Zermatt: Home of the Matterhorn!

I will start with the ever cliche statement "pictures just don't do it justice," but in this case it is extremely accurate.  The Matterhorn looms over the town of Zermatt like a silent sentinel always in the background.  Amazing.   

This blog is going to be more pictures than story, but you will see why.  We began our trip by loading the dogs and packs into the RJ Cooper for a 2 hour drive.  Zermatt is closed to cars, but we were able to get to a nearby town and hike in from there.  We stayed at a small apartment/hotel that I booked online with one bedroom and a cool Murphy bed for EK (which of course he was afraid of, like in the cartoons, he would be slammed back up into the wall while he was sleeping). The first night we ate delicious pizza at Grampy's while listening to the most god-awful keyboard singer playing classic rock covers at the top of his lungs...by the end of the evening I felt like he was actually in physical danger from Nicole.  The second day we set out for a nice hike, probably about 7 or 8 miles.  We ate lunch at a restaurant with amazing views.  We knew we were in trouble when they wouldn't serve us tap water....THIS IS THE ALPS PEOPLE! I want fresh glacial water straight from the tap, not a 4 franc bottle of crappy mineral water from France!  Anyway, we ate a quick expensive lunch and moved on. The hike from there was great, we saw billy goats, prairie dogs, and of course excellent views of the Matterhorn.  We were all pretty well spent by the time we got back to our apartment, but it was worth it. We decided to save hundreds of dollars and eat in that evening.  Nicole made us some pasta and we drank four bottles of wine while chatting, telling stories, and eventually watching the Miami Heat game...good times!  Next trip is Dusseldorf, Germany in a couple of weeks!