Welcome to part 1 of my Winter
Wonderland Adventures for 2023/24!
This year, I want sure what I wanted to do for Christmas. Part of me wanted to go to Aruba and get some sunshine & vitamin D, but the flights were ridiculous. In September, I started a new club at school where I teach the boys how to plan a holiday, and one of the things I asked them was ‘where do I have to go before I die?’. One of the boys told me St Moritz in Switzerland, and my white Christmas idea was formed! The boys even helped me plan it and once I decided to learn to ski & took some lessons in London, they gave me lots of tips & advice!
Some of you may also know that Zermatt has been my elusive top of my bucket list destination for years. I tried to go in 2017, but multiple avalanches closed all the roads & trains for over a week. I tried to go in 2021, but I tested positive for covid in Luxembourg, the day before I was meant to go to Switzerland. This will be my third attempt. Third time a charm, right?!
So, after several months of planning, and many hours of skiing lessons, I'm finally heading to Switzerland for a magical winter wonderland Christmas. I'm also planning to visit France, Liechtenstein, Austria and the Czech Republic over the next 3 weeks. Busy busy, but would you expect anything else from me?
Day 1 London to Geneva
This morning, I woke at 5am and got ready to go. It was such an early start, but that's ok when it's for a holiday! Just before I walked out the door, I checked my emails and discovered one had just come through from British Airways telling me my flight had just been cancelled. They re-booked me onto a 6am flight for tomorrow. If you know me well enough, you will know that I was not happy at all!
I got my laptop out and went to look at alternate flights. I’m meant to be going on a day trip tomorrow, so I don't want to fly in to Geneva in the morning. Fortunately, there were several options to choose from, so I rejected the BA option and selected one that left at 4.35pm.
But now, it's 5.30am, I'm wide awake, I’m starving, and I have zero food in the house. So, after sitting on my laptop for a little while waiting for the coffee shops to open, I headed down to Costa and got a brie, bacon & cranberry panini as well as a sticky toffee latte. Delicious!
After buying a tub of soup from Tesco, I went back home, put my pjs back on, got a hot water bottle and crawled back into bed. I watched some TV shows & a movie, then dozed for a bit. I had the soup then got ready for my second attempt.
The Piccadilly Line was a mess, so at Acton Town we got a completely empty train, but then we got kicked off 1 stop before the airport. Took nearly an hour to do what should have been 40mins.
Once I dropped my bag, I was relieved! My bag is gone, I'm through security so I'm actually going! Yay! I went to Wetherspoons and got a ‘festive pizza’. Chicken, bacon & brie. They love the bacon & brie combo here in the UK. Then I wandered and waited for boarding. Turns out it was a completely full flight. Chock-a-block full! They were asking people to gate check their carry-on bags for free. My backpack goes under the seat, so I kept it. Plus, it's got my ski helmet in it so that would get ruined in the hold.
The flight was smooth, although the plane felt squishy. Could be all the big winter coats, could be the 2 males on either side of me, could be me getting fatter! Fortunately, it's only a short flight, just over an hour. Plus, we got snacks and water.
At Geneva, the immigration queue took forever. Some of us were moved to a shorter line, but that took so long that the other queue was completely empty by the time I got to the counter. It took long enough that the baggage carousel had stopped moving when I arrived. All bags were out & it had finished. I've never arrived that late before!
I found my way to the train station & jumped on the next train to Geneva. I have free public transport with my accommodation so that's a bonus. It’s a short 10min trip, then I walked 12mins to my accommodation. It’s dry here. No snow, no rain, just chilly ~1°C.
I have a 6-girl dorm room here. I was so tired I just unpacked the essentials, made my bed and went to bed. Tomorrow, I'm off to France for the day and I can't wait! Bring on all the pastries & macarons!!
Day 2 Day trip to Annecy, France
It was a warm night. Subzero outside and inside, I slept in just pjs without the doona! It was hot! Could have had summer pjs and I would have been comfortable. That's something I do love about places like this. It's always warm inside!
