Daily Archives: June 15, 2019

On top of the Klein Matterhorn

When we set out from Grindelwald, all our hopes were pinned on the next two days for finally seeing the sort of mountain scenery and enjoying the sort of outing we had come so far to Switzerland to see. It often happens with travel that you can get too wrapped up in making sure everything is perfect – after all, you are spending a lot of time and money and effort to travel to this tiny valley in a tiny country. Even though we tried to make the best of it in Grindelwald, we were still disappointed by the very wet weather that surrounded us. Fortunately, we were about to have all our wishes granted in Spiez and Zermatt.

Heading back out of the valley from Grindelwald, we changed trains at Interlaken Ost and disembarked at Spiez, which sits on the Faulensee, the lake to the west of Interlaken. We had a half an hour transfer to our next train, but on a whim, we decided to just store our luggage at the station and go take a nice long lunch break in the town. That ended up being the perfect decision. Down by the lake, it was sunny and warm, and we took lunch at my new favorite place, the Migros Restaurant in Spiez. It was a self-service sort of food court but run by the same company that owns the attached supermarket, and the food was some of the most affordable but also delicious that we had found in Switzerland so far. We got plates of vegetables at the hot and cold buffet, and also a large dish of massaman curry of all things, with chicken and vegetables. We ate overlooking the town which is perched picturesquely on the lake, and I was just about the happiest I’d been in a week! Afterwards, we walked down to the lake and the tiny harbor in town where I made a sketch for a watercolor. We made our way back up after that to board the train for Zermatt.

Our train to Zermatt which took over an hour was filled with foreign tourists, speaking Chinese and French and English and Korean and other languages I couldn’t decipher. When we arrived in Zermatt, it was drizzling somewhat, and we couldn’t fully enjoy the rooftop terrace at our hotel. Our spirits still a little dampened, we had an early dinner at a döner kebab joint and went to bed in anticipation of the weather the next day.

Yesterday, we arose to a very clear day as the weather forecast had promised. Our breakfast was delicious: though Steve likes to make fun of it, the continental breakfast can be quite nice. Toast, with jam and butter and chocolate spread, with fresh fruit; several different types of ham and cheese, usually from the local region; yogurt with muesli and oats and nuts. After that, we were off to the cable cars!

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