It’s time to hit the mountain and it’s a as gorgeous as can be! If you haven’t already noticed I kind of sort of love SKIING! In the winter I do whatever I can to be able to ski and enjoy the mountain. When I finally settle down I’m fairly confident I’ll be living somewhere with all four seasons or at the least WINTER. Once we arrived in Zermatt, I fell softly into a fairytale I wanted to relive over and over every day. The town of Zermatt is very quaint and full of the high end types. When you first arrive at Zermatt Station there are horse and buggies waiting to take people to specific hotel’s. We aren’t at that level just yet. haha

Central Station Zermatt, Horse an buggy service to take you to your hotel.

The quaint street of Zermatt full of shops and people… no cars allowed!

I took this picture of the MatterHorn riding up to the slopes… It’s just beautiful and the tallest peak in Europe.

DAY 1

We were fixing to be in Zermatt for 7 days and we had to head there without two people from our group because they were still stuck in Paris waiting for the American Embassy to issue a temporary passport because one of the girls got hers stolen so on day one we decided to take the train into Zermatt on foot without all of our gear and get our grocery shopping completed.

We were in awe by village and stopped every few feet to window shop and just watch all of the people go buy. I love to immerse myself in a culture that also enthralls the people around me. We stopped at a small restaurant for lunch with the perfect spot by the window for people watching. I got so excited to hit the mountain I was ecstatic. It was time to hit the slopes!

DAY 2

Again we headed into Zermatt from Rhanda and got our ski passes. We would be hitting the slopes the next morning and one of the girls needed to buy a few items at the shops so it was time to do some snow gear shopping… My Fav!

DAY 3

The three of us together.. my sister and her friend would be meeting up with us this evening on New Year’s Eve so we would be skiing all day and partying all night. It was a day to look forward to. When we arrived at Zermatt we had to take another train to the top of the mountain to ski down. I was in awe the entire time. I just couldn’t wait for my first run of the season, especially since it was in Zermatt.

The entire time I was on the mountain I was mesmerized by the landscape and the beautiful view, and I was put to work on the first run which took almost 35 minutes to get to a slope. This blows the water out of East Coast skiing in the U.S. The train just keeps taking you higher and higher and you have a magnificent view of the Matterhorn as you ascend the mountain. We got off at the last stop which was Gonergrat. This is not the highest you can get on the mountain. If you take a few lifts towards Italy you can take Europe’s tallest cable car to a peak of 3883 meters. (That’s later in this post)

All of the <ountains and their peaks. I took this picture at the museum.

First run of the season, at the top of Gonergrat!

Just loving these slopes… I can’t get enough!

Liz and I stopped at the top of the mountain for a rest while we waited for M to meet us. I decided on a beer at this point.

Bee-Bopping to music and enjoying our lives at the top of the mountain.

We ski’d until our legs burned and the sun began to set. Unfortunately they don’t have lights on the mountain after dark and its pretty dangerous up there without them so we headed all the way down into the city to prepare for the New Year’s eve Party we were going to.

The tickets to the New Year’s Eve Party

My sister would be meeting us at the train station right around midnight so I would be meeting her down the road and taking her to the party. It was a good reunion. She and her friend couldn’t wait to get on the slopes either.

Ready for New Year’s… I decided to wear tenner shoes into town. HA!

Finally re-uniting with the girls and having a few drinks trying to let the aggravation’s of travel melt away.

The streets were lined people celebrating the New Year.

Hello 2013, from Zermatt Switzerland.

My friends stayed out till around 6 in the morning, but I wanted to ski all day the next day so I decided to head home around 2 and catch a few hours of sleep so I’d be ready.

DAY 4

Finally reunited! All of us ready to hit the slopes! We were on the mountain all day again and I’ve decided that Switzerland is the love of my life and a place I will come back one day to ski again. 

At the top of the mountain on Day 4.

M, doing her thang.

Rescue Dogs.

Penguins!

Making dinner that night at our little cozy cottage.

Sitting by the blazing fire, allowing our tight muscles to loosen.

Day 5

We ski’d again all day and in some confusion we went separate ways after the train station so I decided to ski to Italy to say I did it. It was just gorgeous on the other side of the mountain.

My sister and I.

 Taking the tallest cable car in Europe to the top!

It was pretty crammed inside.

The view on the other side… just kill me now.

Stopping for lunch and meeting new friends, my favorite thing to do.

The other two girls also went to Italy but missed the lift back. Its a 400 Euro trip back to Switzerland on windy roads, they had to spend the night in Italy. We ski’d all day again and then we got together for the final day to do all of our shopping! By this time my body was just exhausted.

My new friend and I stopped for drinks at a rocking bar near the base of the mountain on our way back to Zermatt. Favorite bar everrr. You just ski up to it and stop for drinks.

It was rocking by the time we left. Very enjoyable.

Stopping for some water at the fresh spring.

Day 7

Our last day in Zermatt for shopping and souvenirs. We also stopped by the museum because M and I don’t miss a good museum. duh.

When you buy bread, whoever gets the man inside gets good luck. My sister got it.

The Zermattehof during olden days… picture from the museum.

The Zermatterhof today.

This is the way the first group of 6 guys ascended the Matterhorn on their first try.

This is the rope that snapped killing four of them. Many people have climbed the Matterhorn since then.

Shopping.

Ice bar.

We all bought the same jacket and we were trying to impersonate the models that were wearing them in the store.

In Rhanda waiting for the train.

Swiss Chocolate!

A beautiful sunset and end to our time there.