I got up after a while and went to check out the showers. Not a fan. Push button operation that only stays on for about 3 seconds.
Then I went down to breakfast. It's a self serve continental buffet with toast, cereal, yoghurt, pastries, cold meat & cheese. Good spread for a free brekky!
Then it was time to head out. My first stop was the lake. I knew this was pretty from my last trip to Geneva. Today it was foggy, and I got some great pics.
Then I went for a walk around the streets & shops. I am going to have to restrain myself with the chocolate! So many flavours & options! Lucky in not going to the Lindt factory in Zurich! Next I went to the Christmas market to have a look. I plan to return to the market tonight for tea. There's a duck stand that I plan on trying!
One of my absolute favourite things about France is the food, and Geneva is very French influenced. Therefore, pastries are a must! Pain au chocolate and a vanilla raspberry Danish to be precise.
I'm off to Annecy in France now for a half day trip. It's only a 50min drive on the FlixBus and it looks like a really lovely little town. I cannot wait for the Christmas markets & the food! I only booked my ticket a few days ago, but I managed to secure myself the front top deck window seat.
It didn't take long before we crossed into France, and then we went through a tunnel. Before the tunnel, it was thick fog. After the tunnel it was blue skies & bright sunshine! What a difference! It took about 45mins to get to Annecy, and most of the people on the bus got off.
I headed down to the canals to try and get some of the Insta pics I've been admiring while the sun was shining. The buildings and the canals are beautiful! Naturally, I took a million photos! I found the very famous photo location and got my pic, then headed to the Christmas market.
There are a couple of Christmas markets here in Annecy, and this one is a typical market with food, drinks & local products. They have the special plastic reusable Christmas cups, so I knew I was getting one of those.
I kept walking around for a while then decided to head to the shopping centre to find a toilet. In true European style, you have to pay. And my Google pay on my phone, UK bank card & Aus credit card all got declined. Right, ATM to get cash for the bar & to get change at the supermarket. This was a mistake because in the supermarket I found a HUGE selection of Lindt blocks. I may have bought some. Whoops!
Outside the shopping centre was a stall selling Lindt pick & mix for €12/kg. This is half the price Lindt sells for in the UK supermarkets! So, I may have bought some. Mine 500g, and I got 600g so pretty close. Another whoopsies!
I found another market, this one purely food & drinks. I had a walk around then headed back to the first one. They had something called aligot that looked good. Turns out it is 50%cheese & 50% mashed potato. This one also has truffle in it. O.M.G. it was so good!! I also got some prosciutto with it. And of course, I got a hot cider in the souvenir cups.
I kept walking around to different areas, got myself a shot glass then found my way to the lake. By now, the weather was absolutely stunning. I was warm enough that I took my coat off! I sat by the shore watching the ducks swim by for a while. The view was gorgeous. I can see why people flock here in the summer! Certainly does not feel like winter today!
After sitting for a while enjoying the sunshine, I got bored. There isn't really anything to do other than walk around the streets so I had nothing left to do. I went back to the Christmas market then noticed the sky. It was a killer sunset! Even some of the workers in the restaurants were coming out to look at it. Absolutely gorgeous!
I got another hot cider to warm me up now it was getting chilly, then went back to the shopping centre for a toilet stop.
I took lots of photos of the lights around the town on the way back and bought some delicious looking macarons.
Then I went back to the Christmas market for a final food stop: Nutella crepe. Oooh it was divine! Yep, French food is definitely my favourite!
I decided to head to the bus station and wait there. My bus came, we boarded and departed on time. Being dark, I didn't care where I sat and it was only a single level bus so I just got a window seat in the middle. Comfy, warm, cheap & efficient. Highly recommend FlixBus to get around. I've used them in South America and Europe and they have been great! Why didn't I take the train from Geneva to Annecy since European train networks are incredible? Buses are replacing trains for half the trip due to storm damage. Plus, FlixBus was cheaper & quicker.
