After breakfast at our campground, we set off to catch the train to Zermatt, it cost us 32 Swiss Francs for both of us return ticket. It was a quick 10 min trip to disembarking in Zermatt. Cars and other vehicles are not permitted there, only these strange little electric taxis and push bikes are allowed. We walked the 1200 metres to the Cable Car Station to get us up the mountain. Our tickets were 200 Swiss Francs for the both of us, which is probably about $265 Australian, and very expensive as an outing.
We had to change cable cars twice to get to the very top of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise! On the way up we could see the Matterhorn easily as it was a clear day with little cloud cover. We went to the very top were we could see into Italy, as well as the back of the Matterhorn and the Gablehorn. We noticed that there are now locks on the top wire fencing and they are encouraging people to put them on there and leave the keys in a box that later gets sent in ice…Paris may have competition!
We both felt a bit lightheaded at the altitude of 3883m, and went down to see the Glacier Palace, 15 metres below the surface of the ice. We had a lot of fun as the network of tunnels was more extensive that those of Mer De Glace. The sculptures were tasteful and we even got to try out an ice slide….not as fast as you might initially think….some caterpillar effort required!
Upon returning to Tasch we stopped at the shop to pick up some ingredients to make dinner…..Mince Surprise Tasch Style tonight!
Back at our campsite we caught up with Earnest and his wife, and little dog, Faro, and shared out Matterhorn stories as they had also been to Zermatt today. In the process we discovered he is a motorcycle and sidecar addict, so he and Vince had lots to chat about. They are from Lucerne, and shared some local knowledge of things to see in Switzerland, and made us a gift of a Touring Map of Switzerland! Very kind….we shall use it tomorrow.
