Zermatt

Paul and McKenna (Dave's brother and his wife) came to visit during the first week of June and we had a great time with them.  Although the weather was a bit rainy, they did a lot of sightseeing, culminating in a trip we all took over a 4-day weekend to Zermatt.  It was our first trip to see the Matterhorn!

We took the train from Zurich to Zermatt (a car-free town) in Southern Switzerland at the food of the Matterhorn.  We stayed at a great hotel, Hotel La Ginabelle, which was family run and a great place to stay, with absolutely incredible food and a fun indoor/outdoor pool.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and at the suggestion of the hotel, went to the "Family Fun Park", a ropes park with 3 courses for even the younger visitors (ages 4-8).  Dave and Elise went on a more advanced course, while I went on the kids' courses with Nate and Will!  Elise had done a ropes course before on a school field trip, but it was the first time for the rest of us.  What a lot of fun - especially the zip lines where you just sit down and go flying through the air!

The next day we did some sightseeing in the town, then went up the Gornergrat on the hightest open-air cogwheel railway in Europe.   This is the train line that goes over the incredible bridge that is on all the Zermatt postcards!  It was the beginning of June, but it looked like winter at the top.  Apparently it's quite common for the Matterhorn to be covered with clouds/fog, and it was exciting to be watching it and waiting for the clouds to clear and the peak to be visible.

 Saturday morning we took a train up the mountain to Sunegga, where there was a small lake and a playground, and lots of places for hiking.  We even got a quick glimpse of the Matterhorn when the clouds cleared.

Coincidentally another family from ICS also went to Zermatt this same weekend - the Joshi/Lennox family with 2 daughters, Priya in William's grade and Maya in first grade (who had been in the dance club at school that Elise had co-led).  I found out just a couple of days before the trip that they were also going.  We saw them on the train going to Zermatt, then got together at the park one day to play!  It is so fun to run into people we know on our travels!

 This was the view of the Matterhorn from our hotel room on the last day we were there.  When we woke up the sky was clear and blue, but by 9am, the clouds were rolling in!