Back in Geneva, I went straight to the Christmas market. There something magical about a Christmas market at night on a cold winter’s night. Snow makes it even better but there is no snow here. I walked around, checking out the stalls & taking photos. Then I got hot espresso martini in a souvenir Christmas market mug. These are ceramic, so much more fragile than the plastic ones, but worth it!
I headed back to my hostel after my drink and spent some time editing & uploading photos & videos. I've walked 23km (31,000+ steps) today so I'm ready to just chill!
Day 3 Geneva
Last night we had a snorer in the room. Snorers are the worst people to share a room with! She was so loud I had to get my noise cancelling headphones and put on my audio book to try and sleep.
I woke up to noise as some of the girls left early, but decide to have a slow morning and stayed in bed for a while. Eventually I showered and went down to breakfast.
Then I headed out. My first stop for the day was the junction viaduct. This overlooks the meeting of the 2 rivers, one which is crystal clear & blue, the other is a very murky brown. I took a tram and bus and a short walk. It was quite fascinating, seeing the distinct colour separation. I waited until the sun came out to get better photos.
Then I walked through a park to see a view of Geneva and back down to the city. I took a tram back to the main part and went to the flower clock.
Next, I just asked around the city for a while. I didn't really have any other plans for the day. I ended up going to a French bakery to get my absolute favourite sweet treat. It’s 2 macarons, with raspberries and rose cream in the middle. Delicious!
I walked back to the Christmas market and got myself a duck wrap for lunch. It was alright, but not worth 13CHF in my opinion.
I visited a local supermarket to get a drink then headed back to my hostel. I repacked most of my stuff, bought my twin ticket for tomorrow, turn chilled out for a bit. I bought my train ticket to Zermatt for tomorrow, and booked my ski passes & ski rental for St Moritz. Cost a fortune but it’s going to be worth it!
After a while, I decided I needed food. I went to a local French taco place that had good reviews. I first discovered these in Morocco and instantly fell in love with them. Basically, it’s a tortilla wrap that is filled with chips, sauce & your choice of meat, then enclosed in a rectangular shape and toasted in the sandwich press. Today I chose minced beef, turkey bacon, raclette cheese, BBQ sauce & mayo, and the included chips & cheese sauce. I took it, along with my dragon fruit flavoured Fanta, to the Christmas market to sit down & eat. It was delicious! Also, if you get a chance to try dragon fruit Fanta I highly recommend it. Probably my favourite flavour.
Then I headed back to my hostel, showered and finished packing most of my things. I watched a couple of movies then went to sleep.
Day 4 Geneva to Zermatt
This morning I woke, got dressed & went down to breakfast. No time for fluffing around today! After breakfast, I grabbed my stuff then checked out. I decided to take the tram to the train station. It’s a 12min walk with a 15kg hiking pack & a 7kg backpack, or a 4min tram ride & a 4min walk. Plus it’s free.
I went to the supermarket to get some fruit & lunch for the train trip and settled on a banana and a mini pizza. Then I found my platform and waited. It’s 2.5hrs to Visp, change trains then another hour to Zermatt. If all goes well, I’ll be in Zermatt at 1.15pm 😀
The train was fairly empty so I got 2 seats to myself and settled in. The trip actually went very quickly. The train carriage never got busy, with just myself & 1 other person by the time we reached Visp.
The Matterhorn Express was waiting at the platform when I arrived so I was able to board straight away. By the time this train left, however, it was chock-a-block. Oh well, it's only an hour. The windows are huge panoramic ones so we can see the views. The further from Visp, the more snow on the ground. We made several stops, including one called St Niklaus, which has a big Santa statue.
The views were beautiful! I love snowscapes so I was in my element! I just stared out the window for the whole hour. Soon, we arrived in Zermatt and I was so excited to finally get here! It’s been 5yrs since I first attempted it and 3 attempts.
