Glacier Express from Zermatt to Zurich

Our lonely planet guidebook lists 'The Glacier Express' train ride as the top experience in Switzerland.  "It's one of the most mythical train rides... savor shot after cinematic shot of green peaks, glistening Alpine lakes, glacial ravines and other hallucinatory natural landscapes.  ... The glacier express traverses 91 tunnels and 291 bridges on its famous journey."

Sounds pretty awesome, right?

We decided to use this amazing sounding train to help get us from Zermatt back to Zurich.  There were only first class tickets left, and we prayed that our children would be appropriate in first class on a fancy scenic tourist train.

The kids did very well.  We didn't even get any dirty looks when we pulled out our PB&J for lunch time!

 Most of the pictures we took had reflections of the windows.  We had seen most of this type of scenery and been on many train rides already.  Plus, I think we were pretty tired and ready to get home at this point.  So the train ride from Zermatt to Andermatt didn't live up to its reputation for us.

From Andermatt, we had to get a short train ride to another station to catch the next train to Zurich.  In Andermatt, there was a great playground near the train station and each of us (including Grandma and including Ava in my carrier) rode a little fun playground zip line.  

The tunnels, bridges, and engineering in the whole country to make train travel work was unbelievable.  We wish North America would do this!

Tired on our way to Zurich.

We made it to the Zurich train station and then had some difficulty figuring out the best way to get to our hostel.  We wanted to walk as little as possible and Jason did awesome figuring it out.  However, Rachel lost it near the end of the tram ride and had a meltdown at our last bus stop.

Bus in city of Zurich.  Ava tired and pulling on my hair.

 We finally made it to the hostel and checked in.  We opted to have dinner at the hostel because it was raining outside and because we were all pretty tired.  Thankfully, the dinner was awesome and much better value than the hostel dinner we had in Lucerne.

Our hostel room was 2 bunk beds and then Ava had her own little bed.  She loved playing in the lockers.

After we put the girls to bed, Jason and I went out for a run in the pouring rain to see some of the city.

The next morning we got back on the bus/tram/train and headed to the airport.  After some duty free chocolate shopping, we boarded our flight to Iceland.  Grandma raced through to connect to her DC flight, and we left shortly after.

Zurich train station.  Rachel rides on rolling suitcase.

Snack before boarding our flight to Iceland.

Looking out over Iceland.

About to board the longest flight of our lives.

Our flight home (7.5 hours) from there was very long.  Ava barely slept and needed lots of entertainment and snuggles to stop from screaming, so we took turns trying to bounce/walk/cuddle/sing to her.  Rachel slept for the last few hours.

We were thrilled to see our friend on the other side of customs at DIA and drive us home to our own house and our own bed.

We woke up the next few mornings at 2:30am, 3am, 3:30am... and then we were sorted out again.

Home sweet home.

Zermatt and the Matterhorn

I've had a 'crush' on the Matterhorn since first riding the ride at Disneyland with my brother in 5th grade.  Seeing it in person has been an item on my bucket list and one thing I was very excited to do on this trip.  There's something amazing to me about the fin-shaped dominance of the mountain.
But during the week of rain, I had let go of my expectations and decided that seeing it would have to be a bonus, since we had so much cloud cover.

We left Riederalp and took the train South to Zermatt.  The usual anticipation (in spotting the famed peak) that might have held passengers on this ride was lost in the clouds.  But it was still a beautiful train ride, with waterfalls all around.

We arrived in Zermatt around lunch time, hungry and tired.  We weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves, since we couldn't check into our room until 4pm but we had all of our bags and the girls were tired.  After some delays getting organized at the train station, we caught a taxi up to our hostel.  Grandma was kind enough to stay with the kids in the lobby while they played in the play room and Jason and I went out to explore.

We walked around town and enjoyed the swanky village.  The clouds were covering the Matterhorn itself so there seemed to be no point in going up to view it on a gondola.  So... we decided to go play in the high ropes course/zipline course.

For those of you who don't know, Jason and I basically met each other on a ropes course in Breckenridge, CO.  He was (and is still) completely fearless and comfortable in a harness.  I am scared of heights but determined to get better, so I am slow and cautious in the air but enjoy the idea of it.

The Swiss Cheese element (one of the easiest)

So we clipped in and started the first route.  It took us over an hour!  It just kept going and going!  I was exhausted by the end and glad to have my feet on the ground.  Jason did another more challenging route before we did a very high zipline route.  As much as it was fun and I'm glad I did it, there was one high tightrope walking element just about had me in tears.  The zip lines were fun, though, once I got started, and I'm more confident about zip-lining some more in the future.

Anyway, we came back to the hostel laughing and grabbed everyone for dinner.  We took the bus down to the main strip and enjoyed a patio dinner with a nice view.  The Matterhorn peaked out to look once in a while, making it all worthwhile for me.

Apparently these stairs are a bike path

Looking up at the Matterhorn

Slate rock roof

Flags, church, Matterhorn above

Man and son having obviously done some mountaineering up high

Walking around the town of Zermatt was fun.  There were rich people in heels who had probably never hiked or skied.  There were mountaineers donning ropes and ice picks in town.  There were expensive shops, snooty restaurants, beautiful buildings, and a lovely park and river.

The Great Britain ski team was also staying at our hostel

We stayed the night in our room, which had 3 bunk beds and our own bathroom.  When we booked accommodation, this was one of the only rooms left in town, so we grabbed it.  We made Ava a little bed on the floor and we all had a decent sleep.

After the girls went to sleep, Jason and I snuck out to walk around town and had a lovely crepe.  We were so lucky to have Grandma watch the girls for us so we could do those kind of things.

Many cool trails to my right... might have to explore them another day

The Matterhorn was still cloud-covered when we left the next morning.  We said good-bye to Zermatt and boarded the famous 'Glacier Express' scenic train ride to start our journey back to Zurich.