There seems to be a common theme to this trip, which is that of each city we visit we have one beautiful day and one horrible weather day. Zermatt was no exception. We arrived on Monday afternoon to rain and began our short walk to our hotel. We quickly realized that what sounded like a bunch of tourists with rolling luggage was actually thunder. Nonstop thunder. It was black and thick clouds hung low all around us. The rain picked up. We had maybe 4 minutes left to the hotel when the sky opened up and started to not only soak us, but pelt us with hail. We were absolutely drenched when we got to reception.

Our room was not yet ready, which meant dropping off our stuff and heading back out into the rain. We found a delicious Italian restaurant called Molino that took us in and served us pizza. In a funny twist, the family had been in the same train car with us on the ride up ended up sitting down at our table 20 minutes later. They seemed far less wet. In the bathroom, I took off my shoes and wrung off my socks in the sink, and then returned them to my sloshing shoes.

We stopped at the local grocery store and stocked up on the essentials: wine, beer, chocolate, chips, and candy. A few hours later when the rain was less downpour and more mist, we took a stroll along some streets near our hotel. But with the steep hills and me still having this stupid cold, we didn’t last long.

Dan and I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening snacking in our room, using the hairdryer to (attempt to) dry every article of clothing we brought with us. All that did was make the room smell like hot feet. The plan for Zermatt was to see that Matterhorn and do some hiking, but that didn’t seem even remotely plausible looking at the weather forecast for the remainder of our time there. Instead of venturing out into the rain again, we skipped dinner and went to bed.

By some Christmas miracle, Dan woke up at 5:30 am and noticed it wasn’t raining and that it was only partly cloudy. Part of the Matterhorn was actually visible! We rushed outside to snap photos (in what turned out to be the best view of the Matterhorn all day).

We figured this good weather wouldn’t last, so we took one of the earliest cog trains to the top of Gornergrat mountain. It was one of the most stunning views I had ever seen. 10,000 feet in the air and surrounded by 29 fourteen thousand foot mountains.

Dan and I seemed to the only ones dressed appropriately and saw more than one tourist wipe out on the snow and ice, wearing flats or heels.

Instead of taking the train all the way back down, we got off at Riffelap and decided to hike the rest of the way down. The weather was still cooperating so we took advantage.

On our way down, we encountered Switzerland’s cows and their famous bells!

 

We stopped for lunch at Donner Take Away. The food in Zermatt, and all over Switzerland we hear, is very expensive. Raclette is upwards of $40 per person, vegetarian pad thai was $38. But we got takeaway wraps for $12 each–a steal. By this time it was mid-afternoon and it hadn’t rained all day. We were so happy to get a break and be able to see more of this beautiful town. We walked around town, visited the museum, and went in search of the sheep we could see from the hills (no luck).

Around 5:00 pm, it began to lightly rain. We picked up sushi and Ramen noodles from the coop and more snacks ($16 total), and ate dinner in our room–after an extremely satisfying day!

Before heading out of town, we took one final stroll to the hill to see the sheep. There were so many of them and they were so cute!!

Of course, it’s beautiful and sunny here as I type this from the train and we travel to our next destination. But what I think is so great about travel is that it forces you to make the best out of every situation and seize the day–whether that’s walking in the rain, or eating Toblerone in your room, or hiking down a mountain.

Onto Lauterbrunnen for the next three days!