It was also snowing! In my dream destination with falling snow. What more could I ask for?! I decided to head to my hostel first to drop my bags. Google Maps says a 17mins walk, fairly flat..... what a load of rubbish! Yes, it's fairly flat for about half way, then it's an uphill section, then a steep uphill section, then 2 long, steep sets of stairs! Nothing makes you feel more like an unfit blob than stairs! I was completely out of breath when I arrived at the hostel. Fortunately, the lady told me if I waited 10mins I could check in & go to my room.
My room
is on the top floor (4 floors) and it's all stairs. Stairs are literally my
arch enemy! My dorm room is a loft style setup. Downstairs we have a sink &
coat racks, then upstairs we have 8 beds. It’s a unique setup for a hostel.
There's 1 big wooden frame with 6 mattresses in it, with each mattress
separated by a blue cushion, and opposite that is 2 mattresses. I chose one of
these 2. There are 2 other people already in here, one at each end of the 6. We also have a great view from our room.
I dropped my stuff then went back to town. I went a slightly different way, found a good view of where the Matterhorn would be (minus the clouds), and took some pics. There were other people doing a Toblerone photo where you put the Toblerone at the top of the Matterhorn, matching up the picture in the chocolate wrapper with the real one. I'm going to try that if I can!
I then walked the entire length of the main street. Twice. I had planned this afternoon to be my shopping time so I could get my souvenirs. I went in all the souvenir shops, and window shopped the posh expensive shops. I chose a shot glass and visited the Lindt store. They have a coconut block & cheesecake flavour Lindt balls, so I got a few things. I also found a mug with a beautiful image on it that I really want. It is definitely a want not a need, so I have to think about it. In reality, I think I’ll end up getting it.
I picked up my ski pass from the machine, got a snack then went to the place I have my ski lesson booked through to ask questions. I actually feel very outside my comfort zone here. I have so many questions since I've never been skiing before. It's not like a normal holiday & I'm a bit nervous! The lady was lovely and gave me lots of info. She also told me something is wrong with my ski pass and to get it checked.
Lucky I did! At the train station they gave me a new pass, a proper card one that you pay a deposit for. This one has my name & pass details on it. Then it was time to collect my rental equipment. I had booked skis, poles & boots. The young lady here was very kind & helpful, and gave me lots of info, especially after I told her I haven't skied before on a real mountain. We also decided that it was best to get a locker for my stuff and to store them at the shop overnight. This is a free service they offer, and they have special heating to dry the boots. I left everything there and went on search of the bus.
As you may know, Zermatt is car-free. You cannot drive here, you must take the train. What is permitted in town, however, are these little electric tuk tuk looking things that are used as taxis, and some small electric shuttle buses. There are 2 bus routes – green & red. The red one goes right near my hostel, so I took that one.
I went to my room and discovered one of my dorm mates is a guy. Not very talkative, said hello & that's it. I made my bed, sorted out some stuff then chilled while my phone charged.
At 6pm I went back to town to visit the tourist information centre. I wanted to know about visiting Italy. Turned out, the new huge cable car that goes from the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise to the Italian border is closed at the moment (bummer) but you can get there by skiing from the Matterhorn across. I want to have a coffee in Italy, or a bombardino. This is an alcoholic hot eggy brandy drink that I've been told to try. They told me I can do that as there is a restaurant on the border between the 2 countries.
Then I went to get a burger for tea. Republic Zermatt has excellent reviews online & delicious sounding burgers. They only had space at the bar, which was fine by me, and I ordered a LeBurger (beef, mushroom, raclette, rocket tomato, parmesan crisp & truffle mayo) with bacon, and an appletiser. The burger was absolutely incredible! Best burger I have had in a very long time! I loved every bite! In the end, I wasn't even mad about the price (35CHF/£32/$60AUD). I'm even tempted to go back again while I'm here!
After I was done, I headed back to my hostel. I showered then sat on my bed to write this. It's a very quiet place, this hostel. I honestly thought Zermatt would be overflowing with tourists and the hostel full, so I'm genuinely surprised at how few people there seem to be here. I know many of our boys at school go skiing in the February half term break (1 week) so maybe it's busier then?
