Day: June 12, 2016

Zermatt, Switzerland

It was a long drive from Malbun, Liechtenstein that included a “ferry” through a 17 km tunnel.  After hours of driving, we boarded a train to Zermatt.  In Zermatt electric cars rule.  No internal combustion engine cars allowed. Even though it was mid-June there were a surprising number of tourists in a town devoted to skiing.

On our first day we hiked into the Gorner Gorge (Gornerschlucht).DSCN2849

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Rachel is on the walkway (black jacket and ponytail).
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Not a crystal clear mountain stream.  The water was closer to a gray sludge.  It was roaring through the canyon and scraping off loose debris and shaping the rock in its path.
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Rachel took the picture of the lone flowers on the wall  of the canyon.
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The rock face of the canyon wall.
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Marcia and I had a quiet dinner at Whymper-Stube. The raclette and fondue were excellent. The girls opted to have rice and noodles at the apartment.

Day 2 in Zermatt – we headed to the Zermatt-Matterhorn Gondola.  On the way to the terminal, we got our first cloud-free view of the Matterhorn.

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We took a series of three gondolas to arrive at the

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We took  three gondolas to arrive at Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. Each Gondola took us higher.
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The Matterhorn peak is the one to the right.  It looks like Ella is pointing, but she was throwing a snowball over the edge.  It doesn’t appear in the picture, but there is a sleep ledge behind Marcia.
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It wasn’t just the kids tubing.  The run was short but fun.
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Resting after tubing.  The air is quite thin at that altitude.  
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Despite the thin air, the girls could not resist a snowball fight.
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The entrance to Glacier Palace was bored through the glacier.  This was not manmade.  
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Workers cutting a new display from the side of a passageway. It will eventually be a winged dragon.
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Rachel sitting on a block of ice in front of a ice carved from the glacier.
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From left to right, Ella, Rachel, Sarah.  To their right is an ice carving of the Matterhorn. We expected the fur seat cover to warm.  Not so, it initially felt like sitting on ice.  After a minute or two, that’s when warm could be felt.

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