Zermatt

As is quite typical with some of these ski villages, there isn't a lot to explore if you don't plan to go up the mountains. Though it would have been good to take the cable cars up to see the views, these were well over 100 aud, and we didn't see the justification. Not only this but a lot of the famous walks are far too difficult and dangerous during winter and our gear is nowhere near suitable to the conditions. As such, our day started quite lazily, but the day was so beautiful that we forced ourselves outside to try and capture the Matterhorn from the town. Unfortunately, although still a decent day, the conditions up the hills were not nice enough, and clouds had blocked our view. We could see portions and a minor outline, but not quite the full thing. The second photo shows our initial sighting. It was disappointing, but we had remained hopeful that it might clear up. As such, we wandered along the river that splits the town in half and watched the beautifully blue water curve around the ice covered rocks in a flurry that cuminates in tiny waterfalls scattered through the waterway. The water was so clear you could easily see the bottom. I'm convinced that if you dropped a book into the water, you could still quite easily read it. We then explored some of the older parts of town, where some buildings appear to have never been renovated since their construction. These tiny wood huts were built on concrete slabs 2m high to combat the thick snow that clearly falls here throughout the winters. So simple and cold looking, it was great that they kept these parts of the town to get a good idea of how life would have been many years ago. Whether they are in use or simply there for the history, I am unsure, but it was great nonetheless. We then explored the town church and saw some of the main street we briefly explored yesterday. After this, we stopped for some breakfast and enjoyed a coffee before heading back to the hostel to chill and get some respite from the cold. Like I said, we had already explored most of the town, and therefore, there wasn't a lot else to do, so we waited for the museum to open later in the day. As we sat in our accommodation, we watched the weather turn bad with dark, thick clouds covering the town with quite heavy snow. Although normally quite a happy experience, we were sure this would impede our view of the Matterhorn that we still held hope of seeing. As things worsened and worsened, we all but abandoned hope and began our journey to the museum. The cost, like many things in Switzerland, did deter us in the end and decided to enjoy a nice hot chocolate instead. We did this until just before sunset, when we began our journey to a viewpoint. By this point, we had expected nothing more than a view of the city lights in the night sky. But as we began our walk, the skies opened up at the perfect time, and there we stood in the awe of the Matterhorn and all its glory. Our first glimpse saw the top smoking as the sun began to melt away the snow on its peak. We fastened pace up the steep hill in case this was just a brief break in the weather. But when we arrived, the clouds had almost completely left the sky, and we had been gifted with a truly magnificent view of one of the most iconic mountains in Europe and the world. We could not believe our luck. To make things better, the longer we stayed, the clearer the skies got. Eventually the the Matterhorn stopped smoking, and the skies became completely glassy, just a perfect gradient of the different shades of blue that nature is capable of creating. I must have taken hundreds of photos. Picking just a few is surprisingly difficult, but I couldn't help myself. We stayed watching for what must have been close to an hour before the cold eventually got to us, and we had to begin the journey back down the hill. Words can't describe the site, and photos can hardly do it justice, but it was a highlight of my trip so far.Read more