Day 5 Zermatt
We had a noisy night last night. There was a big wind storm during the night and the wooden shutters outside the windows kept banging and slamming against the walls. It was very loud!
My alarm went off at 7.15am and I got up and got ready. The 2 guys were still sleeping so I had to be quiet. I went down to breakfast, which was a continental buffet. Cheese, cold meat, toast, fruit & yoghurt. What I did really like was that they had labels for the cheese and they also had where the cheese was from, both in name & distance from Zermatt. I had a quick brekky, went back to my room to get my snow clothes on then headed out. I was rushing a bit as I didn't want to be late.
First stop was the ski rental place to collect my gear. I had felt my phone vibrate during the walk but didn't want to get it out as it was snowing & I needed to keep an eye on my footing! Fortunately, I checked the messages prior to putting on my ski boots because it was my ski school telling me the lifts were all closed! My ski school is next door so I went and spoke to them & they told me that the strong winds were still continuing up at altitude so everything was shut. I was told to go get a coffee, go back to my hostel etc and they would contact me with updates when they had some.
At 9.05am I got a message from my instructor that the lifts were open. Yay! I met him at the rental place, collected my skis & we walked to the Sunnegga funicular. Walking in ski boots is such an awkward and weird experience! Lucky is only about 5mins away.
As we were about to enter the station, there was a huge BOOM from behind us! Apparently, it was ski patrol setting off explosives to create avalanches. I’ll admit, this scared me. A lot!
We joined the funicular queue and were fortunate to get the front compartment. It’s very steep & inside the mountain. I was fascinated!
At the top we went outside and José (my instructor) spoke to some instructors from the company. The Wooli beginners park was open so we joined another queue, this one a gondola to go down to the beginner area. He spent some time taking me through the basics, making sure I mastered them before adding in another step. We also progressed from the tiny little decline, to the slightly more inclined slope, to the slightly longer & steeper one. By steep, it was like 5° angle. Not much but enough. One this final slope, however, we heard 2 massive booms. More avalanche explosions. He told me they drop the bombs from helicopters and hope they create an avalanche. Yep, the booms scared me. Even though they were in mountains we weren't skiing, or near.
Then he felt I could attempt the blue run. This was scary but exciting. People scare me, as well as running off the side of the trail, or breaking my leg. We started slow and he skied backwards, watching me the whole way. There were some icy parts, which are horrible, but some soft bits which I much prefer. Ice = speed & slippy, which freaks me right out. We stopped frequently, especially as there are some slightly steeper parts. José was really great at helping me. There is 1 particularly steep & icy section, right on a corner, which I just couldn’t get. There are 2 straight flat bits so you can just relax. I did fall twice, once I learned the wrong way & hurt my knee a bit, and the other on an icy area. But I did make it in 1 piece!
At the bottom is a chair lift, so he had to teach me how to use this, and off we went to the top. We took a selfie on the way.
On the way up, he said we have 1hr left and so I want to go to the beginner area to keep practising, or do the run again. I chose the run because I felt more comfortable doing it with him there as opposed to alone.
The second run was better, although I still freak out at times. The icy bits still terrified me. Chair lift to the top & this is where he had to leave me. He had another lesson to go to.
I did the run again, this time falling twice. Once just after José left near the top of the run, and the second time on an icy part. This one was just near the restaurant Chez Vrony, so I took my skis off, walked down the slope and had a break. I was warm & it wasn't cold so I sat outside and ordered the local specialty Schümli Pflümli. This is coffee, plum liqueur, sugar & whipped cream. The view was great, the coffee not my favourite.
Then I decided that I was going to finish my run, take my skis back & do something else for the rest of the afternoon. Fortunately, I was about ¾ of the way down so it wasn't long before I was at the chair lift. I skied a few metres to the funicular and headed back down to the village.
I dropped my kit in my locker then went across to the Gornergrat railway. This is the steepest cog railway in the world, so I thought it would be a nice trip. Turns out that it was only going as far as Riffleberg today due to the strong winds at Gornergrat summit. Whilst waiting, I got the live ski lift map up on my phone & discovered that most of the lifts & all upper ski areas were closed.
