I’m hoping Mum doesn’t read this as I’m forbidden to call her a bat anymore, but it’s such a cute (and affectionately intended) nickname, and it rhymes with Zermatt. Who could resist?
Jamie and I spent a few lovely days in Dijon boozing on fine wines and exploring, and then jumped a train via Zurich to meet my Mum and Ron (aka The Bats) at their lovely little alpine Batcave in Busingen. Busingen is actually a German enclave inside Switzerland, near the German border – but really it’s Swiss. Although we’d planned to do the Lake Konstanze ride and then return for Mum’s birthday the following weekend, Mum was very excited to offer to take us to Zermatt – a summer ski resort at the base of the Matterhorn. Again, who could resist?
Zermatt: http://www.zermatt.ch/en/index.cfm
…and some webcams of quaint, snowy Zermatt and surrounding snowy vistas: http://www.zermatt.ch/en/page.cfm/service/webcams
Mum, Ron, Jamie and I boarded the panoramic Glacier Express train to Zermatt and headed up into the snow with great excitement. The Glacier express touts itself as the ‘slowest express train in the world’ and is counted as one of the world’s great train rides: http://www.rhb.ch/Glacier-Express.1675.0.html?&L=4 . It was indeed special. The view permitted by the uninterrupted glass over the train roof is spectacular; the train passes through Switzerland’s Graubünden canton, including the stunning Rhine Gorge. The meandering train ride permits views of ‘St Moritz and the UNESCO World Heritage railway, plus the Landwasser Viaduct, the Rheinschlucht Gorge, the Oberalp Pass, the Furka Tunnel, Zermatt and Matterhorn’. It was very special.
We had a fantastic lunch on the train, and Jamie and I scuttled to the Sky Bar carriage for beers en route to celebrate this stage of the adventure.
We arrived in Zermatt and checked in to our lodge. A bit of exploring and then an ultra cheesy dinner. I’d held out on trying Raclette until Switzerland, so now was the time. At the restaurant, Ron and Mum shared beef tartar and a tomato cheese fondue, while Jamie and I had a cheese fondue, raclette and also the cheese dumplings, baked in cheese. The waitress was horrified and told me this was ‘cheese and cheese and cheese – too much!’ I smiled smugly and told her it was fine, but she was right and everyone felt pretty sick afterwards. The next night we opted for Chinese to make sure no cheese sneaked in.
The next day we headed up to the Klein Matterhorn (the smaller Matterhorn, with views of the big fellow), and Jamie’s first taste of snow. I can’t even describe how much fun it was, and will just let the pictures do the talking.
The Matterhorn museum the next morning was also superb, and I took lots of pictures of the hilarious animal models inside.
The stories of the Matterhorn and its many fallen explorers is fascinating too, especially the ‘Matterhorn disaster’ story of the first ascent/descent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_ascent_of_the_Matterhorn
The cemetery at Zermatt holds the remains (or not) of those who did not survive their adventures, including many people in their early 20s.
I was much amused (and disgusted) to learn that the early women mountain climbers (19th C) climbed in long, full skirts, and corsets! Apparently there was an early scandal when it was suspected that one woman climber may have in fact swapped her skirt for pants when out of view of the town…and another lady climber was within 100 metres of the summit when gusts of wind forced her to retreat. Her billowing skirts made the final climb impossible. The point is named in her honor. I commend her ladylike values, as I would have nuded up in half a second to get there, but then again I don’t feel a pressing need to climb sheer rock icy faces just because they exist, so who am I to judge?
This is a very interesting blog about the early lady climbers: http://vichist.blogspot.com/2010/10/ladies-on-high-victorian-women.html
Thanks again Mum and Ron for such a fabulous experience (and for graciously letting us stay in and trash up your little Batcave with all our bikes and accessories).
