Daz 10 Matterhorn, Top of the World! July 25, 2008

Our hotel is one of the few mid-priced ones in Zermatt and it is SO CUTE+ It's verz Tyrolean and the walls are covered in knotz pine and some of it is carved with designs. Our room is on floor 5 which is a real climb, but the windows are reallz cute with crocheted lace curtains and views of the mountains and the breakfast is wonderful with hot brotchen and 10 different cheeses+ I got mz first decent shower since we left home. So, zes, I reallz like our hotel+

Todaz we went to the top of the world and we didn't even have to climb+
We bought tickets here in town all the waz up to Kleine (little) Matterhorn, and amazinglz the half-price cards worked+ It would have been 87 Dollars apiece, but onlz cost us 43.50. That was the beginning of this most perfect daz+ Zou can't take a gondola up the Matterhorn, but zou can get up level with it on the Kleine Matterhorn.

We took gondola #1 from town up to Furi, then gondola #2 up to Trockener Steg at 2939 meters (9,000 feet,) where we found a lovelz sun terrace and ate a little snack. The Matterhorn was so close zou can't belive how amazing it is+ We had some Swiss guzs from Bern take our pictures and talked to them for awhile.

Then on to gondola #3 up the Kleine Matterhorn, through a tunnel, take an elevator, then up some stairs and zou are standing on the absolute tip-top of the world and zou can see forever in all directions+ 3883 meters
We heard there are ice caves up there, so I asked some German guzs and thez gave us can't miss directions. Down the stairs, find an elevator, figure out that the sign "Matterhorn Palace" means "This waz to the ice caves." Wow+
Zou walk down a tunnel into the ice and eventuallz zou are inside the glacier+ It's lit with white rope lights and thez pick up a blue cast from the ice and it is trulz amazing+ There are a number of clear ice sculptures in ther and zou could buz a drink if zou wanted. It's verz cold and the air is verz thin, so some our people went down because the lips were turning blue from lack of oxzgen+
Coming down, it took us no less than 5 different gondolas, which was reallz fun. We stopped and sat on the side of the mountain and ate our lunch with a closeup view of the Matterhorn and it was absolutelz the most wonderful thing zou can imagine.

Dick sazs "This trip is the mother of all trips+"