Yetis and yodeling?

From Sion, we drove a little over an hour to the city of Tasch. They don't allow cars in Zermatt because they don't want pollution to block the views of the Matterhorn. Therefore, the only way to get there is by train. The kids were excited about this and luckily for me it was a short trip. One funny thing on the trip up was overhearing Ruby and Alex arguing about whether or not there are polar bears in the Matterhorn. I'm sure they were thinking of the Yetis at Disneyland.

Henry, Christina and Alex on the train to Zermatt

In this picture you can see the options for public transportation in Zermatt. There are horse-drawn carriages and in the background you will notice little, electric carts which are used to taxi people to their hotels.

Do you think it's odd that Ruby (5) and Henry (2) are about the same size?

We took a few minutes to get lunch near the train station before heading up the mountain. If you look closely, in back of the building you can see...

...the tip of the Matterhorn. When I was little, my family would drive from San Diego to Orange County to go to Disneyland. My mom would always say, "First one to spy the Matterhorn gets $1!" In that same spirit, I told my kids that the first one to spy it would get 5 francs, thinking that it would be me or Pete. Obviously it ended up being Alex who said, "Pay up mom".

Zermatt is the city I always pictured when I thought of Switzerland. It is nestled in between the mountains and is so gorgeous. Because there is only foot traffic, it is not as noisy and bustling as the other cities, allowing you to really enjoy it's beauty.

The clock tower is part of the church in the center of Zermatt. Directly behind the church is a little cemetery where some who died climbing the Matterhorn have been buried.

You may find this morbid, but I was moved by some of the headstones in the cemetery.

Across the street from the church was the city cemetery and I thought this little, old lady watering was so sweet.

I didn't realize the Matterhorn would be so breathtaking

When I was this age, I was standing in front of a large replica in the middle of smoggy, Southern California

After walking about a mile through Zermatt, we took a cable car up the mountain to get an even better view

Christina and Alex inside the cable car

Alex, Pete and Ruby

Don't look down

A view out the window

We climbed pretty high and it was a lot colder outside as you can tell by the snow

The kids outside of our second cable car stop. From here Pete took Alex and Ruby even higher. Because the air is so thin, Henry was too little to go to the top, so I rode with him back down.

This is the cable car station built into the side of the mountain top. At 12,287 ft above sea level it is the highest tram stop in Europe. When we left the hotel that morning we were at 1,600 ft and Zermatt is 5,200 ft above sea level. It wasn't hard to figure out why Ruby's lips were turning purple when she got to the top and was walking up the stairs.

The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

Ruby and Alex on top of the world...or Europe

Playing with snow in August

I don't think Crocs were meant for this kind of weather. By the end, Alex was complaining that his toes were freezing.

The backside of the Matterhorn

Alex and Ruby inside the glacier at the top of the mountain

I'm not afraid of heights like you mom!

I absolutely loved Zermatt and cannot understand why it is not in Rick Steve's best of Europe book. For anyone traveling to Switzerland, this is a must see.