Day 582 Zurich to Zermatt
Riding the Train Through Visp and St. Niklaus
I think I first heard about Zermatt watching some James Bond movie as a teen or maybe it was something with Cary Grant, but I knew it was located in the Alps, famed for its skiing and the Matterhorn, one of the most iconic peaks in all of Europe. And that was interesting. The mountain is both a climber’s heaven and nightmare; huge and craggy with its tripartite igneous walls inviting anyone with the guts to climb it to go ahead. It was next up on our journey and I couldn’t wait to see it.
We dropped our car at Hertz at the Zurich airport. No fuss. Three stories below we found the train station right inside the same complex, which included a shopping center, pathways to buses and trains, restaurants and coffee shops. Switzerland at work. In a little more than an hour, our Eurail Passes in hand, we were aboard, rolling to Zermatt by way of the town of Visp.
Beyond Visp the train wound us through green pastures and then into calamitous gorges, jagged rock and tunnel after tunnel. The mountains around us were nearly vertical. Mist reminiscent of those you see in Suibokuga-style Japanese landscapes clung to the slabs of compressed rock, and every now and again there would be a chalet or two hanging somehow onto a steep green valley. The buildings were fashioned of old dark hardwood built on stone foundations, with minuscule windows, and big slate shingles, cut like irregular chunks of sliced black bread. Everything about these buildings told you they existed to put the bitter weather between whoever was inside and whatever was outside.
A couple of hours saw us pass through the Village of St. Niklaus nearly to Zermatt at 5755 feet of elevation. I could see why the Swiss had produced some of the finest climbers in the world.
At the Zermatt train station, the weather switched from fluffy snow to rain and back again. Tourists wandered the misty streets and a small electric cart, all enclosed, stern cabbie at the wheel, picked us up. Cars are not allowed in Zermatt and these carts zip through the town with the abandon of the tub-tuk taxis of Peru.
We checked into the Hotel Pollux - a perfect location along main street, with excellent service and the sort of comfort you somehow hope for when nestled amongst snowy mountains. Tea, hot chocolate, a pleasant view, spacious bathroom and down-filled bed. The restaurant was packed, but they had two versions, one vegetarian and since it was nearly empty, we chose it and weren't disappointed. From our window, we gawked at the mountains that jutted straight up with homes and apartments clinging to them nearly to the tree line.
Everything seemed quite excellent, and then I remembered again -- we were in Switzerland.
