In 2010 dearest mamma and pops went on a trip to Switzerland. It was a working trip for pops, but mamma tagged along ( can we all say WAG?!) Here is a blog entry, from mamma's holiday diary, about their time in Switzerland. At the end of her blog there are some videos for you to watch with your speakers on.
Monday
Arrived safely on saturday although very delayed due to the striking french air traffic control not letting us Brits travel over their space until they were ready! Arrived in the evening instead of the afternoon in Geneva . Found good place for beer and food called - guess what - the Swiss Chalet - and it was like being inside a cuckoo clock! Hotel in Geneva massively expensive - 250 swiss francs which is about 200 squid - and they don't give you a tea/coffee tray in the bedroom and the breakfast comprised tinned fruit, dry cheese and croissants! Having seen the prices in Geneva we think we were at the bottom end of the market. They speak french in Geneva and german here in Zermatt so have been getting by ok. Although my french ran out yesterday when I was trying to find out which train we should get on, and then I found that the very nice guard I was talking to spoke English! Winner!
Had a walk round the old town of Geneva on sunday morning and then got the most wonderful train to Zermatt . We went up one side of the lake, with mountain all round, some with snow on the top. Totally brilliant. Changed at a place called Vispe and it was considerably colder. This part of the trip took us up the steep mountains. Switzerland is stereotypically Swiss - it's exactly what you think it's going to be like. Chalets with flowers dripping off the balconies. We travelled for an hour up to Zermatt .
We're in the Zermatterhof five star hotel and we arrived from the station by horse drawn carriage (two white horses with plumes on feathers on their heads!) in spectacular fashion with people taking photos of us, felt like Posh and Becks! The place is full of twinkling chandeliers and pine, lovely! We have a suite of rooms, and this morning at breakfast we didn't sit with the rest of the conference people who were on big tables, but were ushered through to the front of the dining room to our own table with the big boys - ha! Being with the Director of Government Relations has it's moments!
Church bells ring a lot and echo round the mountains. They only allow electric vehicles and horses here in Zermatt so it has a different sound to other places. And it smells like snow.
Honestly, it's just like being in a Christmas card. And when we woke up this morning it had snowed - pinch me someone! The snowy trees on the mountain side keep appearing and disappearing in the clouds, and these are just outside our windows.So today I'm amusing myself and I just found out where the swimming pool is in the hotel so am going for a swim later. There's also a spa but it's massively expensive so will pass on that. Will be busy drawing and painting and will be going for a walk - I've got a simple map - just one road up the middle so I shouldn't get lost.
Tonight be have a gala dinner. Tom orrow we're going further up the mountains on a little train to Gronergat to have lunch and then another dinner.
It's like the Sound of Music but better!
Tuesday
Managed to find my way back from the walk yesterday, it was touch a go at one point as all these swiss chalets look the same! More snow this morning on the tree tops.
Had a gala dinner last night. We entertained by 3 blokes dressed as you'd expect - playing alpine horns. It was very entertaining, Mart kept laughing as they weren't in tune. And then we had two people also dressed as you might expect playing hand bells, this had Mart in fits as it was slightly ridiculous as they raced up and down to reach the bells on a long table, and there was a really old boy playing the accordian. The menu was dried meat with cottage cheese, followed by thick pumpkin soup with bits of lamb and roasted nuts floating in it, then fillet beef (so rare it wasn't even warm!) with polenta and mushrooms, then plums in various disguises. It was interesting. We've got another dinner tonight.
The spa dahling is amazing. Gentle piped music, a pool with a waterfall thing, hot room, dry hot room, steam room - and - wait for it - an ice room. You go into the hot bits and then into the cool and put the ice on yourself, all that seemed a bit like hard work so I just had a lovely swim and had the pool all to myself. Fancy little ol' me swimming and looking at the Swiss Alps! Bring it on!
We went on the mountain railway to a place for lunch, sitting in a restaurant overlooking the Matterhorn and the weather was clear. Fabulous food, barley soup, pork in something and lovely delicate little swiss puddings. It can go down to -1 at short notice so I'm wearing everything today, if I fall over I'll never get back up! I'll be a snow pudding! They'll have to roll me back down the mountain! Gornergrat - wow - what an amazing experience. Seriously cold, glaciers, the sound of the mountains, thin air, above the clouds, snow and sunshine, everything very clear, bright and sparkling. All round us were mountain tops and snow and clouds. Truly magical. Absolutely loved it. And these mountains stand here quietly throughout all time. We left our footprints in the snow.I saw a woman running across the mountain wearing a pinny with seven children following her dressed in what looked like old curtain material - I think they were singing!
Wednesday
Last night we had another dinner. A speaker at this one was some gov minister or other. He manaaged to speak in three languages all at once and all muddled up! We had fish, mmmm, very tasty.
Today, Mart had the morning off so we went for a walk and then to the museum and church, learned about all the young men (and one young woman) who'd lost their lives on the Matterhorn . Their graves are round the church. Very poignant. So young. And unlike today, they weren't athletes who knew much about how to help their bodies get up the mountain, they just went in ordinary clothes with wooden skis. Mart went into his final session, and I sat and did some drawing in the cold sunshine.And then home, arrived about midnight after 11 hours of amazing travel on trains and planes. Very happy and totally exhausted!
See you all soon
Lots of Love
Heidi
xxx
These videos are best viewed in full screen mode. For the less techy minded of us you make the videos full screen by hovering your mouse over the bottom of the video so that a bar appears. Click the symbol in this bar (right hand side, in front of the word Vimeo) that looks like a square made of outturned arrows. This will open the video up in full screen.
Swizerland 2010 from Emma Hooper on Vimeo.
