[CR Switzerland] Day 05-2

September 21, 2006
Villars - Martigny - Sion - Tasch - Zermatt

Ma and Dad were up after several minutes, and we made a good lunch of it, with the curtains drawn against the afternoon sun, but the balcony door open to let the fresh air in. We had just enough time to get ready for the 1.30 PM assembly for the Gornergrat optional tour, the ascent via cogwheel train. While we were waiting for the train to come down, Elmar distributed brochures and tickets, all the while reminding us that once we were at the top, we were on our own for the afternoon, and not to forget to catch the 4.45 PM train going down if we wanted to make it back in time to freshen up for the highlight dinner.

The ascent was breath-taking. The cogwheel tracks curved around Zermatt before getting down to the business of climbing above the timberline and into snow country. The sparkling quality of the air set off the mountains to spectacular advantage; already clothed with a good amount of snow, they had passengers oooh-ing and aaah-ing every ten minutes or so.

Yes, I know I sound over the top describing the views, but it's true! Words - even photos - cannot begin to approximate the actual sight. Anywhere you cared to look, postcard-pretty vistas of mountain peaks and glaciers; it was awesome, in every sense of that overused word.

Once at the peak of the Gornergrat, it was off the train and out onto the panorama terrace, there to have the mountain peaks pointed out and photos taken. We took it slow going up to the upper terrace - there was a lift whose shaft was cut directly into the rock, with glass walls so you could see where you were going. I caught sight of a chapel off to one side of the main building, and so we all went in to lift up more prayers of thanks, and to light a candle as well.

A few more pictures, and then I steered Ma towards the main building. Our entrance was delayed while Ma and I watched a professional photographer taking pictures of tourists with his pair of lovely St. Bernards. One of the dogs was in a mood, refusing to look at the camera, and Ma was all fangirl meltdown at the sight.

We took a raincheck on the tourist stores, and then took yet another lift up to the cafeteria, where we had hot soup to warm us up from the inside out. Then off to do window-shopping until by mutual agreement we came down from the mountain around 4.20 PM, with enough lead time to rest before dinner.

This time out, I got better acquainted with the family of my seatmate James; his mother Anne sat beside me, and his aunt Jenny across from me. The highlight of the highlight dinner was beef fondue, which was the source of a great deal of humor. Apparently, most of us in the group were more familiar with the ways of cheese fondue than with beef. I overheard a comment saying that dinner ought to have come with an instruction manual!

But I had no complaints. There were frites (errr...chips/fries) to fill one's tummy while waiting for the beef to cook, so no pangs of hunger to bother us. Being a techie-meddler, I found myself as the "keeper of the flame", making sure the chafing dish fuel was just the right height for cooking the beef. To judge by the happy buzzing in our corner of the world, no one was about to complain, either. When Elmar came to check on everyone - as was his custom - there was a general chorus of approval about the dinner.

We did ourselves proud - I think we managed to demolish two and a half servings of beef at our table, and three helpings of frites, at least. I solemnly swear that I *waddled* out of the dining room, I was that full. Did a double-check on the call times on the poster board before calling it a day and retreating upstairs, where I, for the umpteenth time, unpacked my suitcase completely before repacking it!. Stayed up to catch the news on CNN, then turned the TV over to Dad before working on my journal again.

By the time I was ready to go into lights-out mode, Dad had decided to stay up to watch the telecast of how our Philippine billards champion, Efren "Bata" Reyes Jr., won his largest prize to date: USD 500,000, in a tournament in Las Vegas. I reminded him that we had an early start for the Kleine Matterhorn optional the next day, then snuggled beneath the duvet for a good night's sleep.