The train arrived and I had an almost empty carriage. The view was amazing! We passed the village, forests and waterfalls. It took 30mins to get to Riffleberg. I got off and had a walk around. It was windy here and the snow was sharp on my face. I took some pictures then boarded a cable car to go down to Furi.
Again, more stunning views. There were almost no people around here so I had the whole car to myself. At Furi, I had another walk around, taking photos. It was so quiet & peaceful. Probably because the cable cars to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise starts here & were all shut down today.
I wanted to just sit for a bit and enjoy the scenery so I found a restaurant and tried a local Italian drink called bombardino. It’s an egg-based alcohol, similar to Advocaat, with hot water & cream. I had been told to try by a colleague at school, so I did although rather hesitantly. I dislike Advocaat! This, however, was quite good! Certainly much better than the plum coffee this morning!
Then I took the gondola back to town. I walked around, got a corn salad from the supermarket, then took the bus back to my hostel. The corn salad was delicious. Corn & a yoghurt dressing, yum!
Back in
my room I met a girl from New York who had arrived during the night. We also
then met an Austrian guy who had been there last night. We chatted for a while,
then decided to all go to the burger place for tea. It was nice to have someone
to talk to. I had the bacon burger, which was beef, bacon, raclette, tomato,
lettuce & mustard mayo, which was as delicious as yesterday. No chips today as yesterday's experience told me I wouldn't be able to eat it all.
Then we went to a bar where a couple were having a drink that the girl in my room had met earlier today. We sat & talked for a while before deciding it was bedtime.
The walk was as challenging as usual. Steps & steep inclines are nasty! Plus, being on the 4th floor after the walk up the hill is not pleasant. I was relieved to know that every single one of the other people struggled & it wasn't just me!
Then we got ready for bed. Tomorrow is another ski day, and the girl in my room is coming with me. We are going to check out the blue runs at the Gornergrat if they are open.
Day 6 Zermatt
This morning I had a slow start. I was going skiing with one of the girls in my dorm but we had no set plans. We got ready & headed down to breakfast. The Austrian guy came and joined us and told us the lifts were closed again to certain areas (including the train to Gornergrat). Also, explosions have been going off all morning! So loud! We had over 30 by 9am!
We looked at the live lift map & decided to get our skis & take the bus to the Zermatt lift to take the 2 cable cars to Riffleberg. However, whilst on the bus they closed the cable cars from Furi to Riffleberg and there are no blue runs at Furi, so we stayed in the bus & went back to the main station. Then we boarded the Gornergrat train to Riffleberg instead. This turned out to be the best decision because the clouds went goodbye and left the Matterhorn sparkling in all her sunny glory! The view from the train was amazing and we got great pictures & videos of the Matterhorn.
At Riffleberg, we could see why the lifts were closed. It was windy! Snow was blowing and stinging your skin like a sand storm does. The sun was glorious though and we got plenty of calm moments for photos. We took LOADS! With helmet, without helmet, with skis, on skis, just posing etc. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, there were no blue runs here either, as they all end here, not begin. There was 1 red run which you can see from the train but it looked horrifically steep so we decided to take the train back to Zermatt and go to Sunnegga to ski.
We walked from the Gornergrat station to Sunnegga then took the funicular up to the top. Today there were 2 extra lifts open but between them was a red run with a descent of 300+m so not for me.
We did the same blue run I did yesterday although my friend is a much more accomplished skier than me so she went off on her own & did some red runs as well. I, however, found it more challenging today than yesterday. There seemed to be a much thinner layer of snow and there was 1 really steep part with 2 big mounds at the bottom. I stacked it 3 times on my first run & 1 time on the second. On the big step bit, I stacked it half way down & it was a thin icy surface, so I took my skis off and slide down on my bum. Many people were crashing on it so it wasn't just me.
