me to take. Drats.

I think I substantially built solid arm muscles during this trip as I was constantly hauling our one luggage up and down the stairs. This trip was no exception. We made at least 5 transfers (mainly because I got off at Interlaken West instead of Interlaken Ost). The scenery headed towards Interlaken was just absolutely gorgeous. We made it to Wengen around 3:30, and actually walked our way up to the Berghaus, luggage in hand. We'd get lost on the way, but there was always someone to point us in the right direction.

The Berghaus was a cozy family-run place. What I didn't realize was that they had quoted me a per-person price, not a per-room price. Oops. My mistake. Not that it mattered in the end. Still a great place to stay, great food (we did the half board), and great people who run the place. Loved our room, which was nice and large, and had a view of the mountains and the tram, which I assumed runs up to the Männlichen, but I'm unsure. Anyway, by the time we got settled, that tram was no longer running. So, we explored the town. Everything was pretty much closed by 6:30pm (!), so taking advantage of our 2nd day on our Swiss Flexi Pass, we decided to take the train back down to Lauterbrunnen and take a short walk.

The walk in Lauterbrunnen was a bit much for my mom (all of it was uphill), so she rested while I walked even further to explore. Perhaps I walked around at the wrong time of day, or maybe I didn't walk far up the street enough, but there just wasn't anything going on. Everything seemed closed. I headed back to retrieve my mom and we headed back to the train station to go back to Wengen for dinner (ham, asparagus soup, filet of hake, and ice cream -served separately, of course). But not before I so carelessly purchased on blind faith our tickets to the Jungfraujoch (100CHF per person if you show your Swiss Pass).

Walking in Wengen at night is pretty serene. Not much going unless you walked into a restaurant or bar. Otherwise, you pretty much walked alone. The streets were well lit, and it was most surprising for me to constantly have to make way for the many many electric (and gas?) cars that were on the streets. I guess it's not traffic-free.

Day 4 - Thank goodness for great weather at the Jungfraujoch!
So, after sweating all night with the realization that I had 2 tickets to the Jungfraujoch, but no guarantees on the weather up there, I was much relieved when I woke up to find the air crisp and the skies all clear. WOOHOO!!!

We'd head out to the train station after breakfast, took the train over to Kleine Scheidegg, and got on the red trains to the Jungfraujoch. The website for the Jungfraujoch is http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en/

What no one seems to talk about is how steep that train is. I mean, of course it runs on a steep track, it's going up a mountain. Duh. But it's real steep. If you're sitting facing the end of the train, you find yourself almost wanting to slip off your seat, but you're so bunched together, your seatmates in front of you keep you in your seat. If you dare get up and walk to take a picture of the red train behind yours (like I did), you find yourself a hard walk back up to your seat. It was fun, and something I'd do again.

Anyway, along the way, there are 2 stops, the Eiger, and the Eismeer. The photo ops here are pretty much hit or miss due to the nose-marked windows, but otherwise, it's cold and beautiful if you're just looking. The more obsessed among us did use jackets to clear the windows for a better picture. I forgot which one allowed you a view of the valley below, and which one allowed you views of the glacier, but both views were well worth getting out to stretch your legs. And a bathroom break if the need should overcome you. The breaks were about 5 minutes long, the Jungfrau rail people do sweep the premises for missing riders, and no one really goes back to their own seats for some reason, unless there was someone there to stake a claim on your behalf, so to speak.

The train leaves you inside the Jungfraujoch. I think we went to almost every crevas in the area, except the exhibition area, much to my dismay. But only because I couldn't seem to find my way to it, even though I was close many many times. We visited the Ice Palace, which was carved into the glacier and beautiful, although things were melting by the time we got there, and partially closed; walked on the glacier there; went to the Sphinx Observatory, where the world's highest watch store resides. The sales guy there is awesome with information, and if you like Rado watches (I don't), you'll find it much to your liking. They also sell Omega, and 2 other watch brands I can't think of right now.

After getting our obligatory postcard, mailed from the Jungfraujoch, we caught the last train (4:40 pm) back to Kleine Scheidegg. At this point, we had spent at least 5 hours there.

So, back on the trains, apparently the last trains back to Wengen, and then headed off back to the Berghaus for dinner (vegetable soup, pear & blue cheese, veal shoulders, and coffee mousse). We settled our bill and got ready to leave for Zurich the next day.

Forgot to mention that at the Jungfraujoch, there were some Asian tour groups who somehow kept thinking we were part of their group. It was hilarious. I hope none of them missed their 2:30 train because of us. Even more hilarious was the young lady who insisted that she had the right footwear (heels) to walk on the snow, up the hill, and then was afraid to come back down. An older woman and I helped her climb down after we found her in mild (?) panic.

Ok. Off to get my pictures together... and then visit my dentist. Ugh.

mcnyc - I am enjoying your trip report. We only stayed a few nights in Montruex last July and I was captivated with Switzerland... and desire to go back someday! I really would love to be able to send my Mom and Stepdad --- they would adore it.

Please forgive me, but who did you travel with?

I clicked on your name and saw it was you and your Mom