After 2 runs I was hungry & thirsty so I stopped at the restaurant to shoot for my friend. She took a while coming from the mountains and then we went to find a table. The restaurant made it very difficult to buy anything other than alcohol (they do not serve anything else at the bar) so we just took some pics then left. My friend did the red run back into town while I took the funicular.
After dropping my gear back in my locker, I got a drink from the supermarket, bought that mug I’ve been wanting and took some sunset photos of the Matterhorn.
Then I met my friend at the rental place and we took the bus. We did get off a short time later though as the sky had gone oink/purple behind the Matterhorn. Perfect for photos!
Then we got the next bus & headed back to the hostel to shower. We had to decide where to go for dinner so we chose something Swiss: the Cheese Factory.
We were very lucky we only had to wait a few minutes for a table. We decided to share a serve of raclette, a serve of air-dried beef and then 3 serves of the classic fondue. This was a good decision as we could then try all the Swiss specialties. Everything was absolutely delicious! We were so full by the end of it.
After dinner we walked back along the main street, stopping to look in a few windows. One of them was being guarded by a gorgeous grey kitty! We also took some photos at a Christmas lights decoration.
Back in our room, we all just ended up getting ready for bed & chilling. We were all knackered!
Day 7 Zermatt
At 3.30am this morning, the guy opposite me came back. He made noise but when he got into bed he SNORED! He snored all night from then on. I had to get my noise cancelling headphones to drown him out so I could sleep. It was awful!
I got up about 7.45am and got ready. Eventually my friend got up as well & we went down to breakfast. The sunrise on the Matterhorn was stunning.
We kept an eye on the live lift map and almost everything was open! Yay! The lift to Glacier Paradise was orange, meaning they were preparing to open it. Also, the train was running all the way to the top of Gornergrat, which was awesome. My friend went off skiing on her own, and I went off to take the cable cars up to Riffleberg & then the train to Gornergrat. The blue slopes here were very popular & they looked amazing. I'm really looking forward to skiing on them!
At Gornergrat, there is a restaurant, shops, viewing platforms and the start of several ski runs. The view of the Matterhorn was stunning. Blue skies, no clouds, perfect!
After taking some pictures & visiting the distillery (not buying anything because nothing is actually made here, the gin is from the Netherlands!), I checked the live map & the lifts to Glacier Paradise were open! I jumped on the next train down to Riffleberg, then took the cable car to Furi, then took another cable car to Trockener Steg, then finally joined the queue for the big panoramic cable cars. These ones take about 30 people. It was an incredibly scenic ride across the mountains, and we could see the glaciers, ski runs, walking trails etc.
I was so happy to finally be able to get here! When you get off, you are inside the mountain. You go through a series of tunnels to several different sections. My first stop was the 360° panoramic viewpoint. It’s worth noting that it is windy up here. Very windy! I tied my hair back before boarding the elevator. At the top, you go up to another platform which has amazing views of the Swiss & Italian Alps. You can see Italy from here, and the station that you would be able to visit if the lift was running (damn wind). I stayed up there for as long as I could, taking lots of pictures & videos. Eventually, though, my hands were completely frozen & numb, so I had to go back inside.
My next stop was the shop & restaurant. I was hungry by now, so decided to have lunch. I got spätzli with creamy bacon sauce & fried onions. It was delicious! I sat on a window sill to eat as there were no tables free. It was very busy since it has been closed for at least 2 days.
After lunch I got a ticket for the Glacier Palace, which is a tunnel they have dug out inside the glacier and filled it with ice sculptures. It was amazing. The ice sculptures were so detailed. You could also see the different layers in the ice and it wasn't cold even though you are literally inside a glacier 😲
They also have an ice slide. After going down it once and discovering its better without the cushions, I went down a further 2 times filming the short slide. It was actually a lot of fun!
Then I decided to head back. I waited for the second cable car so I could get a good spot and filmed much of the descent. Then I changed to the regular cable car & headed back to Zermatt station. From here, it was a short, uphill walk to the hostel.
Whilst charging my phone, 3 new people arrived to stay in our room. The only bed free is the one next to me now, and it's probably going to get filled tonight.
Day 8
Zermatt - Christmas Day!
Today is my last day here in Zermatt. I woke up with a headache, which sucked, but I decided to try and ignore it. I got dressed and checked the live lift map. The cable car to Italy was open! This made me very excited so I went straight down to breakfast alone.
A few people that I had been speaking to came in while I was eating, with each doing their own thing today. I have been having the same breakfast all week and it's been great. Turkey & ham, Camembert, cream cheese (locally made, absolutely delicious, way better than Philly!), Ovaltine spread on toast (bit like Nutella), hard boiled egg with hummus, apple juice & coffee. Almost everything is locally sourced, and each item in the buffet has the distance of the source. The cream cheese for example is from 31km away.
By 9.04am I was on the first cable car. To get to Italy, I had to take 2 cable cars to Glacier Paradise, then the brand new Alpine Crossing cable car. This normally costs extra but the lovely guys operating it, let me on with my ski pass as I only wanted a coffee.
I'm in Switzerland and the buildings in front are in Italy!
The trip across was lovely and I had the whole car to myself. And now, at 10.10am, I'm in Italy! I took some photos and got a coffee from the restaurant. I just casually popped over to Italy for a coffee ☕️ 😁
It was quite windy here. I watched a helicopter drop some skiers off, then took the cable car back to Switzerland.
Check out this gorgeous and incredibly clear view that I got on the way down!
I went all the way back to town, collected my skis and boarded the Gornergrat train. I really wanted to ski run 38, which I had seen on a video on Instagram. It is incredibly scenic, flat and has the Matterhorn in the background. It’s also called a ‘slow slope’ which sounded prefect for me. So I got off at Rotenboden.
I took it slow, and was very happy that there were hardly any people on this run. It was easy in spots, a few steeper parts, but easily the most spectacular run. I did it twice, and got a bit better. I watched a man telling a little boy what line to take & where to turn etc and followed suit.
Then I went down to the chair lift and up to Gornergrat again. There are multiple blue slopes here and I went straight past the igloo hotel. These ones were not slow slopes, just regular ones so there were more steeper parts. The runs are so wide here, like 20m wide. Plenty of space!
I skied down slowly and stopped at Iglu-Dorf. I had a walk around the hotel igloos and bought an iced tea to drink. Then I sat in a deck chair in the sun and enjoyed the view. This was my Christmas lunch: iced tea & Toblerone.
Then I put my skis back on and finished the run. At the bottom, I decided to do run 38 again so I boarded the train and headed back up.
At the bottom, it was 3.15pm so I decided to board the train back to Zermatt as I had lots to do. I returned my skis & locker access card, returned my ski pass card to get my deposit back, went to the supermarket to buy snacks for the train tomorrow and waited for the bus. It would have been way faster to walk but oh well.
It was 5pm by the time I got back to my hostel, which meant I had 1hr to shower, pack & get ready for dinner. Fortunately, I'm efficient and was done by 5.40pm.
At 6pm, I met an Aussie girl in the lobby and we walked to a restaurant for dinner. I had booked a really nice restaurant (Ferdinand) for dinner for a special Christmas meal & she wanted to come along. It took us 12mins so we were quite early but of well.
My primary reason for coming here was fondue. I ordered the lumberjack, which was bacon, mushroom and onion. My friend ordered the black garlic fondue, and we ordered the bacon garlic bread to go with it. Both fondue were absolutely delicious! 250g of melted cheese, what more could you want?! We also had some cocktails and shared a chocolate lava came for dessert. We were very full and it was very expensive (90CHF each) but it was so worth it. Highly recommend a meal here if you come to Zermatt.
We walked back to our hostel, taking some pictures of the lights along the way. Then we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. We are both leaving tomorrow: her for Barcelona, me for St Moritz.
I climbed into bed and tried to sleep.
Head to part 2 Swanky St Moritz to continue reading about my Christmas holidays :)